How To Get To Stonehenge From Birmingham: Everything You Need To Know
Planning a day trip to Stonehenge from Birmingham? Read on for details!
Stonehenge is the most historically fascinating tourist attraction in the UK, but planning a trip there from Birmingham can be quite a complicated affair.
The megalithic monuments based in Salisbury is full of wonder, mystery and is a totally awe-inspiring sight to behold.
Having always been fascinated with Stonehenge I recently went on a day trip to this magical site and opted to join a tour guide directly from Birmingham, which also visits the beautiful city of Bath.
I’ve now put together this blog post, detailing everything you need to know on how to reach this amazing ancient ground from Birmingham. I cover how to get there by car, public transport and of course taking a tour guide as well.
⌚ In a rush? My Tour Recommendation to Stonehenge from Birmingham:
✅ From Birmingham: Stonehenge & Bath Day Tour
My Tour Recommendations from London:
✅ From London: Stonehenge Morning Day Trip with Admission
✅ Stonehenge & Bath: Full-Day Coach Tour from London
✅ From London: Windsor, Oxford & Stonehenge Full-Day Trip
How To Get To Stonehenge From Birmingham
So without further ado, let’s examine in detail what are the best options when it comes to reaching Stonehenge from Birmingham:
How to get to Stonehenge by car from Birmingham 🚙
Your best option to reach Stonehenge from anywhere is by car. Stonehenge is based in Salisbury in the region of Wiltshire and is located in quite a remote area of English countryside.
In total, Stonehenge is 117 miles from Birmingham, so you’re going to need several hours of travel to reach the famous stones and drive back again in just one day.
If you’re driving from Birmingham then reaching Stonehenge should take you around 2 hrs and 30 minutes to 3 hours, depending on which route you take and how quiet the traffic is.
👉 Pro Tip: The fastest route to take via car from Birmingham is the M40 and A34 to Salisbury and follow the signs to Stonehenge from there. You can also take the A429, but this is a longer route.
The truth is that if you don’t drive then reaching Stonehenge is going to be quite a challenge.
How to get to Stonehenge from Birmingham by public transport 🚆
Although it is possible to reach Stonehenge from Birmingham using public transport, expect a long day of multiple train and bus connections.
The fastest way to reach Stonehenge using public transport from Birmingham is via London, and here is a step by step guide of how to do it:
- Catch a train from either Birmingham New Street station or Birmingham Moor Street station to London.
- At London, you’ll need to head to Waterloo Station, which is seven stops on the Northern Line (the black line) from Euston Station.
- From Waterloo, catch a direct train to Salisbury, which takes around 1 hour 30 minutes.
- At Salisbury Station you can catch a Stonehenge Tour Bus which runs hourly. This takes around 35 minutes and you can choose a bus only ticket (£19.50 for adults) or a tour ticket option.
As someone who doesn’t drive, I looked into doing this exact route from Birmingham. I soon came to the conclusion that it was just too time consuming, costly and complicated to do.
However, it is possible to go on a day tour to Stonehenge from Birmingham, which I found to be a much better option.
Day Tour To Stonehenge From Birmingham
Having opted not to travel to Stonehenge via public transport, my only option was to take a tour guide there instead, direct from Birmingham.
This one day tour guide that I chose lasts for 11 hours and costs £74, including your entry ticket to Stonehenge.
This is actually pretty good value for money. The cost works out cheaper than going to Stonehenge via public transport, and you don’t have all the hassle of catching trains and buses etc.
➡️ Visit Stonehenge & Bath on a Day Tour from Birmingham!
Book your ticket easily by clicking here
I found this to be a fantastic tour overall, the tour guide was excellent and visiting Bath was a nice bonus too.
Plus, you also get to spend 3 hours to explore Bath, which is arguably the most beautiful city in the whole of England, if not the UK.
What time does the tour start?
The tour starts at 9am when your coach departs from Birmingham. The coach’s departure point is just a very short walk from Birmingham New Street Station and is easy to find.
