Stonehenge Audio Guide: how to download it and what it covers
The official Stonehenge audio guide is a free mobile guide that helps you understand the stones, the surrounding prehistoric landscape and the visitor-centre exhibition while exploring at your own pace.
Download it to your smartphone before travelling, bring your own headphones and choose from 13 languages. Stonehenge no longer hires audio-guide handsets on site.
What is the Stonehenge audio guide?
The Stonehenge audio guide is a narrated, self-guided experience designed to add context to what you see during your visit. Instead of following a live guide or a fixed group timetable, you listen on your own device and decide how quickly to move through each section.
Commentary is divided into manageable stops, allowing you to pause, replay or skip sections. This makes it useful for first-time visitors, families, solo travellers and anyone who prefers to explore independently.
The guide explains Stonehenge as more than a single stone circle. It connects the monument with its builders, nearby archaeological sites, changing construction phases and the ceremonial landscape around it.
How to download and use the Stonehenge audio guide
The simplest approach is to prepare the guide before leaving home. That avoids relying on mobile data or spending part of your visit downloading files.
Download the official guide
Use the English Heritage audio-guide page to reach the correct Apple App Store or Google Play download.
Choose your language
Open the app before travelling and select the language you want to use during your visit.
Charge your phone
Start with a full battery and consider taking a small power bank if you will also use your phone for photos and navigation.
Bring headphones
Personal headphones make the commentary easier to hear without disturbing other visitors around the monument.
Downloading after arrival
Free Wi-Fi is available at the visitor centre, so you can download the guide on site if necessary. Downloading in advance is still the safer option, particularly on busy days.
What does the Stonehenge audio guide cover?
The guide is organised around three parts of the visitor experience, helping you connect the monument itself with the objects, people and landscape that surround it.
Main experience
The stone circle and its builders
Commentary helps explain when Stonehenge was built, how its construction changed over time and what archaeologists have learned about the people who created and used it.
- The scale and arrangement of the stones.
- How different stones may have been transported.
- Ideas about ritual, ceremony and astronomical alignment.
- Archaeological discoveries associated with the monument.
Landscape and exhibition
Separate guide content explores the wider World Heritage landscape and the exhibition at the visitor centre.
- Nearby prehistoric monuments and burial sites.
- The relationship between Stonehenge and its landscape.
- Objects and archaeological finds in the exhibition.
- How people may have lived during the monument’s construction.
Which languages are available?
The official Stonehenge audio guide is available in 13 languages. Select your preferred language within the app before starting the tour.
European languages
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.
More European options
Polish, Russian and Ukrainian.
Asian languages
Mandarin, Japanese and Korean.
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is also available in the official app.
Is the Stonehenge audio guide included with admission?
The guide itself is free to download, so there is no separate audio-guide hire charge. You still need the appropriate Stonehenge admission or tour booking to enter the managed visitor attraction.
This is different from the old system of collecting a dedicated handset. Stonehenge no longer offers handsets to hire on site, which makes downloading the app and bringing headphones important.
Audio guide vs guided Stonehenge tour
Both options add context, but they suit different visitors. The key difference is flexibility: an audio guide follows your pace, while a live tour follows a group itinerary.
Choose the audio guide if you want:
- to explore independently;
- to pause and replay commentary;
- more control over time spent at each viewpoint;
- a choice of 13 languages;
- a free interpretation option on your own device.
Choose a guided tour if you want:
- live commentary and the chance to ask questions;
- transport arranged from London or another city;
- a structured timetable;
- Stonehenge combined with Bath, Windsor or another destination;
- someone else to manage the day’s logistics.
You may be able to use both
Some organised tours include free time at Stonehenge. In that situation, you can listen to the audio guide during your self-guided time, provided your schedule allows it.
Families and accessibility
Being able to pause the guide and control your own pace can make the experience easier for families and visitors who need rest breaks or additional time.
What to take for the Stonehenge audio guide
A few simple preparations will make the guide easier to use once you arrive.
Charged phone
Charge fully before leaving and reduce unnecessary battery use during the journey.
Headphones
Wired or wireless headphones make listening clearer, especially on windy or crowded days.
Power bank
A small portable charger is useful if you will also use maps, tickets, photography and transport apps.
Pre-downloaded content
Open the guide before travelling and make sure the language and tour content you need are available.
Last reviewed: . App features and language availability can change, so check the official download page before travelling.
Is the Stonehenge audio guide worth using?
For most independent visitors, yes. Stonehenge can be visually impressive but difficult to interpret without explanation. The audio guide adds the history, archaeology and landscape context that turns a walk around the monument into a more meaningful visit.
It is particularly worthwhile because it is free, available in several languages and does not force you to follow a group schedule. The main trade-off is that you must prepare your own device and cannot ask the recording follow-up questions.
Stonehenge audio guide FAQs
Quick answers to the questions visitors most often ask before downloading the guide.
Is the Stonehenge audio guide free?
Yes. The official Stonehenge audio guide is free to download to your own smartphone or tablet.
Do I need to book the audio guide?
No separate audio-guide booking is normally required. Download the official app to your device, but remember that you still need valid admission or an organised tour booking to enter Stonehenge.
Can I hire an audio-guide handset at Stonehenge?
No. Stonehenge no longer offers audio-guide handsets to hire on site. Use your own smartphone or tablet and bring headphones.
Should I download the audio guide before visiting?
Yes. Downloading in advance avoids relying on mobile data or visitor-centre Wi-Fi and gives you time to check that the app and your preferred language work correctly.
What does the Stonehenge audio guide cover?
The guide includes tours covering the stone circle, the wider Stonehenge landscape and the visitor-centre exhibition.
Which languages are available?
The guide is available in English, Mandarin, German, Russian, Spanish, Polish, French, Japanese, Dutch, Korean, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese and Ukrainian.
Do I need headphones?
Headphones are strongly recommended so you can hear the commentary clearly without playing sound aloud around other visitors.
Can children use the Stonehenge audio guide?
Yes. Families can pause or skip sections and move at their own pace, which may be easier for children than following a long live talk.
Is there an accessible version of the audio guide?
An English audio-described guide is available through the app. Official transcripts for the exhibition, landscape and stone-circle tours are also available online.
Is an audio guide better than a guided tour?
The audio guide is better for flexibility and independent exploration. A live guided tour is better for asking questions, receiving personal commentary and having transport or a structured itinerary arranged.
Useful Stonehenge guides
Use these pages to plan admission, transport and the rest of your visit.
Ready to plan your Stonehenge visit?
Download the official audio guide before travelling, then compare tickets or tours so you know how you will reach Stonehenge and what your booking includes.