TELLY historian Dan Snow has slammed Stonehenge as “overrated” and said Brits should travel north for their history instead.
The documentary maker pooh-poohed the prehistoric monument – saying tourists would be disappointed by their trip to the standing stones.
The 43-year-old thinks a better tourist route would be through the North East and recommended Durham Cathedral over the Bronze Age mystical site.
Dad-of-three Dan, speaking on pub podcast the Moon Under Water, said: “The British Isles is the best place in the world to love history.
“Americans fly in and they do London, Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath.
“Actually it is a bit c**p because between ourselves Stonehenge is slightly overrated.
“I love it but if you have come from America to see one of the great wonders of the world you might get there and think ‘Okay, right. Fine. Is it the Taj Mahal? Is it the Terracotta Army? I’m not sure.’
“The real itinerary is arguably the land of the North East.
“You take in York, you take in Durham, you take in Hadrians Wall, Hexham – you get into the borders, Edinburgh, Kelso, Stirling Castle.
“I think actually that trip is probably stronger, the strongest in the Isles.
“I think I would suggest people go to Durham Cathedral rather than Stonehenge.”
Legend says that Stonehenge was created by Merlin, who magically transported the massive stones from Ireland where giants had assembled them.
Others say that the 4,600 year old circle is a landing place for alien spacecraft, while others say it’s a giant fertility symbol in the shape of female genitalia.
Archaeological digs started at the megalithic circle in the 1660s, while recent research shows the 25-tonne slabs of Welsh dolerite bluestone rock transported to Salisbury Plain.
Podcast host, comedian John Robins, added: “Superb insight from Dan Snow.
“You heard it here first: he hates Stonehenge and thinks it is rubbish!”
The Oxford-educated BBC historian is the youngest son of journalist Peter Snow, alongside whom he presented many of his early programmes.
He now runs History Hit and earlier this year was part of the Endurance22 expedition that found Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship, Endurance, 107 years after it sank.
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