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Comment by adav | Hacker News Reader

At this point it feels like the heavy traffic past Stonehenge is part of our national cultural identity.

What is a liberty is English Heritage getting the road that goes beside the monument closed and charging an absolute fortune for tickets. They still run old diesel busses up and down that road. The bus drivers treat it like a racing track and it feels rather perilous to walk up the permissive path (after being made to feel like a criminal at the visitors centre!)

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National Trust....They are notorious for exploiting their managed cultural heritage. The biggest scam of all is the Northern Ireland Giant causeway where they trick you into paid parking and museum entrance whereas the site itself is free. All tourists are falling into this trap. Stonehenge is the ultimate example of an overpriced ugly tourist spoiled site. Nothing of its authentic history can be experienced there. Much better to visit the smaller sites which are not managed by The National Trust.

The exhibition centre is actually pretty good. I took a few kids there recently and it really helped them understand how neolithic people might have lived. It was expensive, but we had a really good time.

National trust are awful though (although I believe Stone Hedge is actually English Heritage). Anyone interested in seeing a more authentic neolithic site would be better off visiting one of the many free to access long barrow and hill forts.

Stoney Littleton Long Barrow is one of my personal favourites. It's a lovely walk to the site and the site itself is beautiful and completely free. You can even explore the barrow and touch the stones.

It's English Heritage. You can get in with a national trust card but it's run by English Heritage.

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