A Weekend Tour, Part 2 - Sunday Driver, Yeah

We had had vague intentions of spending our whole weekend exploring the eastern counties, but after deciding to go back to London on Saturday night we made the call to head out west on Sunday. Our first destination was the inevitable visit to Stonehenge, but unfortunately we were left pretty disappointed with it. Overpriced and you can't get near the site without paying more to go on a guided tour, we found the whole experence a bit sterile. But here it is anyway, to prove we were there:


Luckily, though, Stonehenge is not the only ancient stone circle in the area, so we headed next for the lesser known monuments at Avebury a few miles north. This proved a fine choice that quickly washed away the disappointment of Stonehenge. Avebury's stones are in a much larger formation with an outer circle that skirts around the edge of a small village. With free and unrestricted access to the stones, in a pretty location with a nice atmosphere, I would recommend a visit to Avebury ahead of the more popular alternative.


At this point our Sunday was decidedly lacking in cathedrals, so we drove to Salisbury to get our fix.






Our final stop turned out to be my favourite of the whole weekend. While in Avebury, Jo had picked up a brochure for a nearby ruins, Old Wardour Castle. Neither of us had heard of it before but it looked lovely from the brochure so we decided to have a look. It was not easy to find, with no signage on the main roads, but after making our way through narrow country roads and thatched-roof villages we came to this wonderful place.








If we learnt one lesson that day, it was that the best attractions are often these lesser-known, off-the-beaten-track types.