Its been a while since I’ve been there, but I remember being in awe of the size of the stones… they’re really big! The disappointing thing was that you can’t go up to the stones because its all roped off, and of course you are there with a bunch of other tourists, which can kind of ruin the feeling of it all. But all in all, I would definitely not pass up the opportunity to go see it.

I wouldn’t say its “weird” but if you think about how the stones were brought together and how they were used and how they are still here… its pretty awe-striking. Yes, there will be others (flashing cameras, screaming kids, etc.) around that can take away from the experience but its definately worth seeing in person. Truly a once in lifetime.

It is very awe-inspiring. I can’t speak for the other tourists because I was there before the normal park opened and got to walk right up to and touch most of the stones. You can definitely feel an energy of some kind when you are within the inner circle. I would say that if you get the opportunity to go in one of these early showings, it is the experience of a lifetime.

I was bored out of my mind there. The audio guide was so silly and once you take a picture…there isn’t really anything else to do there. Plus, by the time you get there, you’ve already heard about the mysteries of the stones and so it was lack luster to me. But that’s just my opinion=)

I would recommend going early in the morning if you go and try to miss all the tourists. I bet it would be nice during the sunrise…but most things are!

There’s nothing weird about it. My archaeoastronomy and archaeology professors often in speaking about it in class described it as a sacred landscape, and it truely is. It’s beautiful and just try to think about the ancients moving them, how massive they are. It’s to me quite fascinating. I’m so glad I went. I guess it really depends on your interests and your level of fascination to begin with. I can see where some people might think of it as just a pile of rocks, but not I :) I loved it and it was special to me…even with the throngs of tourists.

It is awe inspiring to think our ancestors moved those stones from Wales. I can remember visiting as a kid when you could go right up to the stones. Now it is all roped off and that is very disappointingly, but it’s still a great place for a visit. I think I sometimes feel more centered afterwards.

Many London guide books say negative things about visiting Stonehenge such as “it’s smaller than you think”, “you can’t get close to the stones”, “too many tourists”.

All that is rubbish. The stones are only small when you compare them to our society’s monolithic skyscrapers. But it’s nonsense to compare Stonehenge to modern structures. It’s truly amazing to comtemplate how Stonehenge was constructed before the wheel was invented.

Yes, the main circle is roped off. There are a couple stones off to the side that you can touch and get all zen with. So all is not lost in terms of sensorical experiences.

The good folks at English Heritage made sure to make the path wind around Stonehenge in such a fashion that you can experience it in different ways. At some parts of the path you are within about 12 feet. At other parts of the path you are within about 70 feet. This way you can examine Stonehenge close up and from a distance. Very clever.

I like the idea that Stonehenge is roped off. It makes for better photographs. I prefer my photos not to have silly tourists. Roping off Stonehenge ensured that my photos were purely of the great stones.
http://www.unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/stonehenge/7115.html

I don’t think there were too many tourists. We were there at about 3:00 p.m. with a tourist bus. The parking lot had maybe 5 big tourist buses. However, the path was never crowded. The gift shop was another story. Too small and too crowded. (I was there in April 2005 and i think they had plans on moving the gift shop). But I didn’t go to see the gift shop so that’s ok.

But to answer your question; I’d say you get out of it what you want to get out of it. The only extra special energy force I felt was from visiting one of the world’s great landmarks. It wasn’t a spiritual energy, but rather a historical energy. I documented this experience by filming a video walking in a complete circle around stonehenge:
http://youtube.com/
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