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Stonehenge Winter Solstice Sunset Guided Tour from Salisbury.
Witness the sun setting at Stonehenge from the ceremonial Avenue on the Winter Solstice. Visit two World Heritage Sites in one day!
Stonehenge is carefully aligned on a sight-line that points to the winter solstice sunset and it is now thought that the Winter Solstice was actually more important to the people who constructed Stonehenge than the Summer Solstice
Winter Solstice Guided Tour Highlights (21st December):
- Visit Stonehenge at Sunset on the Winter Solstice
Visit the English Heritage visitor centre
See Bronze Age Burial Mounds
Look inside the reconstructed Neolithic houses
Stand in the 360° theatre and watch the solstice sunset
Visit Avebury Stone Circle
See Silbury Hill / Ancient Chalk Hill Figures / Neolithic Burial Mounds
Luxury Mini Coach, expert guide services and all entrance fees included
Full Day Tour departs from Salisbury.
On this guided tour we’ll follow in the footsteps of people from 4,500 years ago as the made their way across the landscape and up the ceremonial Avenue towards Stonehenge as the Sun set into the centre of the monument before the longest night of the year.
Visit Avebury Stone Circle on the Winter Solstice
Avebury Henge is one of the Wonders of Ancient Britain. Originally, the megalithic complex consisted of over 700 standing stones and contained the world’s largest stone circle. Long and meandering stone avenues coursed for one and a half miles which led to the inner circles and the heart of the stone temple. Walk amongst the Stones with the Druids and Pagans absorbing the magic of the largest Stone Circle in the world at one of the most important times of year. Take time to reflect upon its powerful, mysterious presence and the ancient engineering and design.
Enjoy a walking tour of this ancient and see the many Druids and Pagans gathering for the solstice celebrations. There’s also time to explore the charming village with its thatched cottages, antiques and Saxon village church. Maybe enjoy a traditional cream tea or if you are feeling brave enough why not try some local ale in Avebury’s haunted Inn, the Red Lion (the most haunted pub in England) before we continue to Salisbury via the scenic country back roads
You will pass famous white horses carved into the chalk hillsides and picturesque, tucked away villages. We also explore the mysterious phenomena of crop circles and take a closer look at any which may be in the area (seasonal generally from May to August). Their appearance is always unexpected, unpredictable and largely unexplained. We will pass ancient burial mounds and the mysterious Silbury Hill. This is Europe’s largest prehistoric man-made monument yet still a mystery to modern day man.
Sunset on the 21st December is at 15.52pm. We will be there for sunset!
Our Winter Solstice Sunset Tour departs form Salisbury at 9am on 21st December 2021
We also offer Stonehenge private guided tours and Stonehenge walking tours.
The Local Stonehenge Experts
http://www.StonehengeTravel.co.uk
The Great West Way: Wiltshire to star in long-distance touring route.
VisitWiltshire has secured funding for its plan to create one of the world’s long-distance touring routes between London and Bristol with about a quarter being in Wiltshire.
Avebury is one of the World Heritage destinations to be highlighted on the Great West Way
The project is currently operating under the working title of ‘The Great West Way’, and aims to create a world class tourism experience, winning new business and market share for Britain, raising awareness, boosting the visitor economy and transforming the visitor experience along and around the route.
‘The Great West Way’ is one of a number of successful projects to receive funding from the £40m Discover England Fund administered by VisitEngland.
It is a Government-funded programme of activity aimed at offering world-class English tourism products to the right customers at the right time and will be supported by match funding from partners in the public and private sectors.
VisitWiltshire is leading on the project with a £250,000 grant to be spent between October and March 31, 2017.
The project will include:
- Concept testing and case study analysis
- An environmental assessment and economic impact study
- Developing a brand proposition and messaging for the route
- Developing new pilot itineraries for launch in key target markets.
Those supporting the bid include Local Enterprise Partnerships and towns along the route, transport operators, arts and heritage organisations, World Heritage Sites and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, tour operators, guiding companies and a wide range of tourism businesses.
Sally Balcombe, VisitEngland chief executive, said: “We had an exceptionally high number of submissions far outweighing the allocated funding available and following a rigorous applications process we are delighted to work closely with those excellent winners on building world-class ‘bookable’ tourism products showcasing the best of England to international and domestic visitors.
“VisitWiltshire’s project will test the concept of a long-distance touring route in England that will promote places to visit and stay and feature an outstanding, high quality local food and drink offer, providing visitors with a new and exciting experience of rural England.”
And David Andrews, chief executive of VisitWiltshire, said: “We are delighted to have secured funding for this project, and particularly pleased that it has been so well received by so many partners.
