23 Best Sights in Williamsburg and Hampton Roads, Virginia

Voted the world's most beautiful theme park for 26 consecutive years and counting, Busch Gardens features more than 50 rides and attractions, including some of the world's best roller coasters. Six beautifully landscaped European "countries" re-create the look and feel of France, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Italy. Sesame Street Forest of Fun brings Elmo and his Sesame Street friends to life. Grover's Alpine Express is designed for children and parents to enjoy together, and is among Busch Gardens' most popular kids' attractions. Tempesto, the latest roller coaster, offers a thrill ride with a full inversion. Busch Gardens also hosts popular song-and-dance shows (country, Americana, Irish, German folk) in several theaters.

This collection, within the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, showcases American "decorative usefulware"—toys, furniture, weather vanes, coffeepots, and quilts—within typical 19th-century domestic interiors. There are also folk paintings, rustic sculptures, and needlepoint pictures. Since the 1920s, the 2,000-piece collection has grown from the original 400 pieces acquired by the wife of Colonial Williamsburg's first and principal benefactor. This is the oldest institution in the United States dedicated solely to the collection and preservation of American folk art.

The lovely brick Episcopal Bruton Parish Church has served continuously as a house of worship since it was built in 1715. One of its 20th-century pastors, W.A.R. Goodwin, provided the impetus for Williamsburg's restoration. The church tower, topped by a beige wooden steeple, was added in 1769; during the Revolution its bell served as the local "liberty bell," rung to summon people for announcements. The white pews, tall and boxed in, are characteristic of the starkly graceful Colonial ecclesiastical architecture of the region. When sitting in a pew, listening to the history of the church, keep in mind that you could be sitting where Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, or George Washington once listened to sermons. The stone baptismal font is believed to have come from an older Jamestown church. Many local eminences, including one royal governor, are interred in the graveyard. The fully operational church is open to the public; contributions are accepted. Check the website for free candlelight recitals in the evening.

Williamsburg was important because it was the location of the Capitol. It was here that the prerevolutionary House of Burgesses (dominated by the ascendant gentry) challenged the royally appointed council (an almost medieval body made up of the bigger landowners). In 1765 the House eventually arrived at the resolutions, known as Henry's Resolves (after Patrick Henry), that amounted to rebellion. An informative tour explains the development, stage by stage, of American democracy from its English parliamentary roots. In the courtroom a guide recites the harsh Georgian sentences that were meted out: for instance, theft of more than 12 shillings was a capital crime. Occasional reenactments, including witch trials, dramatize the evolution of American jurisprudence.

What stands on the site today is a reproduction of the 1705 structure that burned down in 1747. Dark-wood wainscoting, pewter chandeliers, and towering ceilings contribute to a handsome impression. That an official building would have so ornate an interior was characteristic of aristocratic 18th-century Virginia. This was in telling contrast to the plain town meeting halls of Puritan New England, where other citizens were governing themselves at the same time. The stirring Fifes and Drums March leaves from the Capitol to the Palace Green. Don't miss the spectacle of dozens of young men dressed in period costume marching through Williamsburg's streets. Check the program guide for dates and times.

This is the logical first stop at Colonial Williamsburg. Here you can park free; buy tickets; see a 35-minute introductory movie, Williamsburg—the Story of a Patriot; and pick up This Week, which has a list of regular events and special programs and a map of the historic area. Tickets are also sold at the Lumber House in the historic area, though you'll get a better price if you buy in advance from the Historic Williamsburg website.

The original Courthouse of 1770 was used by municipal and county courts until 1932. Civil and minor criminal matters and cases involving slaves were adjudicated here; other trials were conducted at the Capitol. The stocks once used to punish misdemeanors are outside the building: they can make for a humorous photo opportunity. The courthouse's exterior has been restored to its original appearance. Visitors often participate in scheduled reenactments of court sessions.

This museum adds another cultural dimension that goes well beyond Colonial history. Grouped by medium are English and American furniture, textiles, prints, metals, and ceramics that date from 1600 through 1830. If you're yawning at the thought of fancy tableware, stop: presentations here tend to be creative and surprising. Prizes among the pieces in the collection are a full-length portrait of George Washington by Charles Willson Peale and a royally commissioned case clock surmounted by the detailed figure of a Native American. You enter the museum through the Public Hospital.

The spine of Colonial Williamsburg's restored area is the broad 1-mile-long Duke of Gloucester Street. Some Saturdays at noon–2:30 pm, the Fifes and Drums Corps marches the length of the street and performs a stirring drill (check the website for dates). Along this artery, or just off it, are two dozen attractions. Walking west on Duke of Gloucester Street from the Capitol, during the tours, you can actually buy from a dozen 18th-century shops—including those of the apothecary, the wig maker, the silversmith, and the milliner.

Built in 1717 by John Brush, a gunsmith, and later owned by Thomas Everard, who was twice mayor of Williamsburg, this wood-frame house contains remarkable, ornate carving work. It is open only for special-focus tours and temporary exhibits, and vignettes on slaves' lives are held here in summer.

This home was the residence of Thomas Jefferson's law professor; Wythe was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. General Washington used the house as a headquarters just before his victory at Yorktown. The large brick structure, built in the mid-18th century, is conspicuously symmetrical: each side has a chimney, and each floor has two rooms on either side of a center hallway. The garden in back is similarly divided. The outbuildings, including a smokehouse, kitchen, laundry, outhouses, and a chicken coop, are reconstructions.