The coach itself is very nice and your tour guide gives you a brief history lesson about Stonehenge during the journey, which takes roughly 3 hours from Birmingham.
How long do you spend at Stonehenge?
Once you arrive at Stonehenge around 12pm, you then have 2 hours in total to discover the magical ancient structure.
What’s great about this tour is that you don’t have to queue up at the Visitor Centre to purchase your entry ticket to Stonehenge. Instead, your tour guide will collect wrist bands for everyone on the tour and hand them out to you.
From the coach parking space you have to board a shuttle bus to the Stonehenge site which takes just 3 minutes. And then you are free to appreciate the magnificence of the stones.
Your coach departs at 2pm, so you have to make sure to catch the shuttle bus back to the Visitor Centre so you can get back on the coach with plenty of time to spare.
To be honest you’ll probably only spend around 1 hour at most at the actual stone circle site, meaning you have time to grab some food or a drink at the cafe back at the Visitor Centre and peruse the souvenir store.
What to expect at Bath
After departing Stonehenge, your coach then takes an hour or so to reach Bath, and once there you have 3 hours to discover this beautiful city.
I loved Bath – it is a truly wonderful place, full of historical sites and 3 hours is just about enough time to visit the following touristic highlights:
- The Roman Baths – one of the best preserved Roman sites in the world. Dating back over 2,000 years, this is a fascinating thermal spa bathing complex.
- Bath Abbey – situated right next to the Roman Baths, this fantastic Abbey is a truly astounding place of worship.
- The Jane Austin Centre – this small museum is a must for any Jane Austin fans, who was a Bath resident in the early 1800’s.
- The Royal Crescent – an impressive row of terraced houses, this is one of the city’s must see landmarks.
Day Tours To Stonehenge From London
If you’re in London and fancy going on a day tour to Stonehenge then there a lot of options! You can choose a day tour just to Stonehenge or combine it with a trip to the likes of Windsor Castle, Bath or Oxford.
Check out these awesome day tours from London:
- From London: Stonehenge Morning Day Trip with Admission
- Stonehenge & Bath: Full-Day Coach Tour from London
- From London: Windsor, Oxford & Stonehenge Full-Day Trip
What To Expect At Stonehenge
So what exactly can you expect when you reach Stonehenge? Let me break it down for you:
Stonehenge Visitor Centre
If you decide not to visit Stonehenge as part of a tour, then you’ll have to purchase your entry ticket at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre.
Costing £30 for adults, you can either buy a ticket directly at the centre or buy your ticket and book a time slot in advance online.
The Visitor Centre is located about a mile away from the stone circle, and your ticket includes use of a shuttle bus there and back.
You can of course choose to walk it to the stones and back to the Visitor Centre if you feel the need for exercise – it takes about 30 minutes of walking each way.
Are there facilities near Stonehenge?
Yes, the Visitor Centre has plenty of facilities, including:
- Car parking space – costs £5 to use.
- Cafe – offering meals such as soup, hot pot, sandwiches, cakes, snacks and hot and cold drinks.
- Exhibition – featuring hundreds of ancient artefacts discovered at the site and is perfect for youngsters.
- Souvenir store – selling every type of memorabilia related to the famous stone circle.
- Toilets.
Outside the exhibition you’ll see a real life size replica of one of the massive stones, which give you an idea of just how difficult it must have been to move them to the area thousands of years ago.
How long should you spend at Stonehenge?
Honestly, I don’t think you need to spend more than 1 hour at the stone circle. Once you arrive there it doesn’t take that long to walk around the entire megalithic site and take several photos.
But you definitely don’t want to rush the experience, so take your time and fully appreciate the mystery of such an ancient structure of which so little is really known about.
Stonehenge from Birmingham FAQs
Still not sure about visiting Stonehenge from Birmingham on a day trip? Let me answer some of the most commonly asked questions about this topic:
Is Stonehenge worth seeing?
In my opinion, this all comes down to your own interest in ancient history. If you go there with not much interest but want to say you’ve seen the stones, then it’s likely you’ll be disappointed.
