Is It Possible To See Stonehenge And London In A Day Trip From Southampton?

We will be on a Princess British Isles cruise in May. We will embark at LeHavre, France on May 12th. The next day, we will arrive at Southampton at 5am and depart at 5pm. We have been trying to find a tour that would take us from the port in Southampton to Stonehenge and then on to London for a tour of the main sights before returning us to the port in Southampton. Most tours we have found are one-way transfer/tours. Does anyone offer a tour like what we are seeking? Is it even possible to see Stonehenge and London in the same day on a round trip tour from Southampton?

Depends on which day of the week, but this is far too adventurous, Stonehenge is an hour from Southampton and even if you leave the ship at 7am and only have an hour at Stonehenge, its then 2 hours into London, even a whistlestop tour from a car of the sights not getting out to go in any and travel back to Southampton at least 1 ½ hours to be back in advance of 5pm you will do very little, London's legendary traffic will make you nervous of not getting back. Think again!!

It is not practical. You can probably do it with just a drive by, and “see”, not “visit”. You may just have to choose from your ship’s shore excursion and be sure not to miss your ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

There's far too much to "see" in London even in a full day.

Instead, look for a tour to Stonehenge that includes a short time in Salisbury where you can visit the Cathedral and see the Magna Carta and walk along the river Avon. Check Viator, Evans or Premium tours, then explore a private hire that will meet your needs. Note, if doing and independent tour, you will need to pre-purchase tickets to Stonehenge - the are date and time controlled for entry.

The ship may offer something to include Stonehenge.

Darcy

I agree with the above. The timing is just not practicable.

I would take a train to Salisbury and then the HoHo bus to Stonehenge (including admission). You should get back to Salisbury in time for lunch at one of the many places on offer, followed by a tour of one of the most magnificent cathedrals you can find anywhere; then a train back to Southampton in good time to catch your ship.

Depends on which day of the week, but this is far too adventurous, Stonehenge is an hour from Southampton and even if you leave the ship at 7am and only have an hour at Stonehenge, its then 2 hours into London, even a whistlestop tour from a car of the sights not getting out to go in any and travel back to Southampton at least 1 ½ hours to be back in advance of 5pm you will do very little, London's legendary traffic will make you nervous of not getting back. Think again!!

Remember they have one of the best train system in the world , look into catching that.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You definitely can't see Stonehenge & London in one day.

In fact, in your short day I doubt it's worth going to London at all - I agree with the others that Stonehenge & Salisbury is your best bet, and that the train to Salisbury then ho-ho to Stonehenge is the way to do it.

Forget "5am" - your ship will not be cleared to disembark until around 7am.

Trains to London at that time of the day are expensive, about £80 pp round-trip & you wouldn't be in London til about 9.30am.

With a 5pm sailing your latest back-on-board time will likely be 4.30pm - that means a train out of London by 3pm at the very latest, giving you a max of 5.5 hours in London.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

If London is bucket-list & you're not likely to have another chance, do consider it. Otherwise put London on the back-burner for another time, and instead consider......

Salisbury & Stonehenge.

Max £10 taxi ride from cruise terminal to Southampton Central station, trains to Salisbury run every 30 minutes, journey time about 40 minutes, fare about £10 pp round-trip (simply buy return train tickets at the station).

Ho-ho bus http://www.thestonehengetour.info/ from Salisbury station to Stonehenge.

Check earliest bus & frequency and opening time for Stonehenge http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/prices-and-opening-times , both of which depend on time-of-year, and catch a train to suit). Buy your Stonehenge tickets from the ho-ho driver (£35 pp for bus + Stonehenge admission + cathedral) - this avoids having to pre-purchase timed Stonehenge tickets.

About 90 minutes at Stonehenge then ho-ho back to Salisbury city centre, spend as much time as you have in the city centre & cathedral, then ho-ho (if the timing is right) or 15 min walk or 5 minutes by local bus or taxi back to Salisbury station for a train back to Southampton Central.

A much cheaper and easier day than travelling to London, and no need to commit in advance.

The usual turnaround port for Princess is Southampton, not Le Havre. So most passengers will depart at Southampton & a new crop of passengers will board. It's worth checking out your latest back-on-board time, because for instance if you can't do a lifeboat drill when you board at Le Havre you'll have to do it with the "new" cruisers who board at Southampton and that could involve an earlier back-on-board time, perhaps 60 or even 90 minutes before your sailing time.

