Stonehenge: Worth a Visit or Just a Pile of Rocks in a Field?

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If you’re planning a visit to England, or if you live there, you’ve probably wondered whether or not to visit Stonehenge. Someone is bound to have told you that it’s either just a pile of rocks in a field or an un-missable historic (and possibly spiritual) treasure. What’s it really like though…? You’ll have to keep reading to find out!

My biased opinion on Stonehenge

I’m not the kind of person that goes spouting my opinion about a place like I’m the ultimate travel authority. I’ve read articles by travel bloggers urging people not to visit places like Pompeii, Paris and Vietnam (yip, the whole country) because they had a bit of a rough time there. I’ve been to popular places that I didn’t really care for, but I can (almost) always detach myself from my own bias long enough to understand why other people might love them.

Oh yeah, this post is about Stonehenge! I quite enjoyed it, but I can see why people are a bit ambivalent towards this 5000 year old pile of rocks. I tend to go out of my way to visit historic sites, and generally, I go for the Catherine Zeta Jones mantra “The Older the Better”. Having said that, I wouldn’t say Stonehenge is anywhere near the top of my list. It’s one of the few iconic historic sites I have no interest in visiting again, but I’m glad I went. It’s such an important place for my particular culture (pretty much British, being a New Zealander and all) and it was special to finally visit it.

But What’s It Really Like?

It really is just a bunch of rocks in a field. I guess there’s a certain ascetic appeal to the way they have been arranged, but you won’t see any fine details like you will at other well known historic sites. The surrounds are quite nice as well, but again, it’s nowhere near mind-blowing. Stonehenge does get pretty busy, which didn’t really bother me, but if you hate crowds and are already on the fence about whether you should visit then that could be the final straw.

Is it Spiritual?

Hmm, I’m the wrong person to ask about that. It could well be, but I guess anywhere that people meditate or do rituals at must be kind of spiritual.

Did aliens build it?

I’m guessing if they had the technology to fly to Earth then they’d have built something a bit cooler (maybe like a pyramid) — so I reckon you can chalk this ancient wonder up to people. I’m no alien expert though (despite having seen all four Alien movies and a bit of Alien Vs Predator before falling asleep), so who knows.

So, is it worth visiting Stonehenge? Yes, no and maybe — depending on your character. If you’re interested in ancient history you won’t want to miss it, but if you’re not it might not be all that exciting (and it costs £18!).

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Jon Algie

A travel blogger from New Zealand who hates talking about himself in the third person and has no imagination when it comes to naming websites.

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