Avebury

Hi,

I am looking at going to Avebury (the other Stonehenge place) next month, but trains/buses don't go straight there. I am gathering that it's just a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. So, does anyone know where I should get a train/bus (whichever is quickest and cheapish) to from London, then transfer to local transport to Avebury? I looked up going to Swindon, but that's not cheap. I tried searching on the Avebury website about getting there, but it's not mentioned anywhere.

Thanks!!

This is from the National Trust website ......

Getting there
 
Bus services
Stagecoach in Swindon 49 Swindon–Trowbridge;
Wiltshire and Dorset 96 Swindon–Pewsey.

Both pass close Swindon railway station (10 miles from Avebury)

Have a look at www.transportdirect.info for details on bus timetables and where to catch the bus.  It looks like there is a bus every 30 minutes.

Avebury is wonderful.  Enjoy!

I think there are coach buses from Salisbury, I will check around for you.  Is there any chance you could rent a car?  Public transport in this part of the country is a nightmare.

Avebury is wonderful. 

Seconded.  You can go up and touch the stones, which you can't at Stonehenge.  Really nice village, too. 

Just checked National Rail...and you can get a return ticket for £12 to Pewsey & get the #49 Stagecoach bus from there to Avebury found that at Traveline South West.

We drive, so I'm not much help. But it's a fantastic day trip. Have a look at the whole area on Google maps. You can scroll around all of Wiltshire and find tons of circles and mounds and other ancient artifacts. Really lovely, special part of the country.

Just checked National Rail...and you can get a return ticket for £12 to Pewsey & get the #49 Stagecoach bus from there to Avebury found that at Traveline South West.

Oh! That's more like what I'm looking for. I found tickets to Swindon starting at 40£ or something crazy! Thanks, y'all.

National Rail: http://nationalrail.co.uk/
I just did a generic search from London (all stations) to Pewsey return for first train of the day & last train of the day for June 15.

and the Stagecoach bus looks like it's a £3.40 return fare http://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables/49Dec07.pdf.

Thanks so much WebyJ for the links! I've marked down the sites and once i decide on a day, I think that's how I'll get there. Yea! I'm excited.

You're most welcome...just remember that the earlier you buy your ticket the cheaper it will be and walk up fares are insanely expensive.

You're most welcome...just remember that the earlier you buy your ticket the cheaper it will be and walk up fares are insanely expensive.

Yes, I learned that lesson the hard way last year. Only in UK is it that way! I've been trying to figure out all the trips requiring train travel before I get over there so I can be sure to reserve tickets at the cheapest prices. It's like playing tetris with the schedule, though!

You're most welcome...just remember that the earlier you buy your ticket the cheaper it will be and walk up fares are insanely expensive.

Are you talking about train tickets?  I haven't found that to be true at all. 

Are you talking about train tickets?  I haven't found that to be true at all. 

For train tickets, I've found that the three week point seems to be the magic cutoff. For me, anyway. Any earlier than that, and the tickets are really expensive. Any later than that, the same thing.

Anyway, you'll LOVE Avebury!! It's such a fabulous place! I have absolutely no idea why tourists keep flocking to Stonehenge - except, I guess, because it's Stonehenge. But I would never recommend visitors go there when they could go to Avebury instead! 

I'm glad to hear so many of you enjoyed Avebury! I had heard that Stonehenge was all roped off and really didn't live up to all the hype. I was just browsing my guidebook and it mentioned Avebury. Oddly it only gave directions from Salisbury on how to get there (which would be way too far out of my way from London!) It seems like you can just go right up and touch the stones and stuff. And my friend at work said there are tame sheep all around! I love sheep!

Stonehenge is currently in the fork of two quite busy routes. The heelstone is six feet from the road. I was astonished. It sits there like a flipping Texaco station or something.

I mean, it's cool, but there are cooler places.

Avebury. Silbury Hill. The White Horse. Wayland's Smithy. All kinds of neat places to go.

Stonehenge is currently in the fork of two quite busy routes. The heelstone is six feet from the road. I was astonished. It sits there like a flipping Texaco station or something.

Yeah, that's all fairly recent, and while it's kinda cool to see Stonehenge pop up while driving along the A303, it has taken some of the joy and mystique out of it.  When my DH was a boy, the roads weren't there, and you could go into Stonehenge, touch the stones, sit on them, etc.  Now it's all so regulated and touristy, it's sad.