A lot of people have the opinion that it’s just a bunch of standing stones and isn’t really worth seeing. But if you’re interested in the mystery and history behind Stonehenge then yes, it is most definitely worth seeing!
Personally, I have always been fascinated about these monuments and how exactly they got to the location and why. So, I absolutely loved seeing them up close – it’s a special, magical place full of wonder.
What is the best time of year to visit Stonehenge?
I would advise visiting Stonehenge during the summer months if you want to see them during nice weather – but the British weather is so unpredictable!
I visited the stones in August this year expecting a nice summer’s day but instead it was a total downpour.
Also, the summer months is the peak season for visitors to Stonehenge. So if you want to see them during a quiet period then I would recommend a visit during either the spring or autumn months.
👉 Pro Tip: I strongly advise visiting Stonehenge on a weekday, preferably during the morning when there won’t be so many tourists.
I visited the site on a Saturday in August (the tour I detailed in this post only visits Stonehenge on Saturdays) and of course the place was packed with tourists all desperate for a selfie with the stones.
This somewhat spoilt my experience of enjoying Stonehenge as there were so many coaches of tourists from all over the world visiting the site at the same time.
Can you visit Stonehenge for free?
It is possible to visit Stonehenge for free, but you won’t be able to get up close to the magical rocks. There is a public footpath which is further away from the paid footpath.
I personally wouldn’t recommend this as it is a shame to travel all the way to Stonehenge only to see the monument from a distance.
Instead, you can purchase a ticket (£30 for adults) from the Visitor Centre and catch a shuttle bus from there to the site which takes just 3 minutes.
👉 Pro Tip: If you really want to visit Stonehenge for free then you should head there on the Summer or Winter Solstice (22nd/23rd June and 22nd/23rd December).
For these dates only, access to the stones are totally free and you can get as close to them as possible (but touching them is not allowed).
Be prepared for a party atmosphere as literally thousands of hippies and party revellers descend on the site in what is a special festival atmosphere.
Can you touch the stones at Stonehenge?
No, definitely not! The stones are completely roped off at about a 5 metre distance and there are staff from the English Heritage making sure that no one approaches them.
Conclusion: Stonehenge from Birmingham
So that concludes everything you need to know about how to reach Stonehenge from Birmingham. If you don’t drive then I totally recommend the day tour that I detailed in this post.
It’s a convenient way to reach Stonehenge and you get to visit the lovely city of Bath too. The Stonehenge monuments are a truly fascinating sight to behold and is a place you simply must discover and see for yourself when in the UK.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading through this blog post and now know all there is to know about how to get to Stonehenge from Birmingham, and are well prepared to see one of the most ancient and magical wonders in the world.
You may also enjoy reading these blog posts about Birmingham:
➡️ Why Birmingham At Christmas Time Is The Best UK City To Visit
➡️ The Best Canal Trips That Are A Must When Visiting Birmingham
➡️ Why A Peaky Blinders Tour Is A Must When Visiting Birmingham
➡️ 10 Unmissable Day Trips From Birmingham To Seaside Destinations
➡️ The 25 Best Day Trips From Birmingham That Are A Must In 2025
➡️ Things To Do In Digbeth: Birmingham’s Trendiest Neighbourhood
➡️ The Top 13 Birmingham Walking Tours In 2024 – From A Local
➡️ 15 Things To Do In Birmingham Alone: The BEST Solo Travel Guide
➡️ Birmingham vs London: Which City Is Better To Visit In 2025?
➡️ Is It Better To Visit Wolverhampton or Birmingham? Review By A Local
➡️ Is Birmingham Worth Visiting? Top 27 Things To Do – By A Local
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➡️ Planning your trip? Here are my favourite resources:
🏨 Accommodation: I recommend using Booking.com
🚙 Rental Car: Use Discover Cars for the best car rental prices
❤️ Travel Insurance: I recommend using Visitors Coverage
✈️ Flights: Use Kiwi.com for the best prices on flights