His Majesty's Governor Alexander Spotswood built the original Governor's Palace in 1720, and seven British viceroys, the last of them Lord Dunmore in 1775, lived in this appropriately showy mansion. The 540 weapons, including 230 muskets and pistols, arrayed on the walls of several rooms herald the power of the Crown. Some of the furnishings are original, and the rest are matched to an extraordinary inventory of 16,000 items. Lavishly appointed as it is, the palace is furnished to the time just before the Revolution. During the Revolution, it housed the commonwealth's first two governors, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. The original residence burned down in 1781, and today's reconstruction stands on the original foundation.

A costumed guide greets you at the door for a tour through the building, offering commentary and answering questions. Notable among the furnishings are several pieces made in Williamsburg and owned by Lord Dunmore. Social events are described on the walk through the great formal ballroom, where you might even hear the sounds of an 18th-century harp, clavichord, or piano. The supper room leads to the formal garden and the planted terraces beyond.

At James Anderson's Blacksmith Shop, smiths forge the nails, tools, and other iron hardware used in construction throughout the town. The shop itself was reconstructed by carpenters using 18th-century tools and techniques.

The original Magazine (1715), an octagonal brick warehouse, was used for storing arms and ammunition—at one time 60,000 pounds of gunpowder and 3,000 muskets. It was used for this purpose by the British and then by the Continental army. Today 18th-century firearms are on display within the arsenal. This is the largest collection of Colonial muskets in the country. Every able-bodied man in Colonial times was expected to have and maintain a musket in his home. Between the ages of 16 and 55 men were expected to be a part of the militia, the civilian army that could be called to arms in defense of hearth and home.

An open green between Queen and Palace Streets along Duke of Gloucester, Market Square was the site where cattle, seafood, dairy products, fruit, and vegetables were all sold—as were slaves. Market auctions are sometimes reenacted. Recently reconstructed, it now serves for historical interpretation and retail sales. Shop like you stepped back to the 18th century, including fruits, hams, soaps, candles, ceramics, and clothing. Children and families are invited to join the games and role-play with the toys for sale.

The handsome Palace Green runs north from Duke of Gloucester Street up the center of Palace Street, with the Governor's Palace at the far end and notable historic houses on either side.

This was the home of a prominent colonist and revolutionary who served as attorney general under the British, then as Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and later as president of the first and second Continental Congresses. The oak-paneled bedroom and Randolph family silver are remarkable.

A reconstruction of a 1773 insane asylum, the Public Hospital provides an informative, shocking look at the treatment of the mentally ill in the 18th and 19th centuries. It also serves as cover for a modern edifice that houses very different exhibitions; entrance to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum is through the hospital lobby.

This gathering place was the scene of prerevolutionary revels and rallies that were often joined by Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other major figures. The spare but elegant blue-and-white Apollo Room is said to have been the first meeting place of Phi Beta Kappa, the scholastic honorary society founded in 1776. The French general Marquis de Lafayette was feted here in 1824. In 1859 the original structure burned, and today's building is a reconstruction based on archaeological evidence and period descriptions and sketches of the building.

The nearly 45 acres of pools, children's play areas, lazy rivers, and water rides have a colorful 1950s and surf theme. Blast down Rock 'n' Roll Island's nearly 600 feet of body slides, ride the 700-foot lazy river, or soak in the 9,000-square-foot pool. Or you can enjoy relaxing by Virginia's largest wave pool in a lounge chair or a private cabana. There is also live entertainment, shopping, and restaurants.

Beginning in 1743 Wetherburn's Tavern offered refreshment, entertainment, and lodging and may be the most accurately furnished building in Colonial Williamsburg, with contents that conform to a room-by-room inventory taken in 1760. Excavations at this site have yielded more than 200,000 artifacts. The outbuildings include the original dairy and a reconstructed kitchen. Vegetables are grown in the small garden.

Carrying on a Virginia tradition of wine making that began with early settlers, Virginia's largest winery produces 60,000 cases yearly. The winery offers guided tours, a well-stocked wineshop, a 17th-century tasting room, and a museum of wine-making artifacts. Be sure to give the cabernets and merlots a try. The Gabriel Archer Tavern serves a casual lunch daily. At the tavern try a wine flight of four wines. Cafe Provencial serves an elegant dinner paired with wine. There is also a country inn, Wedmore Place, on the premises.

On the outskirts of the historic area is Windmill of Colonial Williamsburg, formally known as Robertson's Windmill, a Colonial mill for grinding grains. Program plans are unknown at this time.

The College of William and Mary, founded in 1693, is the second-oldest college in the United States after Harvard University. The campus extends to the west; the Wren Building (1695) was based on the work of the celebrated London architect Sir Christopher Wren. Its redbrick outer walls are original, but fire gutted the interiors several times, and the current quarters are largely reconstructions of the 20th century. The faculty common room, with a table covered with green felt and an antique globe, suggests Oxford and Cambridge universities, the models for this New World institution. George Wythe became America's first law professor at the college and taught law to Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, James Monroe, and John Marshall. Tours, led by undergraduates, include the chapel where Colonial leader Peyton Randolph is buried. Among the portraits of college presidents on the second floor of the Wren Building is an arresting painting of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who visited William and Mary during her tenure.