Windsor and Stonehenge from Southampton

[karen sharpe]

We are staying on in London post cruise and would like to see Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. Considering it is in the vicinity of Southhampton we are thinking it might be a good idea to see it on the day we disembark before we check into a London hotel. Has anyone else considered this or do you have any advice re a tour company who might help us do this and also take us to London? Thanks, Karen

[Twickenham]

None of those places are near Southampton. Windsor Castle could be done easily enough on your way to London, but I suggest a day trip either by train or bus tour to see Bath/Stonehenge.

[handfordr]

We are staying on in London post cruise and would like to see Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. Considering it is in the vicinity of Southhampton we are thinking it might be a good idea to see it on the day we disembark before we check into a London hotel. Has anyone else considered this or do you have any advice re a tour company who might help us do this and also take us to London? Thanks, Karen

 

It is just logistically possible to combine Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor, but you would get 1 hour at Stonehenge, about 105 minutes at Bath and 2 hours at Windsor Castle and you would spend 5 or 6 hours on the bus. This is pretty much the same as the day tours from London that do the same combination. You would have to be off your ship by 08:00 for this to work.

There are no scheduled tours that do this, you would have to put your own group together perhaps on your ships roll call, and you'd probably need at least 10 to make it financially viable.

 

If you were going to do a tour I would recommend doing just doing Stonehenge and Bath, but again you'd have to charter your own vehicle and guide. Windsor is by Heathrow Airport on the edge of London and is easly visited by public transport from London.

 

Most cruise ships seem to offer London via Stonehenge, sometimes with Salisbury as well.

[karen sharpe]

You are right now that I closely look at a map. The only site close to Southampton is Stonehenge. It would make sense to see Stonehenge and then Windsor enroute to London. I think Bath will be saved for another trip.

[Giantfan13]

Karen

 

We did the 3 tour thing, but we did it from London. No matter where you start, you do spend a great deal of time on the bus, compared to when you are off at the locales. That said, I am so glad that we decided to do it. Time is short when you are on holiday, and to be able to see these three places in one day was terrific for us. As handfordr said, your time in each place is short and you can just get a feel of the place, but we enjoyed it immensily.

We used Discount London Tours, which is really the Evan Evans tour group, just selling at a lower price. Here is their web site http://www.discount-london-tours.com/?cat=full+day+tours&tn=S21&gclid=CMXq4ITttp8CFZdM5QodwCMZzg. If you book with them, you will get a cheaper price than booking directly with Evan Evans, but you will get the Evan Evans tour bus and group. We saw Windsor Castle and the Changing of the Guard there, Bath and we were able to walk around the town also, and about an hour at Stonehenge, which was the place I really wanted to go. (you know, on the Bucket List of things to see and do, before ........)

It is an all day trip, no matter where you start out. I would suggest you get to London, move around there for a day, and then start out fresh for this tour.

 

Here are a few of my pix from our tour. Hope you enjoy them

 

Changing of the Guard at Windsor

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2185.jpg

 

Windsor Castle from the outside

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2164.jpg

 

The Roman Baths, in Bath

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2215.jpg

 

The town of Bath, and it's main street (every building in bath is made from the same stone

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2238.jpg

 

The monuments of Stonehenge

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2258.jpg

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2260.jpg

 

Len

[shakespeare]

We are doing a tour from Southampton to London with stops at Bath and Windsor...if you check this website you will find information. We have 6 people on our roll call participating and while not inexpensive, we feel it will be worth it to see two places we really would like to visit along with transport to London. I emailed for information and they are very helpful.

 

http://********************************travel/southampton_cruise_terminal.htm

[shakespeare]

If you check this website and email them for information, they are very helpful. We formed a group from our roll call of 6 people and will be stopping at Bath and Windsor on the way into London.

 

Hope you find something that works for you:)

 

Since the website is blocked out on this board, I just deleted it...google London Toolkit and look under transfers and you will see a link for transfers from the cruise terminal.

[phabric]

Karen

 

We did the 3 tour thing, but we did it from London. No matter where you start, you do spend a great deal of time on the bus, compared to when you are off at the locales. That said, I am so glad that we decided to do it. Time is short when you are on holiday, and to be able to see these three places in one day was terrific for us. As handfordr said, your time in each place is short and you can just get a feel of the place, but we enjoyed it immensily.

