things to do in Williamsburg, VA
 

I will be visiting Williamsburg, Va in Mid March 2005 with my 2 kids ages 13 and 16. I will be in town for 6 days. I would like to know what is an excellent sight to see in Williamsburg and the surrounding areas. unfortunately Busch Garden will be close when we are in town. How should I plan to entertain my kids for 6 days? Is there a bus tour that leaves from Williamsburg to DC? How much money are the sights? What is the temperature like in mid March?
Thanks~

Mid-march can have anything from snow to 70 degree weather.
Things to do:
Colonial Williamsburg
Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown National Park
Hiking at York River State Park
Nauticus down in Norfolk
Va Living Museum in Newport News
A day trip up to Monticello in Charlottesville
You can find out more with a search on Williamsburg

I second the Jamestown Settlement. They have some great stuff for kids, including reproductions of the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. Also, Yorktown is a neat place to visit.

Will you have a car? Virginia Beach and Richmond are both about an hour's drive away.

Virginia Beach: all of the normal beach stuff. VB is a full-fledged city, so unlike many beach towns, a lot of the stuff stays open during the off season.

Richmond:
- Children's Museum: http://www.c-mor.org/
- Science Museum (very cool for kids): http://www.smv.org/
- The Petersburg Civil War Battlefield opened recently, and my mom's students (6th grade) LOVE it when they go there.

I'm sure you can find more than enough to do from the above suggestions, but if you do wish to take a bus to DC, look at Oleta (http://www.oleta.com) or call them (757)-253-1008. Regular bus (Greyhound, etc) and Amtrak take too long for that trip, but motorcoach companies such as Oleta make much better time, not stopping once they're "on the road".

All previous answers are perfect.Hope that this helps.A bus, day trip to DC would be great - once there, everything is free.Don't forget to check activities at William & Mary College in WMBG. As suggested, Charlottesville, Univ. of VA, and Monticello are tremendous.Depending on weather & car availability,a 1 hour drive to the coast and south could be very enjoyable.

Thanks for your suggestions. Everything sounds interesting and fun. I am printing all these feedbacks. My kids and I are so looking forward to the trip. I am hoping for very cool tempature. It seems like I am not going to have time to visit DC. Perhaps another trip.
Thanks again~

One of my favorite sites to find travel destinations in Virginia is on the web site for the Timetraveler program. Many of the locations are hyperlinked here so you can get more information. Some of the locations featured charge fees and others are free. Travel near Williamsburg will be in regions 2 and 3, although DC or the mountains are only a couple of hours away. http://www.timetravelers.org/destinations.html

If your kids have never crossed the river on a ferry boat, the ferry at Jamestown if free and provides a short ride to Surry. There you can visit Chipoakes State Park or dine on peanut soup or Smithfield ham at the Surry Dinner. If they've never seen the ocean then visiting Virginia Beach is a must. I could go on and on, but you'll enjoy it more exploring on the web site above.

5 miles sw of Williamsburg is Jamestown, first permanent english settlement in North America. Jamestown Ferry right next door with the three ships. Richmond has so much more to offer to teenagers than the Childrens Museum. St. John's Church, (Patrick Henry site of "Give me Liberty or Give me Death speech", State Capitol tour is awesome, Monument Avenue, Civil War Parks, Sciene Museum.
Yorktown Battlefield Park, one of the most amazing tours you can do in USA.
Virginia Beach is very boring in March but if you need to go see ocean, definitely recommended.

My family is also visiting Williamsburg at the end of June. I am using all your suggestions. I also noticed you can purchase packaged ticket to 3,4,or 7 activities. Is this necessary? We do want to visit all 7 sites, but I wonder if it is necessary to puchase a ticket or are the tickets for getting in certain buildings and museums.

Thanks.