President Barack Obama visits Stonehenge (pictures)

American President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to ancient site Stonehenge in Wiltshire during his visit to Britain for the NATO summit on Friday.

Presidential helicopter Marine One stopped at Boscombe Down Airbase, Wiltshire, before the president was driven to the mysterious tourist attraction.

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Obama was given a guided tour by curator Heather Sebire and English Heritage said it was "an honour" to host the president.

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Raw: Obama Visits Stonehenge After NATO Summit

General Manager of Stonehenge, Kate Davies, told the BBC: "His office told us the president was very interested to see the iconic monument for himself.

"Every day people from all over the world make the trip to the ancient stones but this visit was a particularly special one."

british family walkin meets obama at stonehenge

ITV News reports that one lucky family, who lives a mile away from Stonehenge, heard helicopters as they were in the garden and rushed over to the site.

Janice and James Raffle and their three sons had a chat with the Obama after being told by his security to "just walk slowly".

Janice said: "He waved at us and we waved back - next thing he was walking towards us. At that point he shook our hands and asked if we lived in the area... he asked our names too as he's a polite man."

After showing the president around Stonehenge, guide Sebire told the BBC that Obama "was fascinated by the story of the stones, what we know about them and the mysteries that have yet to be solved".

According to the Daily Mail, Obama said that Stonehenge had been on his holiday "bucket list" and after visiting he exclaimed: "How cool is this? Spectacular!"