We used Discount London Tours, which is really the Evan Evans tour group, just selling at a lower price. Here is their web site http://www.discount-london-tours.com/?cat=full+day+tours&tn=S21&gclid=CMXq4ITttp8CFZdM5QodwCMZzg. If you book with them, you will get a cheaper price than booking directly with Evan Evans, but you will get the Evan Evans tour bus and group. We saw Windsor Castle and the Changing of the Guard there, Bath and we were able to walk around the town also, and about an hour at Stonehenge, which was the place I really wanted to go. (you know, on the Bucket List of things to see and do, before ........)

It is an all day trip, no matter where you start out. I would suggest you get to London, move around there for a day, and then start out fresh for this tour.

 

Here are a few of my pix from our tour. Hope you enjoy them

 

Changing of the Guard at Windsor

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2185.jpg

 

Windsor Castle from the outside

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2164.jpg

 

The Roman Baths, in Bath

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2215.jpg

 

The town of Bath, and it's main street (every building in bath is made from the same stone

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2238.jpg

 

The monuments of Stonehenge

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2258.jpg

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europept2260.jpg

 

Len

 

We have booked this tour through the site you quoted, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge. Did they stop somewhere for lunch, I know that we will have to pay for it. Did they give you time to walk around by yourself for awhile. They are picking us up at our hotel (near Victoria coach station) at 8:15am probablly with a smaller bus to their office, and switch to a bigger bus. What time did you get back, they say 8pm.

[handfordr]

We have booked this tour through the site you quoted, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge. Did they stop somewhere for lunch, I know that we will have to pay for it. Did they give you time to walk around by yourself for awhile. They are picking us up at our hotel (near Victoria coach station) at 8:15am probablly with a smaller bus to their office, and switch to a bigger bus. What time did you get back, they say 8pm.

 

The guideline Evan Evans Tour schedule is below.

Leave London (VCS) @ 08:45

Arrive @ Windsor @ 10:00

Leave Windsor @ 12:00

Arrive Stonehenge @ 13:10

Depart Stonehenge @ 14:00

Arrive Bath @ 15:15

Depart Bath @ 17:00

Arrive London @ 19:30

The only hotel pickup they do apart from the coach station in Victoria is the Victoria Plaza to one side of the rail station at Victoria.

In my view the Premium Tours tour is a slightly better one, especially if you want a pub lunch. You also get longer at the places for the same money and they have a specail tour of the Roman Baths with a gladiator. You should get this discounted to the same price as Evan Evans and Golden Tours versions of the same tour.

08:15 Depart Victoria Coach Station

09:30-45 Arrive Windsor Castle

11:40 Depart Windsor

13:00 Optional Lunch at traditional British pub

14:00 Leave pub

14:20 Arrive Stonehenge

15:10 Depart Stonehenge

16:10 Arrive Bath - Panoramic tour

16:15 Enter Roman Baths

Free time

18:00 Depart Bath

approx. 20:30 Arrive London

Note when you get back to London there are no hotel drop offs at all with any operator.

 

[tillys mom]

I have a private tour set up to transport 10 of us from Southampton to our individual hotels by way of Salisbury[a quick peek if we can get off the ship by 8], Stonehenge, a pub lunch in Lacock, and Bath. I found the tour at the London Toolkit and it is cheaper than the Princess transfer and includes a day of sightseeing.

[Giantfan13]

We have booked this tour through the site you quoted, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge. Did they stop somewhere for lunch, I know that we will have to pay for it. Did they give you time to walk around by yourself for awhile. They are picking us up at our hotel (near Victoria coach station) at 8:15am probablly with a smaller bus to their office, and switch to a bigger bus. What time did you get back, they say 8pm.

 

When we did this tour, they re-arranged the order as there was a major accident on one of the roads, so we did Windsor, Bath and then Stonehenge. I'm not sure if they offer a tour that includes lunch, but it wasn't offered on ours. We did have time in Bath to walk around and we did grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant. At Windsor, we were taken into the Palace, and shown around and basically told to be back at the bus at a certain time. If you wanted to spend that time in the Palace, walking around the town, getting something to eat, it's up to you. Just be back at the bus when they tell you. The same holds true for the other stops. In Bath and Stonehenge, there are headphones they give you to walk around and take a sort of 'guided tour'. We kind of did our own thing in Bath,a s we did want to get out and see the town. At Stonehenge, we used the headphones,as I wanted all the info I could get on the place.

