Portland Cruise Excursion - Stonehenge UNESCO Site Only
Description
Enjoy a well-paced 6–8 hour tour from Portland that offers the opportunity to visit one of England’s most remarkable landmarks in a single day. Begin your experience with a visit to the iconic, UNESCO-listed Stonehenge, where you'll have time to explore the ancient stone circle and the informative visitor centre.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your tour begins with a visit to the world-famous Stonehenge, one of the most iconic and mysterious prehistoric monuments in the world. Believed to be over 5,000 years old, this ancient stone circle continues to fascinate visitors with its scale, precision, and unanswered questions. You'll have time to explore the site at your own pace with the official audio guide, walk around the stones, and take in the surrounding landscape of Salisbury Plain. The visitor center offers exhibitions, a café, and a gift shop, making this an unforgettable and well-rounded start to your day.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Stonehenge tickets are NOT included in this tour
- Unguided Experience (Transport Only)
- This tour can be cancelled if minimum numbers are not reached
Reviews(20)
It’s a great tour! Our guide, who is also a Weymouth firefighter, was very knowledgeable of the local history. Our driver, Chris, was wonderful. The two of them made a great team! They were funny!! Stonehenge was very interesting. I highly recommend this tour.
Long bus ride but worth it Our tour guide Jonny was very nice Food at Stonehenge was not that good. Bathrooms clean
The ride to Stonehenge was very nice and the guide informative. Stonehenge was beautiful. Slight miscommunication messages sent from provider , stated bus would be at port at 9:30 or slightly after. When we got off boat at 9:20, bus was fully loaded and they been waiting 10 min for us. Other then that perfect excursion
We took the shuttle to the castle. John our van driver gave some information on the way to Stonehenge. The drive was about 1.5 hrs through beautiful English Countryside. We spent 1.3 hours at Stonehenge which was plenty. Then drove to visit Salisbury Cathedral. Very nice. Our driver John was a very nice gentleman. He made a quick stop at a grocery so we could pick up some candy we were looking for. When we got back to Portland he gave a a little drive around to see the area and beauty of the town, extra bonus
Thank you so much for your kind review! We're so glad you enjoyed the day, it sounds like you made the most of both Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral, and I'm especially pleased to hear that John looked after you so well. He really does go the extra mile (or stop!) when he can, and I know he’ll appreciate your lovely comments. It’s great to hear you enjoyed the scenic drive through the countryside and the little bonus tour of Portland at the end, it’s such a special area and we always like to share a bit more when time allows. Thanks again for joining us! Kind regards, Jenny
This tour from Portland cruise port fully met our expectations. Our guide, Danny, was waiting for us at Portland Castle as agreed. From there we left with a small group to Stonehenge. Thanks to our pre-purchased tickets, we were able to get in and on the shuttle bus to the monument (tip: buy your tickets for Stonehenge in advance via site English Heritage). We had ample time for a thorough visit of the site. After a short drive we reached Salisbury. There too we had plenty of time for a visit to the cathedral, the city center and to eat. Communication with Sally from Dorset Tours was excellent. Very quick and helpful. This excursion is great! 10/10
Bedankt voor je prachtige review! We zijn blij dat je hebt genoten van de tour, de organisatie en natuurlijk als gids. Fijn om te horen dat alles soepel verliep en je voldoende tijd had op beide locaties. Hopelijk tot een volgende keer aan de Jurassic Coast!
Pretty good excursion, aligned with cruise ship timelines and gives a little bit of Weymouth town exploring when combined with town shuttles. I wish there was more time in Salisbury however a lot to see and the time is limited. Bus driver was great and keeping on track.
Thank you for your kind review! We're glad you enjoyed the excursion and appreciated the timing with your cruise. Salisbury is such a special place — we wish we had more time there too! Delighted to hear your driver kept everything running smoothly.
As instructed, we took the free shuttle from the port to Portland Castle (just a quick 3-minute ride). Jenny met us there and got us onto a comfortable coach for the trip to Stonehenge. A couple of tips: keep an eye on your Viator messages; that’s how they’ll contact you! Book your Stonehenge tickets in advance, but be aware they’re non-refundable if you can’t make the tour. Also, this is clearly advertised as unguided - it’s a transfer to Stonehenge and back, not a commentary tour. We had no issues with timing and enjoyed around two hours at Stonehenge, which was plenty for us. Yes, it can be busy, but that’s to be expected at such a popular site. Some of the negative reviews about “lack of time” seem a bit unfair, with a bit of planning, it all worked out fine. Our driver, John, was friendly, helpful, and very professional. Overall, a smooth and enjoyable trip!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful review. Our first priority is always to make sure guests are back at their ship on time, so I’m really glad you appreciated this and still had plenty of time to enjoy Stonehenge. It’s great to hear you found the transfer from Portland smooth and straightforward, and I’ll be sure to pass your kind words on to John. We really appreciate your tips for future travellers too — and we’re delighted you enjoyed your day with us!
Poor communication. Excursion show 10am at Port and then no one showed up. We called multiple times to see where we were supposed to meet up and then went to message company to see that the meeting instructions were texted. Never seen the messages and never received any other communication for confirmation.
This reviewer never experienced this tour. We send clear meeting instructions through the Viator system in three separate emails before the tour and never send text messages as a form of communication. We received no calls from you. We also never meet at 10:00 am — that is far too late for this tour. You did not book or travel with us, and we are working with Viator to have this review removed.
We just needed transport to Stonehenge and this was a good solution. We found it's cheaper than the ships excursions and taxis. Our driver Jeff was helpful and gave us 2 hours, which was plenty in my opinion. Communication was good throughout Viator and we got back to the ship in good time. Frankly I'm glad they are cautious with timings and getting back. Thank you!
Thank you for your kind words. We hope to see you again one day.
There is not nearly enough time for this excursion to make any sense. We feel that this was a complete rip-off and believe we should get at least a partial refund. We had a maximum of 3.5 hours to spend at these two locations combined. At Stonehenge, we had at total of about 2.25 hours to spend there. We had to wait 45 minutes in line for tickets. Another line for the shuttle was about 35 minutes and we had to allow another 30 minutes to return. We were able to get close to the stones, take a few quick pictures and get back in line for the shuttle. Not even enough time to get in the long line to walk around the stones. We're able to say that we caught a quick glimpse of the stones but that's it. The focus was only to get back to the bus in time. Not much less than a NIGHTMARE!. Then on to Salisbury Castle. Rushed because of long lines to get tickets. No chance of waiting in line to get actually inside the castle. Took some pictures from the outside, walked the grounds for about 20 minutes, spent 15 minutes in gift shop and had to get back to bus. This excursion might work for either Stonehenge OR Salisbury Castle but definitely NOT BOTH! Feeling VERY RIPPED-OFF!
Hello Richard Pinches, your real issue seems to be with English Heritage and how Stonehenge operates? The ticket office, the queues and the shuttles, all of which we cannot control. August is the busiest month of the year, and you chose not to pre-purchased tickets, so unfortunately, your line was long. Again, that is not something we can control I'm afraid. You booked with us because we’re 65% cheaper than the cruise lines, and since you didn’t buy a Stonehenge ticket either, it seems fair to say you do appreciate the cheaper things in life. Our job is to get you there, within the time available on your cruise schedule, and most importantly, get you back to the ship on time. You did see Stonehenge, you did visit Salisbury Cathedral, and you did get back to the port without issue. A “nightmare” would have been missing your ships departure, right Richard?
