Because Hubby has started his work meetings, I took an organized tour to Stonehenge and Bath thru London Tool Kit. The tour picked me up early morning at Double Three Hotel just across my hotel at Novotel Tower Bridge.

First half day was spent in Stonehenge before proceeding to Bath. The weather looked perfect, sunny with blue sky from the bus’ window. But when we went outside to Stonehenge location, which was out of nowhere in the middle of a vast field the wind was very strong and freezing cold! I had to learn to take pictures with my camera and took a selfie with my selfie-stick within seconds as the second I took of my gloves, my fingers felt like they were about to be chopped off due to the cold. Next time I travel during winter time, I would have to purchase gloves that can be used for hands-free gadget.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is perhaps the world’s most famous prehistoric monument. It was built in several stages: the first monument was an early henge monument, built about 5,000 years ago, and the unique stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period about 2500 BC. In the early Bronze Age many burial mounds were built nearby.

For centuries, historians and archaeologists have puzzled over the many mysteries of Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument that took Neolithic builders an estimated 1,500 years to erect. Located in southern England, it is comprised of roughly 100 massive upright stones placed in a circular layout. 

While many modern scholars now agree that Stonehenge was once a burial ground, they have yet to determine what other purposes it served and how a civilization without modern technology—or even the wheel—produced the mighty monument. Its construction is all the more baffling because, while the sandstone slabs of its outer ring hail from local quarries, scientists have traced the bluestones that make up its inner ring all the way to the Preseli Hills in Wales, some 200 miles from where Stonehenge sits on Salisbury Plain. 

Today, nearly 1 million people visit Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, every year.

The guide told me that it was a perfect day to visit Stonehenge because there weren’t many visitors due to the cold weather which got intensified five times if you’re out in an open field like Stonehenge

Bath

The second half of the day was spent in Bath. Bath is the largest city in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. Bath is located in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles west of London and 11 miles southeast of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage site in 1987. The main attraction of Bath is the Roman Bath and the city cathedral. Bath, the famous spa town in Somerset England, has attracted people from near and far for centuries to its healing springs and baths. Today the city is known for its beautiful Georgian architecture and as the destination for the wealthy elite of the 18th and 19th centuries CE.

The Cathedral 

Christmas Market in Bath

The Roman Bath

When visiting the Romans Baths, you can learn about how the hot spring was worshiped and utilized by the Romans who conquered Britain in 43 CE. The Romans constructed a templea  and bath complex in honor of Sulis Minerva, a Romano-Celtic composite of Sulis, the Celtic goddess of the healing and sacred water, and Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom. In a few decades, the city of Aquae Sulis emerged around the bath complex as one of the most important spa and pilgrimage sites in the western part of the Roman Empire. Visiting the once-forgotten Roman Baths will give you insight into the ancient city’s long history, and it is also one of the places in England where you can learn a lot about life, religion, and changes in the society of Roman Britain.

Bath itself is a charming town, there’s musician in every corner of the town. Maybe it was the Christmas feel in the air also which added to the charm.