 

We chose this tour, as Evan Evans is one of the best tour groups around these parts and we also did it for the price. It was the cheapest out of all the other groups, and we were seeing the same thing.

 

You are correct about the 'satellite' buses. They gave us any number of stops where we could be picked up. I don't exactly remember where ours was, but you tell them where you want to be picked up, they will get you from there and bring you to Victoria Coach Station, where all the satellite buses meet and then from there you will get on your regular tour buses. When we went, in August, they had THREE buses, all doing the same tour.

 

And yes, I believe we got back to Victoria about 8 ish.

 

Len

[handfordr]

We chose this tour, as Evan Evans is one of the best tour groups around these parts and we also did it for the price. It was the cheapest out of all the other groups, and we were seeing the same thing.

 

 

The organised coach tours business in London is really cut throat and all about volume. Its a bit like a flight, it costs pretty much the same to run whether the coach has 2 or 50 on the bus.

Evan Evans is the biggest of the 3 companies that operate full size coach tours. Golden Tours and Premium Tours are smaller, about the same size. Golden Tours are affilliated to Gray Line in the US

 

This year the word is Evans Evans are offering concierges of the main hotels up to 40% commission. Web sites are getting up to 20%. You will be normally marketed the option with the highest commission as a result. Some of the hotel concierges are very rich people.

You should be able to get any one of the 3 heavily discounted at this time of year. e.g. Gray Line is selling the Golden Tours Windsor/Bath/Stonehenge trip at 15% off at the moment on their web site. Nearly all outlets serious about selling you a ticket will start with a 10% discount with any of the operators.

 

In terms of quality, all are pretty much the same.

All 3 (Evans Evans, Premium and Golden) have almost identical vehicles and tour managers/guides often move from one to another.

Evan Evans are the biggest but seem to offer less value for money in terms of what you get, basically just a basic tour. Costs are being cut and some give you a tour manager not a proper qualified Blue Badge Guide. One impact of this is that only qualified guides are allowed into Windsor Castle with you for instance.

Golden Tours get a lot of custom through 3rd parties like Gray Line and Tour Operators and have a realtively lower profile to the other two.

 

Premium Tours arguably give you the best value for money. Normally they start slightly earlier and return slightly later than the others - all the tours give you minimal time, so time is a precious commodity. Premium also give you added extras. e.g. on the Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge tour they get a special entry with a Roman Gladiator, the others you just get normal admission with an audio guide. On their Leeds Castle, Canterbury tour they finish up with a river cruise along the Thames with a cream tea to Westminster, the others just bus you back to London.

 

In my opinion, crudely put, Premium are the new kids on the block eager to please. Evan Evans the mass market, heavily promoted where the crowds go option and Golden Tours the staid, traditional, conservative cmpany.

[Giantfan13]

handfordr

 

You are 'the man' in regards to anything British,and you had helped me so much, I would never differ with anything you say.

 

We chose this part of Evan Evans, because when we did go, in august of last year, the particular site, that I stated WAS the cheaper of all the others. I know, I checked them all.

 

We did want to go with Premium, mainly because of the Gladiator guide, but we also wanted to see the changing of the guard at Windsor. That was one of the main things we wanted to see. Only this tour group, from Evan Evans, sort of guaranteed we would be there for that ceremony. the others told us we probably would, but it all depends on other factors. Since seeing that ceremony was important to us, AND the price was better, we went with that group. We did wish we had the Gladiator, but it was not to be. There was also the torch light ceremony at Bath, but, that also, wasn't available in summer months.

 

Our guide at Windsor did take us into the Castle, and showed us around for about 1/2 an hour. After that, to view the Doll House and other parts of the Castle we were elft on our own.

[glenneagle]

We got off the ship.Had woodruff transport pick us up and take us to stonhenge on the way into London.Highly recommend as it was early in the morning and few tourists around..awesome experience.

[Giantfan13]

We got off the ship.Had woodruff transport pick us up and take us to stonhenge on the way into London.Highly recommend as it was early in the morning and few tourists around..awesome experience.

