Review: Stonehenge & The Cotswolds Tour From Bath, England

This summer I returned to the UK for the first time in about a decade and this was my Partner’s first time in the country of countries. His mother absolutely loves visiting the UK and her favorite part is the Cotswolds.

• The Month Of The UK: July 2025 Recap
• The Month Of Bath: August 2025 Recap

So one of my goals during our stay in Bath was to visit the smaller towns in the Cotswolds (I later learned that Bath itself is technically in the Cotswolds, but has a very different vibe since it’s a much bigger city).

I looked into how to get to these tiny towns and quickly eliminated public transit (there wasn’t any that went to the places we wanted to go), and ride shares, which cost as much as private tours with no guarantee we could get one on the ride back. Finally I settled on a day trip tour.

For once I decided that I would be a chill dude and not book an adventure to the Cotswolds until we arrived in the UK. That turned out to be a mistake 🙂 . I tried to book a tour that went to the Cotswolds all day and all of them were completely full for the month we were in Bath. Oops!

I understand that we were there in the summer, but my chill dude approach was a failure and I’m going to revert back to my neurotic, book everything 3-6 months in advance mentality as a result 🙂 . However, all hope was not lost. I found a tour that visits the Cotswolds and more! This is my experience taking the Stonehenge & The Cotswolds Tour from Bath, which I booked via Viator as usual for their free cancellation policy and cash-back rewards.

Ticket Information

This tour cost us $132.37 USD per person and was set to last about 9 hours. It included transportation with a tour guide in a lovely Mercedes van from Bath to:

• Stonehenge (including admission)
• Avebury
• Lacock
• Castle Combe

And then back to Bath! Since a ticket to visit Stonehenge costs $41.81 USD per person, when booked in advance and the fact that this tour has a max of 16 people, I believe this is a very fair ticket price for what we received as you’ll see when I detail my experience below. So that’s the set up, let’s get into what happened!

Arrival

The tour email confirmation asked that we arrive 15 minutes earlier than the van’s departure time. We arrived at 8:55am for a 9:15am departure and it was a beautiful day! I was surprised by that because my weather apps said it would be cloudy all day, but that’s wasn’t the case!

The tour communications also helpfully provided coordinates for where on the street we were to meet the van, which I found helpful, but apparently some people didn’t see. I’ll talk about that in a second 🙂 .

We approached a van that said “Rabbie’s” on the side. I knew this was the correct one of the multiple tour mini-vans in this area because helpfully on Viator’s website, if you scroll down on any tour webpage, it says “Supplied by…” and the name of the tour company. So I knew this was through Rabbie’s Trailer Burners and looked out for that signage.

Despite us being early, our tour guide Alan was there and greeting people. I showed him our ticket from Viator in my Google Wallet and he asked where we were from. We said the United States and he said “my condolences” – I like this guy already🤣.

Alan then told us we could get on the bus and my partner headed to the right side of the van. The tour operator jokingly asked “Are you driving🤣?” because we were in the UK and just like their left side of the road driving, the passenger entrance is on the left side of the van here. We figured it out and got on the van!

Departure

So it seems like a few people missed the listing of the tour operator name and the coordinates for where to meet the van because 6 people were late, which was about half of the people on our trip. They didn’t turn up 15 minutes early like planned and when they did arrive, they said they had a hard time finding the van. Read your emails people 🙂 .

While waiting for the remaining people to arrive, Alan played some calming music from the UK, chatted with us and gave some random facts about where we were in Bath. I really enjoyed his humor – it was funny without being that kind of forced/cringey type of humor that some tour guides have to try and create a “lively” environment. Nah – I’d rather chill 🙂 . Anyway, everyone arrived by 9:13am and we left shortly after.

The Van

Now let’s talk about this Mercedes van! I was skeptical about how comfortable it would be after going on a tour in Perú that was understandably, but unfortunately not built for someone of my height. And given the very short doorways in the UK, I was curious if the same would be true here.

Luckily it wasn’t! This van was very comfortable with a total of 18 black leather seats. There was enough room for my taller Partner to sit comfortably and also enough room for my wide hips 🙂 .

