There are several ways to get from Salisbury to Stonehenge. You can do the Stonehenge tour by bus, you can walk from Salisbury to the Stonehenge site, or, if you must, you can drive.
The Stonehenge Tour Bus
Probably the best way to get to Stonehenge from Salisbury is by the Salisbury to Stonehenge tour bus.
This picks people up from:
- Salisbury Railway station
- Salisbury Bus Station
- Old Sarum castle
- Castle Road, near the Bed and Breakfast guest houses
The bus costs £17.50 for adults (as of November 2009), including admission to Stonehenge, . There are discounts for students and children.
The admission to Stonehenge on its own, if you weren’t on the bus, is £6.50 so effectively the bus fare is £11.00.
In addition entry into Old Sarum, Cobbett’s ‘Accursed Hill‘ is included.
At the time of writing, the frequency of the bus varies with the seasons. They run every 30 minutes in summer and every 60 minutes in winter. Check the bus company’s website for a timetable.
Advantages and disadvantages of using the Salisbury to Stonehenge bus
| It picks up from the Salisbury railway station, and central Salisbury | You don’t see very much of the Avon Valley, which is lovely. |
| You get to visit Old Sarum too. | It’s not hugely cheap – £17.50 return. |
| It’s environmentally friendly. | |
| You can get a joint rail and bus ticket – ask at Waterloo. | |
| The Salisbury to Stonehenge bus has a cool paint-job! |
Bus from Salisbury to Amesbury, then walk to Stonehenge
The ‘Stonehenge bus’ is a bus for tourists. It’s been painted really nicely. It’s also really convenient in that it drops you at Stonehenge.
You do pay a small premium for this though.
A slightly cheaper option, if you have the legs for it, is to get the local, non-tourist bus from Salisbury to Amesbury, and then walk the remaining three miles.
You can either walk along the A303, which is fairly horrible, or walk across country. I need to do some more research on how easy it is to do the latter.
About the bus from Salisbury to Amesbury
Buses in Wiltshire are safe and relatively pleasant. Salisbury bus-station is utilitarian at best and grotty at worst, but it’s not unsafe.
There are a number of buses throughout the day.
It costs £5.60 return.
The buses which go from Salisbury to Amesbury are routes:
- Route 1 – goes through the Avon valley, but there are only one or two a day and you can’t catch it both ways.
- Route 4 – only one a day. The Activ8 is better.
- Route 5/6 – every 30 minutes. Up the A345
- Route Activ8 – every 30 minutes. Up the A345
The timings above are approximate and subject to change, PLEASE check with the bus company.
About the walk from Amesbury to Stonehenge
You can walk along the A303, but it’s a busy, nasty road. From memory there are pavements all the way along the South side, but you need to cross the road to get to Stonehenge, which is both difficult and dangerous.
More detail to follow.
Advantages and disadvantages of getting the bus to Amesbury and then walking
| It picks up from the centre of Salisbury | You don’t see very much of the Avon Valley, on most routes. |
| It’s cheaper than the Stonehenge Tour bus, and you can pretend you’re not a tourist! | |
| If you can arrange your trip one way on route 1, you go through the valley | The number 1 bus doesn’t run much |
| You have to do a 6 mile round walk! | You have to do a 6 mile round walk! |
Walk
I have walked from Salisbury to Stonehenge twice and I’ve really loved it – although it should be said I’ve never walked both ways.
It’s about 10 miles, and it’s fairly flat. The best routes would be through the Avon Valley. There’s a fairly quiet country lane, with a couple of pubs en route.
Advantages and disadvantages of walking from Salisbury to Stonehenge
| It’s beautiful | You have to cross the A303, which is horribly busy or horribly fast, and sometimes both |
| If it appeals to you, you can see yourself as getting to the Henge in the way that the ancients did | |
| You can stop at the pubs | |
| You get to see Old Sarum, Heale House and the home of a famous rock star |
Cycle
As far as I know there isn’t anywhere that you can hire a bicycle in Salisbury. It’s a shame.
Taxi
The taxi fare would be about £20 to £30 each way. You might be able to negotiate for a taxi driver to wait while you look around Stonehenge, but you probably wouldn’t get much change from £100.
Coach tour from London
Another way of covering the distance between Salisbury and Stonehenge is to visit both as part of an organised coach trip. Several companies run coach trips from London.
There are trips that take in Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath, but I wouldn’t really recommend it, unless you’re desperate to see all three in a short period of time.
I live in Salisbury, so this isn’t something I’ve done, but the following seem to be fairly reputable.
- Evan Evans Sightseeing Tours :: Select sightseeing, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Bath – although I think Stonehenge, Salisbury and would be a bit of a rush
Drive from Salisbury to Stonehenge
….if you must!
If you’re using a Sat-Nav, the postcode for Stonehenge would be SP4 7DE. It’s on the A303.
There are three routes:
- The A345 – Castle Road out of Salisbury, turn left onto the A303 just after Amesbury
- Through the Avon Valley
- The A360 – Devizes Road out of Salisbury, turn left onto the A303
Of these I would avoid the A345, because the Countess Roundabout (where you turn onto the A303) is prone to traffic jams.
If you go through the Avon valley, I would recommend the cafe at Heale House if you fancy tea and a cake. It’s certainly better than the catering at Stonehenge.
Hints and tips
A couple of miscellaneous points:
- The Stonehenge site is very exposed to the weather!
- The catering at Stonehenge is fairly basic – it’s better to plan to eat and drink in Salisbury
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