Visit England: Stonehenge

Stonehenge was a must-see on the itinerary when we decided to visit London after booking a Northern Europe and Norwegian Fjords Cruise. There were several options to see Stonehenge, but what best suited us was to book transportation from our London hotel to the Southampton port with a stop at Stonehenge on the way.

When we arrived at Stonehenge, I was so excited to see the stones that I had my family immediately start walking. I didn’t realize the stones were over a mile away and it happened to be a very hot and sunny day. Each time the shuttle bus passed us during our walk, my family would remind me that catching the bus was the better option. Luckily after we were finished admiring the stones, we were able to catch the shuttle back to the visitor’s center. 

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument dating between 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The sarsen stones measures around 13 feet high, seven feet wide, and weighing around 25 tons are topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones. To this day, no one knows what Stonehenge’s purpose was or who built it. However, the fact that the sun rises over the Heel Stone on the longest day of the year (summer solstice) and sets over it on the shortest day (winter solstice) gives theory that it was a prehistoric temple aligned with the sun’s movements. 

I thought Stonehenge was amazing to see in person and totally worth the walk! Although our visit was brief, some visitors make a day out of it with a picnic near the stones. On the day we went, there was an exhibit celebrating the rich culture of prehistoric Japan and so we caught part of a taiko performance in the field near the stones.