“We now have the opportunity to open up a new touring corridor to encourage visitors to travel west of London, creating compelling road, rail, canal, cycling and walking tourism experiences.
“For an international visitor, this route presents many of England’s most iconic attractions – London, Bristol and Bath, the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, Windsor, Castle Combe, Lacock and the Cotswolds.
“The aim of the project is to encourage visitors to tour and explore more of the region using a range of new itineraries to experience less-well known areas, slowing and lengthening visits.
“This new project will create a new and exciting addition to England’s existing tourism offer.”
The Discover England Fund was announced by the Government in November 2015, which is aimed at supporting tourism partly through joined-up geographies, themes and transport.
Article by Bruno Clements Wiltshire Times
The Stonehenge Travel Company
Stonehenge and Salisbury Guided Tours
Archaeology Day Tours of Wiltshire’s World Heritage Sites.
Stonehenge and Avebury form part of an UNESCO World Heritage Site which stands testament to the ages. The explanations behind why the sites are located where they are and what their exact purposes are still remain a mystery to this day with a magnetism that has drawn people to them for centuries.
We are pleased to offer exclusive Archaeology Tours visiting both Stonehenge and Avebury throughout 2016. We believe we offer an excellent up-to-date specialist service; giving you the opportunity to learn in great detail about these amazing prehistoric sites, but also leaving you time to explore your surroundings by yourself.
Stonehenge, Avebury and Bath Guided Tour from London
Britian’s most beautiful landscapes
Tour Leaders are qualified archaeologists
Walk the paths of ritual specialists and builders of Britain’s most fascinating and awe-inspiring prehistoric sites, at Stonehenge and Avebury.
Explore the Roman and Georgian history of Bath.
Guaranteed small groups 8 – 18 participants.
This feature-packed archaeological tour takes in the iconic stone circles of Stonehenge
Small Group Guided Tour of Avebury
and Avebury and a delightful break in the beautiful Roman city of Bath.
Leaving from London by luxury mini coach, this Stonehenge tour will explore its iconic standing stones with expert analysis by a trained archaeologist. Nearby Avebury is an even more impressive site, covering a much wider area and you will also encounter Neolithic burial tombs and the less visited ancient site of Woodhenge.
Mid-day is spent in gorgeous Bath offering history of a different era. There are colorful remnants of its glorious Roman past to see and regency mansion houses from Georgian times. The famous Roman baths are a must see.
Guided tour itinerary:
The morning starts with a visit to Durrington Walls and Woodhenge, home to the ‘Stonehenge Builder’s’ village and the most convincing evidence for human sacrifice. We then travel a short distance to Stonehenge. We enjoy a leisurely paced walk through the landscape immediately surrounding Stonehenge, visiting the Stonehenge Cursus, Bronze Age burial mounds and walk along the Stonehenge Avenue. We complete our morning at Stonehenge with a guided walk around the stone circle, our archaeologists bringing to life this enigmatic, ancient and mysterious monument.
At mid-day we arrive at the beautiful Georgian city of Bath. Here we allow our guests aprox 2 hours to enjoy the centre of this city, famous for Jane Austen, Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths. We also use this opportunity for our guests to have lunch.
We conclude our visit to Bath with a coach tour of the most impressive examples of architecture Bath has to offer, visiting the Assembly Rooms, Royal Circus and Royal Crescent.
The Afternoon is spent at the Avebury World Heritage Landscape. We visit Silbury Hill, the largest man-made hill in prehistoric Europe. We enter the 5500 year old burial chamber of West Kennet Long Barrow, entering a sacred space originally reserved only for ritual specialists and the dead.
We finish by visiting the largest stone circle in Europe at Avebury, with its beautiful medieval village situated inside. As John Aubrey in the 1600’s notes [Avebury]…”does as much exceed in greatness the so renowned Stonehenge as a Cathedral doeth a parish church.”
Please also note as part of the Stonehenge, Salisbury and Avebury Archaeologist Guided Tour, the detailed walk around the Stonehenge Cursus, Stonehenge Avenue and Bronze Age burial mounds only runs between March to October, this is due to time restrictions in the winter months
View 2016 Tour Departures and book now
We also offer a Stonehenge, Bath and Salisbury guided tour
Bringing History Alive……………..
Links:
STONEHENGE & AVEBURY WORLD HERITAGE SITE
VISIT WILTSHIRE WORLD HERITAGE SITE INFORMATION
Stonehenge and Salisbury Guided Tours
The Stonehenge Travel and Tour Company
http://www.StonehengeTravel.co.uk
Stonehenge and Salisbury Guided Tours 