I was wondering how long it would be before the NGE references crept in :o)

people have been touching those stones for thousands of years, why should we stop now?

At the risk of sounding like a pretentious hippy, theres nothing I like doing better than hugging one of the stones when I'm at Avebury - you can see all the tiny little nooks and crannies, some of which have random crystals etc in.

Stonehenge *IS* a tourist trap, theres nothing there but the stones and a gift shop. Avebury on the other hand has a quaint little biker pub, the biggest henge in the world, which imho is more impressive than the stones at stonehenge.

Yes I've been to both repeatedly - the best time to go to stonehenge is overnight at one of the solstices, when you CAN get up to the stones - with all drums,chanting,bongos etc it feel like your thousands of years ago.

I was at avebury last weekend for my birthday - the kids love it, rolling down the henge, playing on the stones etc. Far more enjoyable than the "stand at a distance and look" experience at stonehenge.

The henge at stonehenge is just a dip in the ground - the henge at avebury is massive, and far more impressive than the remains of the stone cirles there.

Anyway, enough ranting :) - if you get the chance go back to both as an adult, take your family to Avebury on a sunny day, its a good (and cheap) afternoon out