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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
    Commented Dec 30, 2016 at 21:09
  • youtube.com/watch?v=ENQnac5jOdg
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 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
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 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
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 12:08
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    @GayotFow Did you mean the Ring of Brodgar in Stenness? It's a few miles away from Skara Brae.
    – Graham Borland
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 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
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 1:03
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    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
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 14:43
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There's 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 trust; then I am sure they will allow you to stroke the dolmens.

Else you can always hire mercenary commandos, 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, surrounded by wild theories, and shrouded by fantasy, and since it has been a lifelong dream for you... you might be quite underwhelmed 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
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 2:09
  • Bribing the British might turn out not to work as well as you'd expect, not even with a million bucks.
    – user4188
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 8:54
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    It has long been a dream of mine to headbutt an ancient monument
    – matt freake
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 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
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 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
    Commented Jan 9, 2017 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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The most access you can get to stonehenge is during the summer and winter solstice's. There are some details on the english heritage web site.

There is no need to pay anyone for this, just turn up over the night before the solstice and follow the crowds. You do not need to get permission, neither from the secular authorities or the Druidic ones. However the last few have been cancelled because of covid, so it will be worth checking before you travel. This picture from english heritage gives an idea of the event:

Solstice at Stonehenge

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If you go as a pilgrim for a solstice or equinox dawn or dusk, you can rest your head on the ancient stones and meditate. It's not for tourists but if you need to connect in this druidic way no one will stop you at the open access times.

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    Given the crowds which regularly attend at the solstices and, to a lesser extent, at the equinoxes even getting to the stones is likely to be an uphill battle and staying there long enough to meditate well nigh impossible.
    – mdewey
    Commented May 22, 2022 at 15:56

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