sts7049 said:

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you can take the eurostar to paris easily but that isn't a day trip. it's just over two hours of travel each way plus getting to/from stations, you will not have much of a day to explore anything. it's also pricey.

for bath there are trains that can get you there. the train trip should be a bit shorter, maybe just over an hour. i dont know if you can get to stonehenge solely by train.

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I did the single day turn London to Paris and back twice for work meetings and once with my wife for her birthday. It's doable but it is a really long day. I'd probably do it over Bath for what it's worth. Bath is nice but you'll inevitably have a much more memorable day in Paris for a day than Bath. And both trips would be really long days. The Eurostar is more comfortable than the GWR too.

Being honest, I wasn't that blown away by Stonehenge.

If you do Paris in a day, you need to make sure you have a rock solid itinerary.

It's been a while since we went, but early morning you could access the stones. Later in the morning there was a sidewalk around with a rope barrier you could not cross. We rented a car and stayed at a nearby hotel to be able to visit and access before the masses and day trippers arrived.

AgOutsideAustin said:

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What ?? lol golf courses and now London ?? I'll be in London end of May with my wife.
Brother from another mother I guess.

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Stalker. We'll be there week leading to Memorial Day and getting up to Scotland a little. Only time for one round, but making it a good one at Trump Turnberry

The Milkman said:

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AgOutsideAustin said:

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What ?? lol golf courses and now London ?? I'll be in London end of May with my wife.
Brother from another mother I guess.

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Stalker. We'll be there week leading to Memorial Day and getting up to Scotland a little. Only time for one round, but making it a good one at Trump Turnberry

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Nice, no golf for me but this trip clears the way for future golf trips to Scotland and Ireland ! Strategery lol. We are going to Edinburgh and up to St. Andrews and have a Sunday walk on the Old Course with a historian.

Alr3111 said:

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It's been a while since we went, but early morning you could access the stones. Later in the morning there was a sidewalk around with a rope barrier you could not cross. We rented a car and stayed at a nearby hotel to be able to visit and access before the masses and day trippers arrived.

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I could see that being the way to do it. I think they offer that too way in advance.

I think people see pictures online of Stonehenge standing alone in a desolate field and picture connecting with their ancestors in peace with a backdrop of English breeze kissing the back of their neck. In reality, it's pretty crowded and somewhat noisy, not far off of a major road and the closest you get to the stones is probably 50 yards away or so. Probably the single thing I've been to in my lifetime where the spread between expectations and reality were immediately so far apart as soon as I arrived to something. You arrive on site and as soon as you pull into the crowded bus site, you see a full parking lot in front of the massive gift shop, and people everywhere, reality just slaps you in the face.

To get something out of Stonehenge, I'd say you have to really be into Stonehenge and even then… know what to expect when you go or you'll be severely disappointed.

There's other Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in Britain that aren't as big as Stonehenge… but offer a significantly better experience.

Some people love Stonehenge and some hate it. You can take a viator bus trip to Bath & Stonehenge from London. It makes things easy but you have to follow their schedule. If your worried about Stonehenge, you may want to think about a bus trip to Dover and Canterbury or the train to Winchester.

Stonehenge is very crowded these days and parking at the visitor center and either walking over a mile to the stones or taking the shuttle bus does suck but it's still one of the most recognizable monuments in the world. ATM9000 said you can't get within 50 yards of the stones but that's not true. They have a circular walking path that keeps you 50 yards away from the stones but the last quarter of the path bends towards stone and gets you to about 10 yards. So, you'll get good views of the stones but it will be hard to get a picture w/o a bunch of people in it