There was also room over the seats to put small bags and as well as room underneath the seats. There were also arm rests on either sides of the seats, a phone holder on the back of each seat, and a USB charger on the back of the seats near the floor. Sweet! I’d brought my external Anker charger like always, but this was even better and I could just use the cord from my charger.

The van also had shades if you wanted to close them, a moon roof and AC vents and a light over each seat like an airplane. Our tour guide Alan had a headset so we could hear him easily, and along with lovely facts throughout the trip, he also played music from all UK artists from the Beatles to the Bridgerton soundtrack. And we were off!

Stonehenge

Alan said Stonehenge was 1 hour and 20 minutes away and that we’re welcome to eat in the van. However, if we didn’t bring food he said that Stonehenge’s Visitor Center was the best place to buy a sandwich for later because the food choices after that stop get fewer and fewer. This was because we were going to smaller and smaller towns and because it was Sunday in England, which is when he said “everything stops.”

During the drive, Alan gave us a few facts about England and explained some sights along the way. One of which was him pointing out some places of murder and suicide, which I personally could have done without since that’s not my kind of thing.

Soon after, we arrived at Stonehenge, one of the most popular tourist destinations in England. The actual structure consists of large neolithic stones that were brought here and placed on top of each other about 5,000 years ago. That feat of engineering given the tools at the time is very impressive.

However, this kind of outing isn’t usually my cup of tea. I don’t prefer visiting super famous landmarks that attract huge crowds of tourists. My social anxiety doesn’t like it for one, but I also often find that the attraction is not as impressive as advertised or worth the elevated price. Let’s see if Stonehenge falls into this category 🙂 .

We arrived near the Stonehenge Visitor Center and waited while our tour guide got our pre-paid tickets. Apparently, part of our ticket price is a bus that drives you the 2.5 miles to the site. You can also walk, but our guide claimed the walk was “long and ugly” and suggested the much faster bus to make the most of our time. Alrighty then 😉 . 

Our guide also suggested that if we needed to use the restroom, to use the one at the Visitor Center and not the one in the parking lot because the former is much nicer and hardly anyone goes there. Noted! 

The Bus

Our guide then showed us to an almost empty line on the far side of the Visitor Center that was for buses to take us to the site. Curiously, the other line that started before the Visitor Center was full of people. It didn’t seem like these lines were for different types of ticket holders so I’m not sure why one was empty and one was full.

Anyway, because our line was inexplicably short, we got on the bus immediately and got a seat. The bus filled up quickly and a few people had to stand in the aisle. 

We then had a 5 minute bus ride to the site while an audio guide recording played telling us about the history of Stonehenge. It mentioned that this UNESCO World Heritage Site is actually made up of more than just Stonehenge, such as the large mounds we were passing on the bus that other people were walking up to among plains filled with cute sheep.

The Main Site

We were given the option to get off the bus early to look at one of these monuments but stayed on to its final destination. Shortly after, we got off the bus and walked a short distance to the Stonehenge viewing area. On the van Alan had mentioned that people used to be able to walk a lot closer to the stones, but a few people being a nuisance and vandalizing it has ruined it for everyone. Wonderful 🙂 . 

So it might have been because of the distance, but my first impression of Stonehenge was “It’s smaller than I thought.” Hilariously my Partner thought it was bigger than he expected. So I assume we were looking at different reference photos before this trip 🙂 . 

My second impression of Stonehenge was “Is that a HIGHWAY?!” And yes – yes it was 🙂 . Next to this beautiful, 5,000 year old neolithic site that is supposed to highlight the beauty of nature by tracking the sun’s path throughout the year, is right next to a highway that when I was there had bumper to bumper traffic. 

That wasn’t exactly the vibe I was expecting 🙂 . It was similar to when I visited the Great Pyramids in Egypt and saw that they’re RIGHT NEXT TO the giant city of Cairo. Photographers were really working their angles in that case and to a lesser extent that seems to be the case at Stonehenge as well. 

Anyway, I walked the entire circle around Stonehenge (aka the “henge” part 😉 ). There were a few clusters of crowds that I tried to avoid because as I mentioned, crowds and I don’t mix well. I saw a few benches while walking and even a roped off area with grass that you can sit on and have a picnic, which was nice to see. 

