Back to Victoria Coach Station again for our rescheduled tour to Stonehenge and Bath.

Breakfast at the station

Following the fiasco of missing the tour bus, we made sure we arrived in plenty of time and had breakfast at the Pret A Manger cafe station.  We saw these everywhere through London, Paris and Germany, and they are fabulous. I wish they were in Australia too.  Pret build their kitchens in (or very near) every shop. There are no ‘sell-by’ dates on their fresh sandwiches and salads. Everything is fresh daily. They only use 100% organic milk and coffee, and at the end of every day, any unsold food is given to a charity for the disadvantaged and homeless instead of keeping it to sell the next day. 

First stop Bath

We were travelling with Evan Evans tours again for our tour, and our first stop was Bath.  Set in the rolling countryside of southwest England Bath is known for its natural hot springs and 18th-century Georgian architecture. Honey-coloured Bath stone has been used extensively throughout the town.  Bath Abbey (which we only had time to see the outside of briefly) is noted for its fan-vaulting, tower and large stained-glass windows.

The Roman Baths

Arriving in Bath, the guide took us straight to the original Roman-era Baths, including The Great Bath, statues, and a temple.  The Roman Baths are fabulous, well worth a visit, but not during school holidays. Or around mid-morning. In hindsight, the best option is to get a hire car and get there early.  Even better, stay in Bath. How I wish we could have done that. It’s a stunning town and there is so much to see there, you could easily fill a couple of days.

We spent a couple of hours squeezing past people in the packed space before heading off for a quick lunch at a cafe.  I could see why now, Westminster Abbey didn’t allow photography. People just stood in the one spot for ages listening to the story with the audio headsets. At the same time, others are trying to get past or take photos.  I would rather have banned the audio headsets and just had them read boards.

Stonehenge

After lunch, it was back on the bus again and off to Stonehenge.  Despite “it’s just a pile of old rocks” from the travelling companion, I wanted to see it.  Stonehenge is an iconic symbol of Britain and is around 4,500 years old! And it’s a UNESCO site, plus I love ticking another one off. Yet, to this day, how or why it was built remains a mystery.  The stones were quarried nowhere near the site, and transporting and erecting them is a fantastic feat. 

From there, we had a short walk to the start and then around the circle.  The path and roped off area is arranged that no one is wandering in and around the stones, but there are still those on the periphery that PS needed to remove, which wasn’t that hard.   All in all, it was great.  I found myself wishing I was there around 100yrs ago. Before the fences, before the tour buses, and hordes of selfie-takers.

From Stonehenge back to London was around 2 hrs. Most of the bus passengers were napping on the way back 🙂  Arriving back in London we were dropped off near an underground station. From there, we took the train back to our hotel, and back up the hill, and up those stairs.