Will a trip to Stonehenge on the way to Southampton be over doing it?

[Badin]

We are flying from CLT to LHR day before our August departure from Southampton port.  Have hotel reservation in Southampton.  We get into Heathrow around 9 a.m..  Windsor Castle is other option, or just go to Southampton?

[LHT28]

depends on if you sleep well on the flight

Some can hit the ground running others need to get  a nap

 

 

[basor]

19 minutes ago, Badin said:

We are flying from CLT to LHR day before our August departure from Southampton port.  Have hotel reservation in Southampton.  We get into Heathrow around 9 a.m..  Windsor Castle is other option, or just go to Southampton?

Windsor is a beautiful town and also Winchester with it's lovely cathedral......

[PaulMCO]

We made a stop on the way to Southampton and spent  90 minutes there.

 

Yes you will be tired -- but best way to combat jet lag IMO is to not nap on the first day and get a good first night of sleep.   I have violated this rule many times though 🙂

 

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, PaulMCO said:

We made a stop on the way to Southampton and spent  90 minutes there.

 

Yes you will be tired -- but best way to combat jet lag IMO is to not nap on the first day and get a good first night of sleep.   I have violated this rule many times though 🙂

 

Agree!  No napping on arrival day. We made that mistake on our first visit to Europe several years ago as I am unable to sleep on a plane. Never again!! Now we try to book a food tour late afternoon on arrival day.  Takes care of the meal, keeps you awake and have found lots of fun and interesting people on the food tours. 

[JRIH]

2 hours ago, Badin said:

We are flying from CLT to LHR day before our August departure from Southampton port.  Have hotel reservation in Southampton.  We get into Heathrow around 9 a.m..  Windsor Castle is other option, or just go to Southampton?

Stonehenge is on the way to Southampton.  Sixty to 90 minutes is plenty of time to do Stonehenge.  Try to get there early as it is a popular place.

[midwife]

12 hours ago, Badin said:

We are flying from CLT to LHR day before our August departure from Southampton port.  Have hotel reservation in Southampton.  We get into Heathrow around 9 a.m..  Windsor Castle is other option, or just go to Southampton?

We are doing the same as you next week. Have booked a hire car and tickets to Windsor Castle for that day. Then off the Southampton. 

[alcpa1]

Since you can no longer get that close to Stonehenge, and it will be crowded, I'd opt for Winchester. The village is walkable and not as vast as Windsor for someone sleep deprived.

[Host Jazzbeau]

35 minutes ago, alcpa1 said:

Since you can no longer get that close to Stonehenge

Is it only open on the Solstice?  [image from June 21, 2023]

[Snaefell3]

If you're retired, there is a brute-force solution to jet lag:  For 'x' days before your trip, change your personal time-zone by one hour per day until you are on UK time.

 

As for Stonehenge, you're outside a rope-line about 40 feet from the stones

except for (A) 26 "Special Access" dawn or sunset passes per day, or (B) as a "Druid" on a Solstice or Equinox.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Snaefell3 said:

As for Stonehenge, you're outside a rope-line about 40 feet from the stones

except for (A) 26 "Special Access" dawn or sunset passes per day, or (B) as a "Druid" on a Solstice or Equinox.

Ah.  Good thing we went back in the day – so far back that we were able to hire Asterix le Gaulois as our tour guide!  😉

[Hambagahle]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Is it only open on the Solstice?  [image from June 21, 2023]

Stonehenge these days is jammed with people and you can no longer walk amongst the stones.  Really not worth your time.  Winchester is a lovely town with a splendid cathedral.  And the little café at the cathedral is pretty good too.

[midwife]

10 hours ago, midwife said:

We are doing the same as you next week. Have booked a hire car and tickets to Windsor Castle for that day. Then off the Southampton. 

We have also just booked a tour of the Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Whitchurch which will do after Windsor Castle. Sounds like a great day. 

[D. B.]

On 6/30/2023 at 9:33 PM, Snaefell3 said:

If you're retired, there is a brute-force solution to jet lag:  For 'x' days before your trip, change your personal time-zone by one hour per day until you are on UK time.

 

As for Stonehenge, you're outside a rope-line about 40 feet from the stones

except for (A) 26 "Special Access" dawn or sunset passes per day, or (B) as a "Druid" on a Solstice or Equinox.

Last time I was there 40 years ago you could go right up to the stones. 

 We are doing Marina leaving Southampton on July 11th. but plan to arrive LHR at 9 AM on the 9th. Being one who never sleeps on flights we plan to stay the first night in a Southampton Hotel and the take a Viator private trip to Stonehenge and Salsbury the next day (My Wife has never been to either) and join the ship the next day.

 There are thing we found interesting In Southampton on other pre cruise days.

