Why You Should Visit Stonehenge in Salisbury, England

I was thinking about past places I’ve been today and I thought of Stonehenge. Mostly because Gloria Steinhem talks about old rock structures in her book My Life on the Road that are even OLDER than Stonehenge yet no one seems to care. Then I thought, “Who would go out of their way to see them?”

Spoiler alert: The middle of the United States is basically filled with nothing. So who’s going to drive into the vast nothingness to go see these structures? I’d guess that’s why no one talks about them here.

But Salisbury is relatively close to a major city – London. I went one Saturday during my summer studying abroad on a trip to Salisbury to see the infamous Stonehenge and at first I was like, “OMG cool.” But after I took 400 pictures from various angles, I was all, “Anyone else ready to go eat?” On the upside: There are cute free range sheep milling around in the fields nearby so that at least adds a level of cuteness to your excursion.

Stonehenge is so famous because they’re these massive 25 ton stones, laid out in a perfect circle, and they may have been put there as early as 3000 BC. Which would lead any person to ask, “Well how the hell did any man manage to stand them up?”

Fun (creepy) fact: In it’s earliest days it may have been a burial ground, according to Wikipedia, because human remains were once found there. I, for one, think there should be more horror movies created around this myth. Hollywood, you’re welcome.

These rocks are also an UNESCO World Heritage Site and are currently owned by The Crown (which I’m assuming means the royal family?). You don’t need a day to go see these bad boys (rock). An hour will suffice and then you can warm up and dry off (I’m assuming it will be rainy) in the cute little town of Salisbury just down the road.

So, being the jaded New Yorker that I am, I’d encourage you, if you have limited time and resources, to look at my pictures, take them in, and plan to go somewhere else more exciting while you’re on your travels. But if you love rocks and maybe history and simply must go there, at least it’s not too far from civilization.