That would curtail your time in Salisbury / Stonehenge, and would wipe out any realistic ideas of London.:(

JB :)

You definitely can't see Stonehenge & London in one day.

 

In fact, in your short day I doubt it's worth going to London at all - I agree with the others that Stonehenge & Salisbury is your best bet, and that the train to Salisbury then ho-ho to Stonehenge is the way to do it.

 

Forget "5am" - your ship will not be cleared to disembark until around 7am.

Trains to London at that time of the day are expensive, about £80 pp round-trip & you wouldn't be in London til about 9.30am.

With a 5pm sailing your latest back-on-board time will likely be 4.30pm - that means a train out of London by 3pm at the very latest, giving you a max of 5.5 hours in London.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

If London is bucket-list & you're not likely to have another chance, do consider it. Otherwise put London on the back-burner for another time, and instead consider......

 

Salisbury & Stonehenge.

Max £10 taxi ride from cruise terminal to Southampton Central station, trains to Salisbury run every 30 minutes, journey time about 40 minutes, fare about £10 pp round-trip (simply buy return train tickets at the station).

Ho-ho bus http://www.thestonehengetour.info/ from Salisbury station to Stonehenge.

Check earliest bus & frequency and opening time for Stonehenge http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/prices-and-opening-times , both of which depend on time-of-year, and catch a train to suit). Buy your Stonehenge tickets from the ho-ho driver (£35 pp for bus + Stonehenge admission + cathedral) - this avoids having to pre-purchase timed Stonehenge tickets.

About 90 minutes at Stonehenge then ho-ho back to Salisbury city centre, spend as much time as you have in the city centre & cathedral, then ho-ho (if the timing is right) or 15 min walk or 5 minutes by local bus or taxi back to Salisbury station for a train back to Southampton Central.

A much cheaper and easier day than travelling to London, and no need to commit in advance.

 

The usual turnaround port for Princess is Southampton, not Le Havre. So most passengers will depart at Southampton & a new crop of passengers will board. It's worth checking out your latest back-on-board time, because for instance if you can't do a lifeboat drill when you board at Le Havre you'll have to do it with the "new" cruisers who board at Southampton and that could involve an earlier back-on-board time, perhaps 60 or even 90 minutes before your sailing time.

That would curtail your time in Salisbury / Stonehenge, and would wipe out any realistic ideas of London.:(

 

JB :)

Are you flying out of London once you’re cruise is over? Perhaps add on a day or two of touring before you fly out.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

As John Bull already said (and he has some of the best info!), it would be impossible. We actually rented a car after we disembarked in Southampton and drove to the Cornwall coast for the weekend before heading into London. I realize it's coming from a different area, but the area around Stonehenge is very busy. We opted not to spend the insane amount of money to walk over to see Stonehenge (my husband and I both saw it when we were each in the UK many years ago, it hasn't changed). Instead, we did a drive by, in the traffic, and saw it just fine there. Once we were done though, it still took a few hours to get into London. And having spent the next 3+ days in London, it's a very busy city! So getting around to just see the sites takes time.

Are you flying out of London once you’re cruise is over? Perhaps add on a day or two of touring before you fly out.

DCLCrazy,

No. We will disembark in LeHavre. We are going to do Normandy and then Paris for a few days after the cruise.

All,

Thanks to everyone for their advice. As you could probably tell from the tone of the initial question, we kind of already new what answers to expect. Just figured it was worth a try to see if anyone thought it might actually be doable.

I think we are going to take the advice of several here and spend the day at Stonehenge and Salisbury. We will just have to save London for another time when we have a several days to do it right. We really appreciate all of the specific recommendations. We will check them all out.

All,

Thanks to everyone for their advice. As you could probably tell from the tone of the initial question, we kind of already new what answers to expect. Just figured it was worth a try to see if anyone thought it might actually be doable.

 

I think we are going to take the advice of several here and spend the day at Stonehenge and Salisbury. We will just have to save London for another time when we have a several days to do it right. We really appreciate all of the specific recommendations. We will check them all out.

Haha! Yep! But it never hurts to ask, someone might have a plan! ;)

London is a lot to take in for sure. We were so busy in our 3+ days there. On our first day alone, we opted to walk instead of taking the tube, and we did about 11+ miles!! :o