Megalithomania Ancient England Tour Decoded

The folks at the MegalithomaniaUK YouTube channel offer seven day tours of ancient England. It includes Stonehenge and other stone circles, crop circles, churches and other mysterious ancient sites in the central England region. Today we are decoding the 2023 Megalithomania Mysteries of Ancient England Tour

Rediscover the Past in England’s Ancient Sites

Mysterious England invites you to embark on a journey to explore the captivating world of it’s ancient sites. From the iconic and enigmatic Stonehenge with its celestial alignment and spiritual energy, to large ancient white chalk geoglyphs etched into mountains like the Cerne Giant.

Stand among the megalithic stones at the world’s largest prehistoric stone circle at Avebury Henge. Step into the medieval Salisbury Cathedral, to see the world’s oldest working clock and the Magna Carta. Finally, see an actual crop circle up close from the inside!

Who goes on these Ancient England Tours?

England is one of the most travelled-to tourist destinations in the world. From bustling London, to pastoral country landscapes, to ancient henges, England has got something for everyone. And it’s an easy trip for Americans as English is spoken there.

There are other England tours with just Megalithomaniacs, however this particular one was a co-brand with Ancient Spirit Tours from Sardinia, Italy. They brought 17 people, with 1 person and myself coming from Megalithomania.

ancient england explorer — Ancient England Explorer

Additional Tours

As this was a one week tour, I wanted to add another week somewhere to make the long trip over more worthwhile. I chose to tour the Cotswolds in England with Evan Evans Tours, and Belfast and Dublin in Ireland through ToursByLocals.

Evans Evans Tours

Tours By Locals

Why choose this England Tour?

I first visited Stonehenge many years ago. When I arrived, it was like £12 to enter and walk a roped path around the stones, but for an extra £6 you could step over the ropes and enter stone circle. I did not like this nickel-and-dime upselling, so I just did the regular ticket. After returning home, I had regrets. I should have just paid the extra fee, because now it’s going to cost so much more to fly back there for that bucket-list experience.

By the time I was able to return to England, they closed off the stone circle access. You had to be a Druid visiting on certain days of the year to enter the circle for ceremonies. Fast forward to today, I was scanning the Megalithomania website and saw a special private access tour to the center of the Stonehenge stones. Finally, I had the opportunity to erase my biggest travel regret. That is why I signed up.

For you, no visit to Stonehenge would be complete without entering the circle. It’s like visiting the Egyptian Pyramids, and not venturing inside. Everyone knows it’s one thing to look at a photo versus looking at the real thing. There’s also a big difference between looking and being inside and experiencing.

Who runs the Megalithomania Ancient England tour?

Hugh Newman, MegalithomaniaUK YouTuber, megalithomaniac, author, researcher, lecturer, and television host is a passionate expert on ancient civilizations and lives in England. You won’t get any better than that for an Ancient England tour.

Arianna Mendo and Enrico Gelain from Ancient Spirit Tours lead experiences in the Sacred Places of the Ancients. When I met Arianna she had a strong calming energy. Amazing. Would easily recommend going on tours with her company.

Megalithomania Ancient England Tour Part 1

The Megalithomania UK tour begins and ends at London’s Airport. My journey started in San Francisco on an Virgin Atlantic direct flight to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). I arrive a couple of days early and joined up with everyone back at the airport to begin the tour. Here are the places we visited.

Virgin Atlantic was cheaper booking through Delta Airlines which codeshares the same flights. Airplane and club lounge much less posh than 20 years ago.
The Cerne Giant is carved into a hill with the lines filled in with white limestone chalk. Origin and purpose are unknown. Yea, it’s a male.
St. Augustine’s Well in Dorset, England, is a spring providing a natural source of water emerging from the ground. Enrico drank this semi-still water and survived.
The Cerne Abbey was founded in 987AD. This Abbey House is a later structure constructed from some of the original stones. I took the opportunity to check this place out while everyone else were fawning over the well.
The Knowlon Henge in Dorset, England encircles the Knowlton Church. Two large yew trees are in the back.
Crop circles, or crop formations, mysteriously appear in wheat crops and the like. We investigated two different crop circles.
Wayland’s Smithy in Oxfordshire, England is a neolithic long barrow and chambered tomb from about 3700BC. We had our lunch here.
The Uffington White Horse is a prehistoric hill figure carved into the hill side. We are those specks on the long white line.
Stanton Drew is home to three stone circles. The Great Circle is the second-largest stone circle in the country. Just watch out for the many cow patties.
Dragon Hill is a small chalk hill with a flat top. There is a mysterious bald spot on the top where no grass grows, like with some men I know.

