Is Stonehenge worth a day trip from London?

I’ve lived in London since 2004 and have never visited Stonehenge, despite it being less than two hours away by car. It was only when my best friend was visiting from South Africa and said that visiting Stonehenge was ‘on her bucket list’ that I looked into a day trip. You can visit by train and bus but honestly it’s a bit of a faff so a guided tour seemed like the best option.

It became clear that there aren’t really any tours that only go to Stonehenge and I guess the reason is because it’s fairly far to just visit one landmark, so Stonehenge is often combined with Bath, Windsor or Avebury (to visit the Circle of Stones, which is similar to Stonehenge). My friend had never been to Bath and was keen to visit the Roman Baths so we settled on a day trip from London to Stonehenge and Bath. Locations sorted – now to choose a tour company!

Let me tell you, there are a LOT of tour operators running day trips from London to Stonehenge and Bath so how do you choose which one to go with? And most importantly… which ones had a toilet on the coach! I did some research and, based on reviews, settled with Anderson Tours who have been operating since 1992.

A top tip when booking a day trip. If you’re a tourist, don’t leave it until the end of your holiday. We had actually booked our trip for the Monday but they asked us to move it to the Tuesday or Wednesday as there weren’t enough people to run the trip on the Monday. And my friend was flying home on the Thursday. So definitely try to do it at least four days before you fly home in case it gets moved.

Full disclosure: I did approach Anderson Tours for a discount if I wrote a blog post review and did some Instagram posts. I was offered 50% off so essentially I paid for one ticket and got one for free. This discount has not influenced my review at all and Anderson Tours has no editorial control over my blog post. They have also kindly offered a discount of 15% to my readers for any of their Stonehenge tours, using this link (your discount is applied at Checkout), and I get a small commission if you book with my code but this is at no extra cost to you.

What to expect on your day trip to Stonehenge and Bath with Anderson Tours

When you book your day trip, you can choose which London tube station you want to board the coach from. The options going out in the morning are: King’s Cross, London Bridge, Victoria, South Kensington and Earl’s Court. On the journey back they only drop off at Earl’s Court and Victoria. We boarded at Victoria but for the least amount of time spent sitting in London traffic, I’d recommend boarding and disembarking at Earl’s Court as it’s the last and first stop. Your ticket will have the exact bus stop and address, as well as your boarding time. Make sure you arrive at least 10 to 15 minutes early.

You can bring hot drinks on the coach, as long as there’s a lid. You can also bring food but no hot food. As the tour leaves pretty early and only arrives in Stonehenge at around 11am, you might want to bring a hot drink and pastry with you. They do stop at a big service station on the way to Stonehenge that has food outlets and restrooms.

On the way back to London, because it’s about two and a half hours from Bath to London, they don’t make a stop at a service station. But don’t worry, there’s a toilet onboard!

Visiting Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, manged by English Heritage, and undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest mysteries – like, how did they get there?!

When the coach arrives, you’re given a wristband for your entry into the visitor centre and then you can either walk to the Stone Circle or get the free shuttle bus.

As it was a nice day we chose to walk in the fields, among the cows! Whilst it was lovely, it was actually a bit of a mistake as it takes around 25 minutes and it meant we had less time when we got to the henges. So my top tip is to get the shuttle bus there and back so you have enough time to listen to the audio guide.

English Heritage doesn’t provide audio guides with headphones so you need to bring your own headphones and download their App. It’s best to do this before your day trip in case you don’t have data or you can’t connect to WIFI.

When we visited it didn’t seem that busy to me. We managed to get tons of photos with no one in them – perfect for Instagram! English Heritage also has a number of fun photo opps that you can try yourself. ‘Pushing down the henges’ was my favourite!

We took about 35 minutes to walk around, which was enough to see them but not enough time to listen fully to the audio guide. Again, if you get the shuttle bus there instead of walking, you’ll have enough time. The shuttle bus only takes around 5 to 7 minutes.

