Our family of 4 will be in W-burg August6,7 and 8. daughters are 10 and 19

Given that we will shoot one full day at Busch Gardens, we will only have 2 days to explore Williamsburg. We do not plan to see Jamestown or Yorktown on this trip.

Any suggestions on must see/do attractions or events? Which evening programs are recommended?

Thanks for your feedback!

I can't recommend evening programs because I have never done any. I am going to guess, though, that one day in Colonial Williamsburg will be enough for your girls.
They would also enjoy Water Country but it can be very crowded in Aug. You can consider an evening there.
What are the girls' interests? Prime Outlets added a lot of new stores. Do they need to do some school shopping?

Start at the Visitors' Center where you'll purchase your passes for the colonial area.

BE SURE to watch the short film "A Story of a Patriot" while at the center. It really sets the mood and historical context for your visit to Colonial Williamsburg.

From the Visitors' Center, walk or take a shuttle bus to the Capitol. Tour the Capitol (you'll recognize many scenes from the film). Then walk down Duke of Gloucester Street, stopping at buildings/sites that interest you.

Do spend some time touring both the inside of the Governor's Palace and the grounds. The hedge maze is fun.

Enjoy!

It will be very HOT. We spent five days in Williamsburg last August and two of those days were spent at Busch Gardens and Water Country, respectively. We hadn't planned to go to Water Country, but it was too hot to spend walking around CW anymore. I didn't realize just how hot and humid it would be.

I would agree that one day might be enough in CW, depending on how much time you want to spend in each building and how 'into' history your kids are. My kids have a pretty high tolerance for me dragging them around to historical sites, but they got pretty tired of CW, I think due in part to the heat.

You might consider spending a day in CW and then going back in the evenings when it is cooler. Check the schedule to see when events are occurring throughout the day. One thing that was fun was watching the Fife and Drum corps marching through CW. Also, we loved the evening programs. I will say that Jamestown was probably the highlight of the trip, along with the evening programs. If you asked my 16 year-old son, he'd tell you the highlight of the trip was the William and Mary Barnes and Noble Bookstore, even though we have a B&N at home! He loved it there.

For a realy neat rest. and one that has great food, try " Kings Arm Tavern" .. you will feel like you all stepped back in time, and the food was out of this world. We were there like 8,9 years a go and we still talk a bout that rest.. y0uo will like williamsburg and busch Gardens.. be prepared to walk, and walk..

We really enjoyed the "trial" at the courthouse. It will be very HOT in August.

You might want to ck out www.vistwilliamsburg.com and click on Deals & Packages at the top. They have a bounce pass where you can go back/forth to BG and CW and even Water Country so you wouldn't have to spend the entire day at just one - start early AM at CW and go to Water Country during heat of the day then back to CW or over to BG for evening.

There is a ghost tour at CW which is popular and I've always enjoyed the lanthern tours in the evening where a guide takes you into several of the CW shops. I haven't seen "Cry Witch" but the reviews are good. You can get the CW schedule on line, I believe, before you come to see what programs are available which nights. It is usually hot in Aug., but you may hit the 'burg during a cool or rainy spell and adjust your events accordingly. Enjoy!