Saturday 25 Aug 2018 – London, Stonehenge, Oxford and Windsor

This was our epic tour day. We had to get up at 3:15 AM to make it to our 5 AM bus departure in central London. But it was worth it!

First was Stonehenge - a 2-hour drive from London. The reason for the early start was to get there before the official opening and be allowed “inside the stones.” Most tours are restricted to a loop walkway about 50 feet from the perimeter of the stones. At shortly after sunrise, this was very dramatic. The sight ranks with Machu Picchu, the pyramids of Giza and Easter Island for spiritual significance and mysteries surrounding the construction. The 4-ton stones at Stonehenge were moved to the sight ~5000 years ago from 120 miles away; the 30-ton ones from “only” 20 miles. Our guide pointed out that 30 tons is three times the weight of our 50-passenger tour bus!

Next, Oxford, the famous college town and setting for many Harry Potter movie scenes. The campus is divided between various colleges where students live and study. We had an interesting tour and lunch.

A view inside one college quad

Another quad from the outside

Finally, Windsor where Windsor Castle is located. This was a madhouse! Tourists were everywhere. The town is mostly tacky tourist shops and restaurants. We had a brief tour of the town, but quickly ruled out an optional Castle tour when we saw there was at least an hour que.

Where Harry and Megan left their wedding

Cute pub in Windsor

Part of the que to get in!

We arrived back in London eleven hours after we started with time left to pop back into the Victoria and Albert Museum to follow up on the jewelry exhibition we missed the day before.