During our 10 day trip to London and Scotland in June 2016, we decided to take a bus tour on our last day. Alex’s parents were with us for this trip, and we all really wanted to go on a Stonehenge and Bath tour, and explored our options. Alex and I eventually found the company, Premium Tours, and select their tour “England In One Day.” The tour traveled to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Bath and the Cotswolds, and Stonehenge. Keep in mind, our trip occurred in 2016 and they may have updated the tour slightly since then.

Read below to hear about our Stonehenge and Bath tour! We’ve included brief descriptions about each stop, an assessment of the cost, and an overall evaluation. If you want to see the itinerary for our entire UK trip, click here!

Meeting at Victoria Station

Our Stonehenge and Bath tour left from Victoria Coach Station at 8:15am. We were staying in the Marylebone section of London, so we left our hotel around 7am to walk to Tube and take that to Victoria Station. Victoria Station is in central London; it is both a railway train station and bus depot. We got there and purchased some food at a small mart for our breakfast, then waited at the gate where our bus would arrive. When our driver arrived, he called out the tour, we “checked-in” and boarded the bus. Soon we were off!

Stratford-Upon-Avon

Our first stop was Stratford-Upon-Avon, which was roughly a 2 hour drive. The tour included admission to Shakespeare’s Birthplace in Stratford, so our bus parked and we disembarked. Our driver/tour guide escorted us to a private room where we had a small reception with beverages and scones with jam and clotted cream. Then we proceeded to tour the house where William Shakespeare was born. His father was a successful glove maker and it was very interesting to see where a young Shakespeare lived.

After the reception and house tour, our guide told us when to meet back at the bus. We then explored the gift shop and the garden behind the birthplace, which was nice. Then we walked to Henley Street, a street filled with restaurants and shops. We didn’t have enough time to visit another historic site in Stratford, but we walked down to the river. After that we walked through a few nearby streets and explored.

There is no scheduled lunch for the bus tour, so we made time to stop at a Subway and quickly pick up sandwiches. This reduced our time spent on getting lunch and allowed us to walk around the town more. Then we ate our sandwiches on the bus as we traveled to our next stop. We soon boarded the bus and were off again!

Driving through the Cotswolds

From Stratford, we traveled to Bath. On the way, we drove through the Cotswolds, which was beautiful. The Cotswolds is a large, almost 800 square mile area in England; it is known for its rolling hills and “golden” stone. Driving through, we snaked through villages as we climbed and descended hills. Our driver/guide told us about the various castles, palaces, and country homes that we passed. It was such a gorgeous area and driving through made us want to visit on a future trip!

Bath

The scenic views made the two hours fly by, and we soon arrived in Bath. The tour did not include admission to anything in Bath and we were only given an hour of free time. This certainly limited what we could do. We planned on visiting the Roman Baths; however, with only an hour, we knew that it was not enough to really enjoy the baths. We wondered if it would be worth the cost of admission. However, Alex’s dad and I really wanted to see the baths. So we decided to split up. Alex and his mom explored the town. They stopped in a few shops, listened to a band playing in a park, and walked around the large Bath Abbey. 

Meanwhile, Alex’s dad and I paid the admission for the baths (£16.50 each, so roughly $42 total). We rushed through the exhibition areas and smaller springs. We both are big history nerds and would have loved to read every last word, but we were time constrained. Eventually we made it to the main Roman Bath, the one you see in the pictures. We decided to sit by the water and enjoy for a few minutes. Then we quickly exited, after a short bathroom break. We met up with Alex and his mom, then headed back to the bus.

Stonehenge

Next we drove to the Stonehenge Visitor Center, which was about 50 minutes away. The bus parked, and then our guide led us to the center and told us when to return to the bus. Our bus tour included admission to Stonehenge and an accompanying audio tour. So we received the audio tour, and boarded a shuttle to take us from the Visitor Center to the monument. We disembarked and walked towards the stones.

The audio tour was great and I learned a lot. It was astounding to see this iconic monument in person, and we were glad to check this off our bucket list. After a while, we took the shuttle back to the visitor center. There are some Neolithic houses outside the center that we explored, then we watched a video of Stonehenge throughout the seasons. Then we headed to the shop to get some souvenirs. We still had some time, and we wouldn’t return to London until 8pm, so we went to the cafe and got some snacks. Then we boarded the bus and had another 1 hour and 40 minute drive back to Victoria Station. The whole bus tour lasted roughly 12 hours, and we arrived back a little after 8pm.

Assessment of Cost

The cost of our Stonehenge and Bath tour was £105 per person (roughly $133). Admission for Shakespeare’s Birthplace (day of) is £17.50 and for Stonehenge is £19. The Stonehenge audio tour is another £3. A round bus trip from London to just Stonehenge is roughly £28. Our bus tour took us to three different stops and was very convenient as we didn’t have to make any transfers.

Overall, the cost for our Stonehenge and Bath tour was worth it. We received transportation, and our driver described some of the sites that we passed while driving and told us about the towns that we visited. We received admission to two sites, and also got scones at Shakespeare’s birthplace. For a 12 hour Stonehenge and Bath tour, it covered a lot; and we thought £105 was well priced. We also tipped our driver/guide at the end of the tour.

Overall Evaluation of Tour

Pros:

-We didn’t have to drive ourselves or take public transport and make multiple transfers

-Tour included admission to Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Stonehenge

-Able to drive through and see the Cotswolds

-Good overview of a few main sites in England

-Able to see a lot for a short amount of time

-Knowledgeable driver/guide

Cons:

-Not a lot of time at each site (only 1 hour to see Bath)

-No site admission included in Bath

-No meals included (only scones)

Overall, we enjoyed our bus tour. We would have loved more time at each site, especially in Bath. However, that was the nature of this tour. It promised to see “England in One Day” and covered a lot of ground. We were able to go to three great stops and see more of England than we would have if we only stayed in the city. Our main priority was Stonehenge, and we were given plenty of time to enjoy it. We didn’t feel rushed at all at Stonehenge. All in all, we would recommend our Stonehenge and Bath tour, and highly recommend you visit all three sites!