After my circuit, I reflected on these 5,000 year old stones and sadly concluded, I do not think seeing them is worth $41.81 USD. I was happy to pay that to help maintain this piece of history, but if you’re looking for a good value and are curious about Stonehenge, you can see it perfectly fine from the highway right next to it and have a long time to view it given the Sunday traffic 😉 . 

The Bus

Then my Partner and I got in line for the bus back. We waited 10 minutes and then were able to board. 4 minutes later we arrived back at the Visitor Center. 

To leave the bus line, you are forced to go through the Gift Shop, which was absolutely packed to the gills. It was difficult to move through, but I finally weaved my way out with a lot of “excuse me please”s. 

The Exhibition Center

We then had a fair bit of time to kill before having to be back on the bus, so my Partner headed off to buy a coffee (which turned out to be a 20 minute saga) and I went to explore the Exhibition Center. The Exhibition Center has cool screens that show how Stonehenge is basically a sundial.

It also had visual timelines showing how old those 5,000 year old stones are compared to other World Wonders like the Roman Colosseum (1,945 years ago) and the Great Pyramids (4,600 years ago). Stonehenge wins. 

However, the Exhibition Center was also quite crowded, so I absorbed the cool learning screens as fast as I could and then got out of there. I later learned that our tour guide suggests going in there first to have more context for seeing the stones in person. Good tip!

The Visitor Center

I then looked around for my Partner and didn’t see him because he was still waiting for the world’s slowest cup of coffee 🙂 . While waiting, I discovered that the Visitor Center has free Wifi (nice) and used it to check in on my friends and family across the pond. 

A bit later my Partner appeared with his coffee and we headed back to the bus where we arrived before our 12pm deadline. At 12pm we headed off and on our way to our next destination, Alan told us that the Cotswolds is made up of “cots” which means animal enclosure and “wolds”, which means hills. Seems accurate. 

We also passed a “Tank Crossing” sign, which I’ve never seen before in my life and Alan explained that if we heard gunfire while at Stonehenge, like he did (luckily I missed that 🙂 ), it was because the armed forces practice nearby. Alrighty then. 

Avebury

We arrived in Avebury at 1pm and were told to meet the bus at 2pm. Avebury is known to have the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world and it was a wonderful contrast to Stonehenge. 

Avebury’s neolithic stones surround the entire town and are free to visit. You’re able to walk among them without crowds and even touch them and have a picnic while leaning against them like we saw several couples doing. 

Our guide had warned us that many tourists prefer the stones at Avebury to Stonehenge and I can see why. This was a much more relaxing way to enjoy these ancient stones and much more my speed. 

Even though it was Sunday, there weren’t many people around and we got to explore these stones, the giant trees surrounding them, a gorgeous slate path and scenery that rivals Pride & Prejudice. Also apparently Tolkein lived near Avebury and this area is called “middle earth” by some – I can see it 🙂 . 

There was even a volunteer wearing a vest that said to feel free to ask them questions about the site – I love it. Before we were able to properly enjoy this entire town, it was time to go, but Avebury buried itself in my heart and I’ll definitely be back. It was a wonderfully beautiful and relaxing spot. 

We left at 2pm and on the way out of town, were able to get out of the van to see a 3rd neolithic site (I didn’t realize this was a neolithic tour 😉 ), which was a large mound called Silbury Hill that is one of the largest prehistoric, human-made mounds in the world. After we checked that out quickly we headed to our next destination.  

Lacock

We arrived at Lacock at 2:40pm. We passed the famous Lacock Abbey (where Hogwarts corridors were filmed) and were dropped off in the middle of this tiny town and told to meet the bus at 4pm.

Lacock seemed to be filled with filming locations from Harry Potter, which hasn’t been my thing since J.K. showed her transphobic ass, so we wandered around looking at the pretty architecture instead. 

Along the way we saw a cute element of this small town – residents leave items they want to sell outside their door and trust you’ll put the money for these items through their mailbox. I love it! 