As well as visiting the Stone Circle, there is also an immersive exhibition where you stand in the centre of the Stone Circle and a reconstruction of Neolithic houses that you can explore. So lots to fit in!

Our guide recommended eating lunch in Bath as there are lots of options but we chose to grab a sandwich from the cafe at the visitor centre at Stonehenge to eat on the bus so we had maximum exploring time in Bath. Also, you only arrive in Bath at about 2:30 pm so you might be starving by then!

What to expect in Bath

I’ve been to Bath a few times so I’ve seen most of the landmarks, however my friend had never been so we needed to fit in as much as we could. The coach drops you off right by Bath Abbey so it’s very central and easy to walk everywhere.

When we arrived we had only about an hour before we had to meet our guide outside the Roman Baths. As it was so close, we first walked to the magnificent Pulteney Bridge, which was completed in 1774, to admire the stunning view.

After walking over the bridge and stopping to buy a piece of delicious cake from Poppy’s Bakery, we walked up to the Royal Crescent, which is an amazing example of Georgian architecture. There’s a lovely park in front of it too and we also walked past a Bridgerton tour where everyone was dressed in costume!

We then walked back through the town to meet our guide to get our tickets for the Roman Baths. Bath Abbey is right next to the Roman Baths and we would’ve loved to have gone in but we simply didn’t have enough time so we just walked around it and took some photos – as it’s exquisite. It was first built in the 7th century, using Bath stone, and has been rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. Bath Abbey was also the coronation site of Edgar, the first King of England so it has huge historic significance.

Exploring the Roman Baths

The Roman Baths date back 2,000 years when they were a bathing complex for the locals. When you visit the Roman Baths you’re given an audio guide where you can listen to facts about the Baths as well as the thousands of archaeological items in their extensive collection.

I absolutely loved visiting the Roman Baths but it was quite rushed as the coach was leaving at 5pm, and obviously we couldn’t miss our ride home! We did see all of it, we just didn’t have enough time to listen to all the audio descriptions of items and rooms.

We did, however, have time to taste the spa water! I have to say, it was pretty gross! It was hot and had a smell like sulphur. I just had a small sip and that was enough. It was pretty cool though to try it, given the history of the spa water. And apparently it cured leprosy!

After visiting the Roman Baths we had a quick walk around and popped into M&S to buy some snacks for the two and a half drive back.

How much does a day trip from London to Stonehenge and Bath cost?

When doing my research, all the tour operators had a very similar price, so there didn’t seem to be a cost-saving incentive to go with one or another. One thing that I particularly liked about Anderson Tours is their commitment to ‘green travel’ and they’ve even been awarded the Green Tourism Award. The cost of the Stonehenge and Bath tour, with the Roman Baths included, is £125. Given that entry to Stonehenge is £25 and the Roman Baths are £24.50 (weekday) or £27 (weekends), you’re actually paying less than £100 for the coach.

If you feel you had a great experience, you can give the guide a tip when you get off the coach. The tip is shared between the guide and the driver. We tipped £10 as we had a great day and recognise it’s a long day for them too.

15% discount code for Stonehenge Tours from London

The lovely folk at Anderson Tours have kindly offered my readers a 15% discount on any of their Stonehenge tours if you use this link to book. Note that your discount doesn’t show until the Checkout stage when it will then be automatically applied.

Thoughts on our Stonehenge and Bath trip with Anderson Tours

I am so glad I did this day trip as it’s probably the easiest and most convenient way to see Stonehenge. It is a long day though so make sure you have enough snacks, drinks and maybe bring a tablet to watch a film, or read a book or something for the time spent on the coach. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes and definitely wear layers. It was fairly cold when we left London but then hot when we arrived in Stonehenge!

I highly recommend Anderson Tours. The coach was clean, comfy and had a toilet (super important for me!). Our guide was lovely and shared lots of tips and information and our driver was great – I felt very safe.

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