Megalithomania Ancient England Tour Part 2

In the second part of our tour we explore more ancient sites, including the one everyone was looking forward to, private access inside the stone circle of Stonehenge.

Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset, England, from the 7th century, and supposed gravesite of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.
Glastonbury Tor rises from the top of a large hill. This tower is the only remaining part of a church that was once there. It’s about 300 steps up from the ground level entrance. Sadly, no way to climb to the top of the tower.
The White Spring in Glastonbury is a natural spring containing calcite. Tastes great. The Red Spring across the street contains iron oxide and tastes terrible.
Salisbury Cathedral, or Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Is from the 13th century and is home to the Magna Carta, the world’s oldest working clock, and the tallest cathedral spire in the country.
Old Sarum was the site of the original cathedral, before it was relocated to Salisbury. What remains are the foundation stones.
Woodhenge is a series of concentric holes that once held wooden posts. Today, concrete posts mark the locations of the holes. Seems to me they should have made those posts taller.
Stonehenge megalithic stone circle consists of sarsen stones and bluestones. We had a private tour into the center to walk among the stones.
Avebury Henge contains the largest stone circle in the world. The layout has about 150 stones in one outer circle and two separate inner circles.
West Kennet Long Barrow has a chambered tomb and predates Stonehenge by over a thousand years. Chamber entrance is behind those large rocks.
Silbury Hill is a large man-made chalk mound from 2400 BCE. No burial chambers have been found, and the purpose is unknown.

Evan Evans: Cotswolds Small Group Tour

I arrived a day early for the Megalithomania tour, and having been to London before, I wanted to see something different. The Cotswolds is a quaint region in south-central England known for its collection of charming and historic villages. Much of the stone construction is from the beautiful, local, golden-colored Cotswold limestone.

I signed up for this day tour from London which went to three different villages, Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury, and Burford.

Evan Evans Cotswolds Tour Review

Megalithomania Mysteries of Ancient England Tour Review

Having gone on a prior Gobekli Tepe Turkey Tour with Hugh Newman, I was happy to see this Mysteries of Ancient England tour show up on their website. The tour includes a room in a hotel in Amesbury and it’s all day trips out and back from there. Hugh drives the small tour bus himself. It’s a decent ride, and the small size helps to navigate the narrow roads necessary to get to some of the destinations.

As for the sites, Stonehenge is easily at the top of the best things to see on the England tour. While it looks impressive from a far, going inside the circle lets you experience the mystical energy caused in part by the sheer scale of some of the megalithic stones. It’s humbling to think that people have been in that spot for thousands of years, and for a long time into to the future.

The second most interesting site for me were the crop circles. Where else can you see and walk through these large, stunning, artistic, yet temporary masterpieces? We were fortunate to see two different designs, and it was challenging to imagine how these things were created

Third on the list is seeing the Magna Carta at Salisbury Cathedral. Very fortunate to see such an old important document on display.

The rest of the sites were interesting, but not on a level that they are worth a trip on their own. Collectively though, they are excellent to show the variety of ancient and not-so ancient sites in England.

Going with the Megalithomania crew for an ancient England tour is a good move. Hugh lives in the area, knows where to go and where not to go. He has a wealth of information about all the sites.

Thanks for reading to the end of the page. I hope I have given you enough information to make an informed decision on whether or not to go on an Ancient England tour. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions – hit me up in the comment section below.