Stonehenge Special Access Visits

Walk Among The Stones At Stonehenge Without The Crowds

When you visit Stonehenge during public hours you have to keep behind a small rope fence about two foot off the ground. For most people this is perfectly adequate.

For those who are really, really interested in Stonehenge it is possible to go beyond the rope fence and walk among the stones.
These visits are called Special Access visits and take place outside public opening hours. This is the only time you will be able to walk amongst the stones at Stonehenge.




Stonehenge Special Access Visits - Key Facts- Special Access visits are available most but not all months of the year, (no visits in October and November and are not available on around the midsummer's day).

- Demand for tickets far exceeds supply, dates are often sold out months in advance. Do not expect to get tickets without ordering well in advance.
- Special access visits take place at quite unsociable hours, commonly between 05:30 and 08:00 in the morning and after 18:30 in the evening.
- Factor in that its almost 2 hours traveling time between London hotels and Stonehenge and you can see such a visit entails a very early start or late finish for those based In London.
- There are no audio guides available and the gift shop and catering outlet are also closed. Only the toilets are open. There is nobody there to tell you anything about Stonehenge and no information is provided - though you can preorder a glossy guide book on ordering your tickets. On morning visits you can wait a little until Stonehenge opens for the public when the gift shop, refreshment kiosk are open and audio guides become available.  Otherwise buy them before - see below
 - The only people there apart from a maximum of 26 Special Access ticket holders are a few security guards who will not provide any information about Stonehenge. They are just there to make sure you get up to no mischief.


Scheduled Special Access Tours From London and Salisbury

A couple of tour companies in London offer tours that include Special Access. This overcomes the logistical problems of getting to Stonehenge early morning or evening when there is no public transport to Stonehenge.

However, its still a very early start or a late return to London and these companies cannot get enough tickets for their needs. As a result dates are very sporadic. Most days there will not be a tour running and they will normally sell out well in advance on those days the tour runs - don't leave it until you arrive in London or you will be disappointed.
The Stonehenge Tour Company have by far the best reputaion and were the original operator to offer this itinerary.  You could try local companies HisTouries UK Tours or Salisbury Guided Tours who opearte bespoke private guided tours.  Needless to say the big group coach companies offer similar tours; Premium Tours, Golden Tours and Evan Evans and you can book discounted tickets here;
http://www.stonehenge-stone-circle.co.uk/coach-tours.htm

IMPORTANT:  The Stonehenge English Heritage shop is closed during these private access visits and you will not be able to purchase guide books or souvenirs so you are wise to buy before.  Needless to say if you do some research before it will certainly enhace your visit, I have listed the the most popular guide books etc below.

Lunar Eclipse - Winter Solstice 22nd December 2010

A total lunar eclipse will take place on December 20/21, 2010 Sadly it will not be visible oin Britain? It will be visible after midnight Eastern Standard Time on December 21 in North and South America. The beginning of the total eclipse will be visible from northern Europe just before sunrise. The end of the total eclipse will be visible rising at sunset for Japan and northeastern Asia, it also appears very visible to the Philippines just after sunset (as in Partial lunar eclipse). It will be the first total lunar eclipse in nearly 3 years, the last being on February 20, 2008.

 It is also called the Christmas lunar eclipse.



External links:
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar-eclipse-december-21-2010.html
http://blog.stonehenge-stone-circle.co.uk/2010/12/07/full-moon-this-winter-solstice-2010/
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2010.html

Stonehenge Guide

Evening walking tours to Stonehenge

It might seem far too early to mention this but it’s a fair bet all the available places will be snapped up very quickly. There is to be an evening walk to Stonehenge led by David Dawson, Director of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, on 8th June 2011 and a second one on 13th July.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to inspect (but no touching) and photograph (for non-commercial purposes) the stones closely, and see the inscriptions, including the famous ‘daggers’ believed to date from prehistoric times. Wander at will inside the circle and enjoy the landscape. ”
But we were rather struck by this request on the Museum’s website:

“Note – please do not touch or climb on the stones, picnic or play music whilst in the monument”

…since halfway between 8th June and 13th July comes the summer solstice when, as everyone knows, a large number of people have been allowed to ignore all four of those matters year after year. So we have a couple of dozen ultra-respectful paying customers acting one way, thousands of non-paying revellers acting in the opposite way then back to paying ones acting in the first way, all in the space of five weeks! BOTH sets of behaviour can’t be right, surely?


It’s very confusing. Which IS the right way to act at the stones? Or, much more pertinently, which way should those who are in charge of an event at the stones ensure people act? Is the strict version just something the Wiltshire Heritage Museum has formulated? Or was it imposed on them by English Heritage as a condition of them being allowed to take people there? And what would happen if a percentage of the Museum’s customers defied the Museum’s rules and climbed on the stones on 8th June? Would EH give them one more chance and tell them that if they failed to control all their paying customers and protect the monument a second time on 13th July they shouldn’t come back next year? Or would they accept an excuse from the Museum, year after year after year, “we do always ask people to behave, honest, but it’s definitely not our fault if they don’t....“
See also here – the only way out of the dilemma that we can think of, and a way of saving EH lots of money as well.

External links:
http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/
http://www.histouries.co.uk/ - Stonehenge Walking Tours
http://www.stonehengetours.com/

Stonehenge Tour Guide