The landscape around Stonehenge is undergoing a long-overdue revamp, which should dramatically improve the experience of those visiting when it's completed. But even before the changes, and despite the huge numbers of tourists who traipse around the perimeter, Stonehenge still manages to be a mystical, ethereal place – a haunting echo from Britain's forgotten past, and a reminder of the people who once walked the many ceremonial avenues across Salisbury Plain.
Even more intriguingly, it's still one of Britain's great archaeological mysteries: despite countless theories about what the site was used for, ranging from a sacrificial centre to a celestial timepiece, no one knows for sure what drove prehistoric Britons to expend so much time and effort on its construction.
Stonehenge now operates by timed tickets, meaning if you want guaranteed entry you have to book in advance. If you’re planning a high-season visit, it’s best to secure your ticket well in advance.
STONE CIRCLE ACCESS VISITS
Visitors to Stonehenge normally have to stay outside the stone circle. But on Stone Circle Access Visits ( www.english-heritage.org.uk;adult/child £30/18) you get to wander round the core of the site, getting up-close views of the bluestones and trilithons. The walks take place in the evening or early morning, so the quieter atmosphere and the slanting sunlight add to the effect. Each visit only takes 26 people; to secure a place book at least two months in advance.
BUS
There is no public transport to the site. The Stonehenge Tour ( www.thestonehengetour.info; adult/child £26/16) leaves Salisbury's railway and bus stations half-hourly from June to August, and hourly from September to May.
TAXI
Taxis charge £40 to go to Stonehenge from Salisbury, wait for an hour and come back.
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