>>The Bru na Boinne centre is very good. It is built into the hillside on the banks of the Boyne. You can see Newgrange through one of those static telescopes from a viewing gantry.
The roof is turfed and planted so well that you really can't tell it's there even from across the river. It's impossible to spot from Newgrange.<<
I agree, it doesn't detract at all, it has a reasonable food outlet and some interesting stuff to look at while you're waiting for your allotted minibus when it's busy. Considering they are faced with X people per day to move between Newgrange and Knowth with the least impact to either site generally I reckon they do a pretty good job. The only thing that can let it down is the actual guide for your trip, and the following comments apply to Maeshowe as well. I've been to all of them twice and had one really memorable experience and one fairly crummy experience at each of the sites, due to the guide's indifference, rushing you through to get the next party in, fouling up the light in the passage simulation, being late(!) so my tour group had to almost run in and out of Newgrange and dismissing questions as their next group was due. I'm tied to going during school holidays so I'd guess things will be much better in those respects at quieter times of the year.
>>There's also a model of one of the passages split down the middle so you can see into it.<<
I asked about that and one of the nice guides said it's for disabled people, particularly those in wheelchairs as the only way into Newgrange is up and down steps and the passage is considered too narrow for wheelchairs and the gravel paths aren't wheelchair friendly. He was happy to show me around the replica, it's only fiberglass but they have really tried to make it look authentic.
I don't know what the definitive answer is for Stonehenge, there are some excellent suggestions here and harvesting the best of the solutions already found for other very large volume tourist sites can only be a good thing.
Haven't had chance to read all of the thread, but I was at Stonehenge ( first visit ever) in early Jan and thought the audio tour had a probably unexpected benefit. I didn't have one as I just wanted to see/feel/be but most people seemed to have opted for one clamped to one ear. That cut down so much background chatter that you usually get among so many people, and chatter in a different language to your own is much more invasive because of the unfamiliar rythm, but due to the audio keeping over 90% of the visitors quiet, it enhanced the experience for me, and probably a lot of other visitors, too.
Rune
