Megalithomania presents Explore Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Avebury and other important and enigmatic sites rooted in mystery, mysticism, and myth. Delve into the archaeology, ancient technology and other megalithic mysteries with special guest Jim Vieira, with Hugh Newman and JJ Ainsworth, who will be your guides for the journey. Expert geomancer Maria Wheatley will be joining us at Avebury and archaeoastronomer Simon Banton at Stonehenge on a private access visit just for our group.. Register your deposit before January 31st and save $200.
- Private time at Stonehenge exclusively for our group -
Our journey takes us through a remarkable ten thousand years span, where we'll discover some of the secrets of enigmatic stone circles, the geometry of sacred sites, holy wells’ healing waters and the monumental megaliths that were said to have been built by giants. We'll even have a chance to visit the mysterious crop circles and get to know several secret sites (some on private property) of southwest England, including the missing Altar Stone of Stonehenge. Your guides will share their research on the lost science, hidden knowledge, archaic symbolism and sophisticated ancient technologies that are evident at these sites. We are likely to make discoveries on this journey!
Jim Vieira is a stonemason, author, explorer and host of the History Channel shows Search for the Lost Giants (2014) Roanoke: Search for the Lost Colony (2015) and Return to Roanoke: Search the Seven (2016). He is also co-author of Giants on Record (2015) and The Giants of Stonehenge and Ancient Britain (2021) with Hugh Newman. Jim has investigated worldwide ancient stone sites, studied global indigenous oral traditions, religious documents, the readings of the great mystics and the literature of secret societies to form an alternative theory regarding the origins of civilization. Hugh Newman is an explorer, megalithomaniac and author of Earth Grids: The Secret Pattern of Gaia’s Sacred Sites (2008), Stone Circles (2017) and co-author of Giants on Record (2015), Megalith: Studies in Stone (2018), Geomancy (2021) and The Giants of Stonehenge and Ancient Britain (2021). He has been a regular guest on History Channel’s Ancient Aliens and featured in Search for the Lost Giants, as well as organising the Megalithomania conferences and tours. He has lived in the Stonehenge landscape for eight years and will share its secrets on this tour. Itinerary: July 2025 - subject to changeDay 1 - Sunday July 13thYour tour host, Hugh Newman will meet the group at Heathrow Airport at 2pm. We will travel in a private minibus to our hotel in the ancient town of Amesbury. The charming Antrobus Arms Hotel in located in Amesbury town centre, with ensuite rooms and a fabulous home-cooked breakfast, plus the location where The Beatles once stayed!! Introductory lecture with Hugh and a welcome drink and dinner at Stonehenge Inn (included).
Day 2 - Monday July 14thWe start the day with an orientation meeting to set the scene for our adventure together. Drive to Dorset to visit the Cerne Giant, a gigantic hill-figure that has many legends and stories attached to it and is one of the only remaining depictions of 'giants' in Britain. It has a square earthwork above its head. After lunch we visit the Neolithic Knowlton Henge, that now has a ruined church at its centre. Again, this was part of a much larger ancient complex. Dinner in Amesbury (not included).
Day 3 - Tuesday July 15thToday, we explore Glastonbury, the legendary Isle of Avalon. We start our visit at Glastonbury Abbey, once the largest and most powerful christian sites in all of Britain and the reputed resting place of King Arthur and Guinevere. Rising dramatically from the flat land of the surrounding Somerset Levels, the Tor has been a beacon of spirituality since pagan times and still acts as a magnet for people of all beliefs. You will hear the stories and the legends as well as experience the powerful energy and atmosphere of this sacred site. The views from the top are spectacular! At its foot lies The Red Spring where iron-rich, healing water has been drank for millenia. The Chalice Well, which has megalithic foundations, is located next door and you are encouraged to drink from the holy well where, a local story tells, the Holy Grail is hidden. After lunch we visit the triple stone circles of Stanton Drew in Avon, about 40 mins north of Glastonbury. This is one of the most important megalithic sites in Britain and the third largest stone circle in the country. We also visit the Druid Arms pub, that has 'The Cove' within its garden, a megalithic piece of the greater puzzle (with perhaps time for a quick ale!). Dinner in Glastonbury or Amesbury (not included).
Day 4 - Wednesday July 16thDrive to Avebury Stone Circle where we will be guided by Maria Wheatley, author, dowser and expert on the sacred landscape of Avebury. Maria will show us invisible energy secrets of the massive stone circle temple. Here, within the largest stone circle in the world, we find the remains of two stone circles, one solar and one lunar. We also walk the avenue that has parallel megalithic rows snaking through the landscape culminating at The Sanctuary, the ‘head’ of the Serpent Temple.
After lunch at the restaurant/pub in the middle of Avebury, we also visit West Kennet Long Barrow a five and a half thousand year old underground chamber that was used as a tomb, asronomical observatory and a place of initiation. Close by is the largest manmade mound in Europe, the remarkable five thousand year old Silbury Hill. We will also try to visit a crop circle that may have appeared in the area. Dinner in Amesbury (not included).
