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I am planning to go to the Stonehenge over the next year, and I have done research and plenty of tours let you go inside the inner ring if you book ahead, for example.

Is it still possible to put a hand on the stones?

This has always been a life long dream of mine, and price really is not a problem as long as it is an option.

It never specifies if you are allowed to do this or not, does anyone know if this is still a possibility today?

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    Allow me to enter a plug for nearby Avebury, in many ways far more impressive than Stonehenge, where you can touch the stones to your heart's content. – Kate Gregory Dec 30 '16 at 21:09
  • youtube.com/watch?v=ENQnac5jOdg – Gayot Fow Dec 31 '16 at 7:02
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    Also, following Kate's suggestion, allow me to enter a plug for the standing stones at Skara Brae. More awesome, more spiritual. – Gayot Fow Dec 31 '16 at 7:04
  • By way of a backup plan, if you can get tickets to Glastonbury Festival (in a year it's at Worthy Farm) they've got a very spiritual stone circle you can touch, dance round, lick, and fondle to your heart's content in the loved-up company of 100,000 like-minded folk. – John U Dec 31 '16 at 12:08
  • @GayotFow Did you mean the Ring of Brodgar in Stenness? It's a few miles away from Skara Brae. – Graham Borland Dec 31 '16 at 17:02
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There is a Special Access Tour, which brings you closer to Stonehenge than the general public.

For those who are really, really interested in Stonehenge it is possible to go beyond the rope fence and walk among the stones.

These visits are called Special Access or Inner Circle visits and take place outside public opening hours (i.e. dawn or dusk).

There are two ways of conducting a Special Access Tour; by booking straight with English Heritage on their website, or by booking a private tour with a company from London.

This is the closest you can get, but you still can't touch the stones. Terms and Conditions say:

Stonehenge is protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaelogical Areas Act and you must adhere to the regulations outlined in the act or face criminal prosecution. No person may touch, lean against, stand on or climb the stones, or disturb the ground in any way. No equipment can be attached to, leant on or supported by the stones.

I suspect you'd need to be an archaeologist to touch the stones.

Although this is not exactly what you've asked, I will still put a blatant, relevant ad in here: a few years ago I had a trip to Stonehenge with https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk and it was really, really good. The small group size and the knowledgable guide made it a really fantastic experience. We even saw the West Kennet Long Barrow, accessing that is a bit tricky with larger groups.

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    I suspect that not even an archaeologist can touch them these days. – CGCampbell Dec 31 '16 at 1:03
  • I checked with an archeologist who used to run the research program there and is very familiar with the site. There are times you might be able to make a quick dash and get a touch in (it's crowded at Solstice, for example), but you won't have any way to stand still with your hand on a stone and kind of soak in a connection to the past . It is simply not allowed there, for any price or even if it's your job to do some research on some other part of the site. Your best bet is another circle and Avebury was the suggestion. – Kate Gregory Dec 31 '16 at 14:43
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Avebury plus lots of other semi-abandoned "stone circles" that you can headbut to your hearth's content.

well if it is a dream, and money is no object offer $1 million "donation" to the english heritage thrust, i am sure they will allow you to stroke the dolmens.

Else you can always hire mercenary comandos, neutralise the guards and get intimate with the megaliths...

a simpler "solution" though would be to do a dodge and run during your inner tour and quickly caress a stone before spending the next few hours being questioned by the police and paying a fine....

a word of caution, as Stonehenge is highly mediatised, surounded by wild theories, and shrouded by fantasy, and since it has been a lifelong dream for you...you might be quite underwelmed by the reality of it...

For me, while being quite unimpressed by the henge itself, i found that the crows perched on the stones brought a sacred timeless dimension to the place.

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    Hey, just dress up your hand as a crow then! – Tim Dec 31 '16 at 2:09
  • Bribing the British might turn out not to work as well as you'd expect, not even with a million bucks. – chx Dec 31 '16 at 8:54
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    It has long been a dream of mine to headbutt an ancient monument – matt freake Dec 31 '16 at 9:26
  • @mattfreake perhaps you should find the "Smiling Tiki" and headbutt it. It's appropriately "lost in the jungle with nary a person in site most of the time" – CGCampbell Dec 31 '16 at 16:31
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    Should I mark this as the accepted? haha I wonder which is cheaper, the million donation or the mercenaries. This is something I will keep in mind with the donation that I will look into:) – Lain Jan 9 '17 at 20:52
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More of an FYI than an answer; there are photos on the BBC website of 'druids' celebrating the 2016 winter solstice. As you can see, some are touching the stones. This is probably a Special Access tour and technically the participants are not supposed to do this, but English Heritage don't seem to police the event too strictly. So if you can persuade a 'druid' group to let you join them...

I would agree with Kate though, impressive as Stonehenge is, there are many other stone circles that haven't been restored as much and you can climb all over their stones for as long as you like

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