 

[WarfRatWA]

On 6/30/2023 at 3:05 PM, Badin said:

We are flying from CLT to LHR day before our August departure from Southampton port.  Have hotel reservation in Southampton.  We get into Heathrow around 9 a.m..  Windsor Castle is other option, or just go to Southampton?

We just did this, except we stopped at Stonehenge on our return to London after the cruise.  That said, we arrived at about 11am on a Friday and it was glorious.  The weather was perfect, wildflowers bloomin' and crowds non-existent.  By noon, the tour bus parking lot was jammed and the site was crazy crowded.  But that hour we had, was excellent and sufficient.  If you can get there early, you may beat the crowds and its worth it.  The stones have been roped off since 1977, so its not exactly a new development.  

[Redtravel]

We flew in a day before a cruise. We visited Stonehenge. We hired a tour guide who picked us up at LHR, took us to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral, and then took us to our hotel in Southampton.  It was worth seeing.  I don’t recall the name of the tour/ transfer guide.  

[shank63]

We flew in to LHR and spent 2 nights in London sightseeing and then did the London to Southampton via Stonehenge.  I would think a LHR to Southampton via Stonehenge would be a long day following an overnight flight.
 

[shepherd really]

Stonehenge absolutely rocks!  I particularly liked the sheep all around the site, naturally. It made it feel like home. 

 

Take the excursion if your schedule allows.   

[lovetravel63-65]

On 6/30/2023 at 2:05 PM, Badin said:

We are flying from CLT to LHR day before our August departure from Southampton port.  Have hotel reservation in Southampton.  We get into Heathrow around 9 a.m..  Windsor Castle is other option, or just go to Southampton?

We live near Southampton and Salisbury.Stonehenge is not on the way to Southampton but is easily doable,Simply ask your taxi driver to take you via Stonehenge from Heathrow it is about 1.5 to 2 hours to Stonehenge and then about60- 75 minutes to Southampton.If you email me Stuartlake@btinternet.com I can give you 2 taxi companies who would probably do it and you can ask there price.You don’t need a guide 

[macaroni]

We spent our first night for Windsor Castle….spent the afternoon walking around the grounds, next morning headed towards Southampton and stopped at Stonehenge on our way….plenty of time.

[PeggyCTB]

On 7/2/2023 at 10:37 PM, D. B. said:

Last time I was there 40 years ago you could go right up to the stones. 

 We are doing Marina leaving Southampton on July 11th. but plan to arrive LHR at 9 AM on the 9th. Being one who never sleeps on flights we plan to stay the first night in a Southampton Hotel and the take a Viator private trip to Stonehenge and Salsbury the next day (My Wife has never been to either) and join the ship the next day.

 There are thing we found interesting In Southampton on other pre cruise days.

 

We will have a full day pre cruise without any plans in Southampton. We have done Stonehenge, Salisbury and Winchester. We will be eager to just stay in town. What did you find interesting there?

Thank you in advance.

[D. B.]

23 minutes ago, PeggyCTB said:

We will have a full day pre cruise without any plans in Southampton. We have done Stonehenge, Salisbury and Winchester. We will be eager to just stay in town. What did you find interesting there?

Thank you in advance.

I like history and so we spent a day once at Plymouth with all it's Royal Navy history.

There is an aviation museum in Southampton I found really interesting and because it was a quiet weekday the curator was delighted to give a personal tour and let me sit in some of the aircraft.

 Now I don't think that would be what anyone except a former US Navy aviation vet would be interested in?

 

[BWV]

On 7/2/2023 at 10:37 PM, D. B. said:

Last time I was there 40 years ago you could go right up to the stones. 

 We are doing Marina leaving Southampton on July 11th. but plan to arrive LHR at 9 AM on the 9th. Being one who never sleeps on flights we plan to stay the first night in a Southampton Hotel and the take a Viator private trip to Stonehenge and Salsbury the next day (My Wife has never been to either) and join the ship the next day.

 There are thing we found interesting In Southampton on other pre cruise days.

 

We’re also flying in on the 9th, meeting our daughter and teenage granddaughter, then after a night in Southampton, we have a full day booked to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Winchester. This all will be new for our granddaughter as will being on the ship from the 11th to 23rd!

[D. B.]

We did this today with a private driver in a nice Mercedes AMG and it was a great experience.

we booked with Viator.

D. B.

[BWV]

On 7/5/2023 at 1:16 AM, BWV said:

We’re also flying in on the 9th, meeting our daughter and teenage granddaughter, then after a night in Southampton, we have a full day booked to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Winchester. This all will be new for our granddaughter as will being on the ship from the 11th to 23rd!

We just had a fabulous day trip to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Winchester Cathedral with stonehengetours.com. We board Marina in an hour!