Stonehenge is one of the world’s most interesting prehistoric monuments. Located in Wiltshire England, this popular monument consists of colossal 25-ton stones standing in an almost perfect circle. This is how to visit Stonehenge for free.
Now, you may be thinking…so what, a bunch of stones in a circle? Why should I care, or pay it a visit? Well, for centuries, people have been left wondering how these prehistoric stones got here in the first place. It has left many people baffled. Some have their conspiracy theories, others just wish to pay it a visit to see it for themselves. Either way, Stonehenge is one of the most visited sites in the UK and we are going to share with you how you can visit the site free of charge!
Typically speaking, we always enjoy giving our money to help support tourism. As avid travellers ourselves, we understand the value in helping the local economy.
However, when it came to purchasing tickets for Stonehenge, we were a bit apprehensive after finding the price for two would cost us roughly £48 including parking! Seeing as though last year, the English Heritage made over £73 million from Stonehenge alone, we didn’t feel as guilty going the free route for this visit.
Below we will map out the exact steps of how you can visit Stonehenge completely FREE! Don’t worry, the entire process is safe and nothing is illegal. You will be pleasantly surprised with how close you can get to the infamous Stonehenge without even breaking the bank!
1
Plugin Fargo Road Into Your Navigation
Stonehenge is located in the town of Amesbury, in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside.
You can actually get a quick glimpse of the monument if you are travelling along the A303 road. When we were there, we noticed a long line of traffic along the A303 as many people tend to slow down to catch a quick look themselves.
Our first step is to plug in Fargo Road (Lark Hill), into your navigation. This road has parking along the side for free and has a pathway that connects you directly with the public footpath to Stonehenge.
There should be a large white sign that says ‘Stonehenge World Heritage Site’ at the top. We parked directly on the side of the road next to it. See below for the photo!
2
From The Sign, Walk Straight Along The Path Until You Get To Stonehenge
From the sign, you will see a path straight ahead, its a pretty wide gravel path that you follow for roughly 15-20 minutes by foot. There should be no turns at all, simply walk straight for a fair bit of time until you reach the main gate where the tour busses stop. You will know you’re close when you see the Heritage Site workers and staff. They typically guard the gate and they ensure the site is safe.
A fair bit of warning, when we visited there was a huge hippy caravan camped out along the gravel road. Passing them in the morning definitely made it a really memorable experience! We were unsure if there are there all the time, but they were blasting their music bright and early. We asked the staff at Stonehenge about them, they noted that they are typically always there, but generally didn’t blast music!
How To Visit Stonehenge for Free
3
Go Through The Public Footpath Gate
As we mentioned, you will know when you have reached the end of the path once you hit the main entrance road to the site where the busses drive. You cannot enter through this road.
However, just before it on the left-hand side there is a public footpath gate. See image below. Enter through this gate and walk alongside the path until you get up close to the stones.
We are not exaggerating when we say this path is just a few feet away from the same path the paying customers walk along! You are able to get the same exact view for free. Better yet, if you are able to arrive early, you can see it with no tourists there at all! The site doesn’t open until 9:30 am.
How To Visit Stonehenge for Free
4
Enjoy
Once you have made it take the time to enjoy it and walk around! Even though you cannot physically walk up to the stones yourself, you still get a pretty phenomenal view from the public footpath.
The best part of the entire thing is that is completely free and legal! The staff members of the site even walked over to us and gave us some fun facts about the site! We figured they were used to having people view Stonehenge from this path quite frequently.
What is so great about visiting Stonehenge for free, is that you can visit it on your own time. You don’t feel rushed, or pressed for time.
We visited early and enjoyed the peacefulness of the site with no distractions.
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our FREE visit to Stonehenge and were happy we saved the money. We hope this guide was useful for you and could help you plan the same wonderful trip to Stonehenge.
For more blogs like this Click Here.
Dear travellers, I was so pleased to hear that you visited Stonehenge for free. The monument was donated to the country by Sir Cecil Chubb who bought it at auction and he was a generous local man who bequeathed the monument to our nation on the understanding that access should be free to all local people and a very small charge to others. He would be horrified at the dreadful money making organisation English Heritage who have ruined the experience for visitors. As a child I used to go to Stonehenge in the 60’s on horseback and we could sit among the Stones and picnic before riding home. There should be no charge to visit so well done! Margaret Cluett Shaftesbury, Dorset