Day 5 - Thursday July 17thDragon Hill to witness the majestic Uffington White Horse. Today we will visit two ancient energetic sacred sites located on the Belinus ley line, with a very interesting story to tell. Close by is the Neolithic burial chamber of Wayland Smythy, an atmospheric long barrow set within a copse of trees where we can have a picnic lunch if the weather is good or we can take lunch in a nearby village pub. Back to hotel in Amesbury.
Day 6 - Friday july 18thAfter breakfast we drive to Stonehenge visiting the Cursus, mounds, and the sacred 'Avenue' that is oriented to the Summer Solstice Sunrise, as well as the 10,000 year old post holes that align east-west. We will look at the astronomy of Stonehenge, the legends of giants and an alternative history of this amazing site. Lunch at Stonehenge. We'll visit Woodhenge and Durrington Walls where recent archaeological excavations have taken place. We then take a visit to Salisbury Museum, that has some remarkable neolithic and sacred artifacts from Stonehenge and the surrounding area, as well as an 18 ft giant model in one of the display rooms! We have arranged for our group to have private special access inside the stones of the world's most famous sacred site, Stonehenge. Standing inside the huge megaliths which have stood in magnificent isolation on Salisbury Plain for thousands of years, you will have time to connect with the stones, meditate or hold a ceremony, or measure the stones, check the alignments and have an opportunity to carry out any research. Experience this World Heritage Site in your own way. This is a rare opportunity to truly connect with a site revered by countless generations. Farewell dinner and drink at hotel (Included).
Day 7 - Saturday July 19thDrive to Heathrow to arrive at airport at 2.00pm for return flight home (Please do not book a flight home before 4pm on 6th July from Heathrow). Bon voyage!
Photo credit: Martin Gray - www.sacredsites.com and Wikipedia Commons, plus Hugh Newman's archive. Copyright H.Newman 2022 Guest Reviews of the 'Mysteries of England' Tour 2019
"Hugh and JJ, you were great host and never failed to create an exciting atmosphere at every megalithic site we visited each day. The bar is set pretty high now for all future gatherings! I would like to send a special heartfelt Thank You to everyone of you for the kindness and love you showed to my Mom!! She has been grinning from ear to ear every time I look at her and has been telling every person she talks to about how wonderful of a time she had this week. You are all truly amazing people. Thank you so much!!" "Thank you for sharing your knowledge about ancient sites in England. The tour exceeded my expectations in all respects. I appreciate that fact that you took us to ancient sites that everyone is familiar with and several other sites that are less well-known as they were all stunning and intriguing even if we had to tip-toe through a few cow patties. I truly enjoyed the additional knowledge provided by your guest speakers as well, especially the opportunity to learn a new hobby (dowsing). Experiencing ancient stone circles, burial mounds, and recent crop circles in person is a profound experience I will never forget. Everyone in our group made every day fun and downright out-of-this-world. I hope to see you soon on another Megalithomania tour in the near future". "First THANK YOU for an amazing tour!!! We are a bit sad of course that we missed 2 days out of 5. But we will come back. Thank you for all your care and explanations and organisation! We really loved it!" "Thanks for a wonderful experience. I did not know what to expect when I signed up – but I am sure glad I did. You took great care of us, and not only did you plan an amazing tour with visits to many varied interesting sights, you also were flexible and willing to go the extra mile and add additional site visits (i.e. crop circles) when the opportunity to do so arose. I appreciated the knowledge of the guest speakers who joined us at specific sites, and also really enjoyed my fellow tour group members – they were the icing on the cake – a great and fun group of people! Thanks again. Guest Reviews of the 'Mysteries of England' Tour 2018
The tour exceeded the description and my expectations. Hugh explains in a fun, easeful way all the Megalithocal structures while leaving room for your own interpretations. The tour expanded my heart and mind!" "This past summer my wife and l went on the Mysteries of England Tour and it was simply incredible. The megalithic sites not only captivate you, but they are revealed to you in a whole new light. At each spot, you can feel the energies that drew the ancients to these places, and you begin to understand that these were not primitive peoples, but sophisticated in their understanding of the Earth, the stars, and how we are all connected by powerful forces both seen and unseen. I hope l can take this tour again. It is by far the best adventure in England you will ever take." "Thanks so much for the fantastic tour. It really was a lot of fun." "Just to say that the Mysteries of England Tour that I’ve just taken with you was a real blast. It was non-stop from start to finish and interesting, thought provoking and fun. I’m still having to take it all in. Plus, you really put a lot of effort into making sure that everyone got out of the tour what they wanted to get out of it and were prepared to give up your time freely to the people on the tour. You really went above and beyond." "I sure enjoyed our England tour. Wow, so much packed into the week! You ordered the perfect weather, kept the queues to a minimum and did an awesome job avoiding the crowds! :-) I appreciate your arranging for our local guides Shaun Kirwan and Maria Wheatley -- and others that just showed up. I so enjoyed you and Jj, your patience and willingness to repeat yourself to all of us as we spread out and explored the stones and energy. I especially enjoyed the dowsing, and I'm going to get dowsing rods (mine melted in the 2011 wildfire). Thanks for all the coaching and help learning all that. AND I so enjoyed the drone so we could experience the crop circles, Cerne giant and Huffington dragon/horse."
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