I have not been to Stonehenge so I can make no comment about it, but the Ring of Brodgar was amazing. To be able to touch history was absolute magic. Another brilliant site is of course Skara Brae where you can see how our ancestors lived. Older than the pryramids and quite franky, just as impressive.

there is stone circles 500 ft below loch ness, with a tire on top of one them, two miles out from the canal, inverness side.

Stonehenge is alright but nothing compared to the Ring or Brodgar, Scara Brae and Callinish stones which all outdate the Henge by thousands of years.

A couple of weeks ago I visited the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones at Stenness, Skara Brae and Maes Howe. Quite magical. It was misty when we went to Brodgar and the stones had an ethereal quality in the dimmed sunlight. Miles better than Stonehenge which has been ruined, and older than the Pyramids. Makes you think.

Ssssshhhh....don't advertise these places....I can't bear to see Billy Connelly prancing round them in the buff again.

Lest he gets a prehistoric erection????

I've always loved the stones at Callanish for their mixture of beauty, mystery and the tangible link to an ancient and fascinating people. Having visited Stonehenge for the first (and last) time this summer can confirm that Callanish is millions of times better, and not just because it doesn't have a big road running right past it or been manicured to death. The problem us that somewhere along the line Stonehenge lost its soul.

John Aubry wrote about Avebury (although he may as well have been describing any number of our cScottish circles ' it doth exceed Stoneheng as a cathedral doth exceed a parish church'
Next to Callanais, Stonehenge is pretty crude.

Yes that Connelly moment was indeed toe-curling...I've also visited Stonehenge and all of the Orkney monuments and do agree with the previous comments. However, I still liked SH and was lucky enough to be the first in the queue early morning, mid-week, and so came out of the underpass (...) to see it in its glory (which lasted about a minute admittedly). I should also point out that it was BLISSFULLY silent. What cars? I say...before confessing that I took advantage of one of the few benefits of being partly deaf...yup, I switched off! The rest of you I guess should turn your ipods up. Orkney...magical! The only downside was perhaps Maeshowe (made the mistake of visiting it again in 1990-something after the first time in 1976). Too controlled and they'd slapped a concrete ceiling on and white-washed it. I can't recall if the ceiling was the same the first time but it definitely wasn't white-washed which rather compromised the dark eery atmosphere. Those still to go to Orkney, don't forget the Tomb of the Eagles unless it's changed too). For me just Lewis to see.

It's Scotland's magical ancient circles!

Lets not forget the circles and other wonders around Kilmartin in Argyll, including the ancient fort site of the Celts, Dunadd.
I visited Stonehenge a few years ago, I was put off by the commercialisation of the place, same with the Roman remains in Bath. There are better things in Scotland to be had just for the effort of going.
The people who run historical sites in England charge like wounded buffalos.

Andy Argyll. Bath cant be that bad. Johnny Depp has bought a house here and looking at local schools for kids.!!!!!!!!!

StoneHenge not too good but we didnt build it.

Caesar - Didn't say Bath wasn't good, very much enjoyed it actually. Roman remains are a bit thin on the ground up here and that's one thing England has a fair bit of. Enjoyed Chester (Roman Deva) recently as well.
Still, with a name like Caesar you know all that.

Nothing to see there Bupf, just keep on moving.................

Stonehenge is a fabulous site for English Heritage, charging £5.90 admission to let you see a rockery. They take a huge pile of cash from the tourist coaches that arrive on site at five minute intervals with minimal need for mainenance on their part. It's a neolithic cash machine.

Oh, and some of the stones were re-errected this century for scientific and artistic purposes.

Stonehenge has to be seen, but once is enough. Avebury is far superior, but Callanish is above them both. I would say though for quantity AND quality Aberdeenshire is without equal. I am biased though: http://bigstone.awardspace.com/ (shameless self-promotion)

Hundreds of sites, mostly accessible and all free!

#15, well said the more inaccessible the sites are the better, some things are worth the effort...eccept, maybe, Dave's house.

and spelling :)

Just think, in four thousand years times tourists will travel from all over the world - in their galleons - to admire the remains of the Millenium Dome.

At the entrance there will be the statue of a little known Roman Emperor called Antoninus Blairius.
(Well, their sense of history won't have improved!)

Bet you won't have an attraction like that in Scotland!

The only real problem with Stonehenge is that it is too popular and there are too many tourists visiting. I was on Orkney this summer and saw Skara Brae, the Standings Stones, Ring, etc and my message to the tourists of the world is: don't bother, there's nothing to see. Stay home or visit Stonehenge.

Visiting from the states, we enjoyed Avebury in 2004, wandering about relaxed and observing both the physical scene and the people reacting to it.

In 2005, while driving from Wales back to London we went "Hey, there's Stonehenge coming up!" I pulled the car over, the wife jumped out and snapped a few pictures thru the fencing, and we rolled on, laughing about being typical yank tourists, "We don't know what we've seen until we get the pictures developed." Didn't feel like coughing up a few quid for a touristy experience.

*Now*, of course, we've got to see Brodgar and Callanish and the rest.

Let's just go back to #12 JOhnny Depp is moving to Bath? Why was I not told!!!!

I took the same trip as #4 and have to agree--Sctoland has many more interesting and mystical places than Stonehenge. I was "blown away" as the kids say when I first saw the Ring of Brodgar and Skara Brae, etc. To think that I walked among stone "houses" ,etc. that were older than the Pyramids was something that I'll not forget. The two times I visited Stonehenge did not "do" much for me. The others were inspiring and inspirational. Would love to go back and visit them again.

Johnny Depp? Bath? That's great. Being the owner of The Depp Poets' Society chat group, I should have known that. Thanks, I will tell my group.

I haven't yet seen any of the standing stones, but I plan to see them next year, having read all of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.