We wandered picturesque streets, checked out the town’s church and had seen all of the roads in this town in 30 minutes. An hour felt too fast in Avebury and too long in Lacock.

So we bought some snacks at a local cafe and then chilled in a small park area with picnic tables for 40 minutes until the bus picked us up at 4pm. 

Castle Combe

Shortly after we arrived at the last stop of the day, Castle Combe. According to our guide, it’s often called one of the prettiest villages in England and a few movies were also filmed here.

We had only 40 minutes to explore this town, after we arrived at 4:20, and were told to meet the bus at 5pm. However, that turned out to be more than enough 🙂 .

Apparently big buses aren’t supposed to enter the town so people have to park and walk down a steep hill, but because we were in a relatively small van we could be dropped in the center of town before the van left town to park elsewhere.

However, we did see a bus that wasn’t supposed to be there barreling into the town and people that don’t live there trying to park in the tiny town even though, according to Alan, they weren’t allowed to.

In general I saw a few people acting a fool by looking into people’s house windows like this was a movie set or something, but it’s not – this is where people live. Be respectful. In general though, I felt bad for the people living there and didn’t realize we would be invading/overrunning a tiny town with other tourists.

I get that me being here is part of the problem 🙂 . Despite the beauty of this place, I would recommend the tour not coming here in order to help decrease the number of people overrunning the town.

We headed away from the residential area and went to visit the St. Andrew’s Church. They had a tap to pay station asking for ₤2 donations per person so we gave ₤5 for the two of us.

Inside the church was pretty, but the main thing to see was a statue of a knight from the 1200s, which was cool. After that, we walked around and tried to avoid the crowds of people by walking to the water. That took us through the whole town and we were done seeing all the main streets in 20 minutes.

So we found a bench by the water to chill out and then walked back to meet the bus. We left at 5pm and made our way towards Bath through the tiny English countryside streets that were originally built to fit horses 🙂 .

After a pretty relaxing ride, we arrived back at our meeting place in Bath at 5:35pm, earlier than the 6pm estimated arrival time. We said thank you to Alan, goodbye to our fellow travelers and then we walked to the Pulteney Bridge & Weir to watch the sun start setting before heading home.

The Review

So, was it worth it? Definitely! First of all there was no other way to easily get to these places besides hiring a car, which would have been way more expensive.

I’m also not willing to be a menace on society and rent a car to drive on the other side of the road, especially since the roads in the Cotswolds are often extremely narrow (they say they’re “two way”, but people often have to pull over to let other cars through in the other direction, so that’s not really true). And don’t even get me started on all the roundabouts, which are obviously also in the opposite direction than I’m used to.

So the tour was not only the safest choice, but also saved me from having a heart attack while driving or having to pay 20x this amount for a private tour. I really enjoyed this tour and our guide, Alan, made it even more special with his funny comments, interesting facts and general knowledge.

I also appreciated the relatively small size of this tour with a max of 16 people. The van was also comfortable and a joy to ride around in all day, which was a nice surprise.

I also appreciated the extra stops I never would have picked. Originally I just wanted to see the general Cotswolds, but the towns chosen were really interesting. In particular, Avebury was a great contrast to Stonehenge and a relaxing exploration of neolithic stones and Pride & Prejudice worthy scenery.

However, if I was in charge of suggesting tour changes, I would recommend extending the time in Avebury, decreasing the time in Lacock and cutting Castle Combe all together for now to help decrease crowding. But despite those small suggestions, I had a lovely day exploring the Cotswolds on this tour. 

I would recommend this tour if you’re looking for a way to see Stonehenge and a few Cotswolds villages easily from Bath with a knowledgeable guide. Also, the company this tour is through, Rabbie’s, also has a bunch of other types of tours around the UK and Europe that look interesting. Here are a few examples in England:

• Oxford and Traditional Cotswolds Villages from London
• Iconic Cliffs of Dover and Kent Tour from London
• Windermere & Lake District Tour & Cruise from Manchester

Conclusion

And that was my experience with the Stonehenge & The Cotswolds Tour from Bath! It wasn’t the tour I originally planned to take, but I did end up seeing more than I expected, learning a lot and having a lovely day.