LONDON

On the way to Salisbury, stop by Stonehenge, the Neolithic monument whose origins remain a mystery. (Photodisc)

It's important to arrive early at Stonehenge to avoid the crowds. Heading from London, I wound by car through the chalky open land of the plain. Here and there, complexes of small grass-covered hills rose out of the earth -- Iron Age burial mounds. The road dipped and Stonehenge suddenly appeared, strange and grand and ancient, glinting in the morning sunlight.

Close up, the Neolithic monument is less magical. There's a plan to build a new visitors center and a tunnel for the busy road that passes close by, but for now there's the constant hum of traffic. There are packs of tourists year-round, particularly during the summer solstice, when druids and New Age travelers come here to celebrate. I remember clambering around the relatively isolated rocks as a child in the early 1970s and was disappointed to find that now a rope barrier keeps sightseers at a distance from the stones.

Still, it's easy to understand why this controversial circle of stones has attracted so much attention and inspired artists over the years -- think of Wordsworth's Salisbury Plain poems, Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" or even the infamous song in "This Is Spinal Tap." The free audio tour is informative and detailed, if somewhat patronizing (the historical dramatizations are particularly awful). But it does raise the big questions about Stonehenge: How did it actually get here (its blue stones have been identified as coming from the Welsh mountains), and what was its purpose? Certainly the design and alignment of the site toward sunrise and sunset on the solstices, and its location on the plain with views in all directions, suggest that it was some sort of calendar or observatory.

For lunch, head to Salisbury, a 20-minute drive from Stonehenge. An hourly Stonehenge bus goes to and from the Salisbury station, and the town is on the train line from London's Waterloo Station. The charming old town center is packed with restaurants, pubs, cafes and tearooms. I had a sandwich at Bishop's Mill, a converted 17th-century mill with a view of a gurgling river and the cathedral towering overhead. With its distinctive single 404-foot spire, the highest in England, Salisbury Cathedral dominates the city.

Inside, the cathedral is light-filled and austere. Be sure not to miss the cloisters and the octagonal chapter house, colorfully painted with scenes from the Old Testament. A bonus is a rare original copy of the Magna Carta, the charter between King John and his barons in 1215, which established the constitutional principle that the power of a king could be limited by a written grant. Only four known copies of the original grant exist -- including two in the British Library and one at Lincoln Cathedral.

My visit ended with a walk through the cathedral's close, an area of wide-open lawns and graceful buildings, then west toward the water meadows. It's from here that the English landscape painter John Constable famously depicted Salisbury Cathedral. The view was recently voted Britain's best by readers of the popular Country Life magazine. Back in London, visit Constable's painting at the National Gallery and decide if you agree.

Directions: Salisbury is 85 miles southwest of London, about a two-hour drive. By car, take the M3 to Junction 8, then the A303 and A30. By train, it's a 11/2-hour trip from Waterloo; $37 Cheap Day Return.

Attractions: Stonehenge (011-44-1980-624715, www.english-heritage.org.uk; admission $7) is 82 miles from London. Salisbury Cathedral, 011-44-1722-555124, www.salisburycathedral.org.uk; no entrance charge but donations accepted. Further information: www.visitsalisburyuk.com.

Tamsin Todd is a freelance writer living in London.