 

We did Stonehenge later in the day. Wasn't too crowded, but very windy and much cooler than the other places we visited that day. But, as you said, an awesome experience. We spent about an hour there, and I only wish I had more time to just absorb the entire idea of being there.

 

I guess it's how you view Stonehenge. Some people couldn't care less about it, don't really believe in the entire deal, but if you buy into it, and believe the legends and stuff, it is truly a place of spiritualism and mystery.

[beauchamp]

 

I guess it's how you view Stonehenge. Some people couldn't care less about it, don't really believe in the entire deal, but if you buy into it, and believe the legends and stuff, it is truly a place of spiritualism and mystery.

 

I think you mean spirituality. Spiritualism is something else entirely!

[Giantfan13]

Thanks, that's exactly what I meant. Sometimes the brain knows one thing and the fingers know something else. LOL

[cruiseryyc]

We did Stonehenge on the way to Southampton with the greatest private tour guide - Harry Norman. His email address is harrystour@aol.com and below is the link to his website.

 

http://www.cruising-america.com/londontours/?id=londontours

[karen sharpe]

Thanks all for your amazing info AND pictures. It saves us enormous research time to plan for this trip. I have already been to and seen the Ring of Broda in the wonderful Orkney Islands. It is actually considered older then Stonehenge and you are able to still walk the circle and touch the stones. So I understand completely the mystical draw to these sites!

[Giantfan13]

Karen

 

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but you cannot get into the ring of stones at Stonehenge anymore. Everything is roped off, and the closest you can get is maybe 20-25 feet away. They do have one tour (I'm not sure which company) that allows you into the ring, but, if I am not mistaken, it is an evening tour.

[karen sharpe]

Thanks Giantfan..yes I did know that and I wonder if that has also been enforced in the Orkneys? All about preservation , I guess. I had heard about the evening tour .

[handfordr]

Karen

 

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but you cannot get into the ring of stones at Stonehenge anymore. Everything is roped off, and the closest you can get is maybe 20-25 feet away. They do have one tour (I'm not sure which company) that allows you into the ring, but, if I am not mistaken, it is an evening tour.

 

About 20 miles north of Stonehenge is Avebury, a larger henge than Stonehenge and its totaly free access, you can walk among and touch the stones here and there is a Neolithic burial mound (again open access) you can go inside that is several hundred years older than Stonehenge..

Various companies do 'Special Access Tours' to Stonehenge including Premium and Anderson Tours from London or you can buy tickets in advance independently. Tickets are often sold out a few months in advance and slots are at dawn or evening outside public opening hours with a maximum of 26 people allowed on the site at any one time.

 

Last year they stopped visitors touching the stones at Stonehenge on these visits after a few irresponsible people vandalised the stones in a small way.

[Globaliser]

I wonder if that has also been enforced in the Orkneys?

Not when I was there a couple of years ago. But there are few visitors to the Orkneys compared to the number at Stonehenge.

[Giantfan13]

About 20 miles north of Stonehenge is Avebury, a larger henge than Stonehenge and its totaly free access, you can walk among and touch the stones here and there is a Neolithic burial mound (again open access) you can go inside that is several hundred years older than Stonehenge..

Various companies do 'Special Access Tours' to Stonehenge including Premium and Anderson Tours from London or you can buy tickets in advance independently. Tickets are often sold out a few months in advance and slots are at dawn or evening outside public opening hours with a maximum of 26 people allowed on the site at any one time.

 

Last year they stopped visitors touching the stones at Stonehenge on these visits after a few irresponsible people vandalised the stones in a small way.

 

I've never heard of that henge. Why is it that it gets no publicity???

[sjpelvis]

We also would like to do tour after our cruise. We do not fly out until the next morning after cruise.

We were considering renting a car in Southampton, traveling to Stonehenge, maybe visiting a few villages along the way for lunch and sites and then going to Heathrow to check into hotel. Before returning rental car go to Winsdor for dinner. Does this sound like it would work? Maybe we should go to Winsdor before checking into hotel? And last, which towns or villages would you stop at?

I have not heard of Avebury. Would you do both Stonehenge and Avebury or just one and which one?

 

Thank you for any information anyone can give.

 

Jean