Trip to Williamsburg VA
 

We are attempting to use an exchange with Interval International. The resorts we have to choose from are
1. Colonial Crossings of Williamsburg
2. The Cottages at King's Creek Plantation and The Townes at King's Creek Plantation
3. Fairfield Williamsburg at Governor's Green
4. Marriott's Manor Club at Ford's Colony
5. Sunterra's Greensprings Plantation 6. Williamsburg Plantation

The Marriott appears to be nice. Our travel party is my husband, 11 year old daughter (collector of Historical American Girl Dolls, and myself.

Any suggestions?
We are more than likely going to use the week before August 15.
Thanks

Don't kow about the various resorts. But I can tell you that Williamsburg in August is usually incredibly hot and humid - think high 90's and over 90% humidity. (We were at one of the plantations when an ambulance had to come for an older couple who apparently had heat exhaustion. We gave up after tht and went back to our hotel pool - at about 1 in the afternoon.)

So plan to do activities early in the day or in the evening - and assume that you will wnat to probably spend afternoons by the pool

Yes, the humidity is to be expected. Hopefully coming from Houston where the humidity is now 68% and the temp is 85 at 8 pm will allow us to tolerate it!

I would put Colonial Crossing at the bottom of the list. The Marriott is nice, but it is not close to anything in Wmsbg except maybe the outlets. The location for Wmsbg. Plantation and Fairfield at Governor's Green are also not good. I think the best is King's Creek (prefer cottages over townes)and 2nd would be Sunterra Greensprings. King's Creek is next door to Water Country and near Busch Gardens. It's probably a little closer to Col. Wmsbg, but not that much difference w/ Sunterra. Hope this helps. Enjoy!

Given the constraints of the exchange, we will need to be there for one week. We will more than likely rent a car. We are thinking of going to Monticello, Jamestown, and of course Colonial Williamsburg. We might go to Busch Gardens but have season tickets to Disney World and therefore an amusement park will not be a priority.

Do you have any suggestions on things to do in the area?

Williamsburg is worth about 3 days if you attend lots of activities/special presentations. Not 3 straight full days since your "season pass" allows you to come and go. Plus Yorktown, Jamestown, outlet shopping, Monticello, civil war battle fields, Richmond, Ash Lawn, and on and on.

The first time we visited Colonial Williamsburg we visited Yorktown as well as Jamestown (400th this year). We also went to some naval/nautical museums in Newport News and in Norfolk. Drove around Virginia Beach too. See http://www.virginia.org/
Not impressed with Richmond, but did enjoy the tour at Virginia House, http://www.vahistorical.org/vh/Virginia_House.htm . A little difficult to find.

I highly recommend the Manor Club. We go to Williamsburg every year and always stay there. It's in a beautiful location surrounded by a golf course, in a residential neighborhood. Sure, you're not within walking distance of Colonial Williamsburg, but it's a very short drive (maybe five miles). There's plenty to do right there at the resort if you feel like just taking a day to relax. Check out Fordscolony.com for views of the area.

Have you thought about kayaking? Last spring we rented kayaks at York River State Park. We had a ball - my kids loved it and it was a great way to enjoy the scenery. If you go there, you have a choice of kayaking up the creek, or in the pond. Go up the creek - the pond is ridiculously small but you can't tell that until you're in the water. You should only kayak in the river if you are very experienced.

Enjoy your trip! We are going again in October and I can't wait - we just love that area!

We stayed at Colonial Crossing in May and haven't stayed at any of the other properties listed so I can't compare them. We thought CC was "ok". It's new with more buildings going up and construction started early in the morning. They had a nice swimming pool, but no place to eat. The location in relation to everything was fine. There's a Walmart 1/2 mile away for supplies and "restaurant row" is very close on the way to Colonial Williamsburg, just a few miles away. Would I stay there again? Probably yes, but then again I haven't been at the other resorts. There is nothing there for your daughter to do other than swim (not all bad).

Hi bmray,

You and your family will love Colonial Williamsburg. Your daughter should take her American Girl doll (does she have Felicity and Elizabeth - I know because my daughter has both and they have made the trip) with her. It makes for great photos. There is so much to do in CW that you will be find it hard to fit everything in in only one week. Do see Yorktown and Jamestown. Outside of Williamsburg and only a 2 and half hour drive north is Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. Well worth the time and the traffic to see the mansion and the new museum and educational center that opened this year.
Do make reservations for a tavern meal. I recommend Kings Arm or Christiana Campbell. Purchase the "big" ticket that will allow you entrance in all the building, musuems, Capitol and Governor's Palace. When you get there grab the "This Week" newspaper that lists all the events and decide what you would like to see. If you want to do a little advance research, just log onto www.history.com and go to Visit and see all the events scheduled. There is some great shopping within the historic area and at Merchant's Square at the end of the historic area and directly in front of the College of William and Mary (another place you want to see). Put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go.
We've always stayed in one of the Colonial Williamsburg official hotels, so I can't comment on the resorts you listed. However, there is a new parking deck where you can park your car and visit. I would park that car and walk. Grab a little lunch at the Cheese Corner and don't miss the CW root beer.

There is a lot of shopping down Richmond Road, I believe, but you should be able to find something to take home to remind you of your trip within the Historic Area.

Williamsburg is so friendly and beautiful. My family vacations there nearly each year. I have been there in August and it will be hot and humid, but you are from my part of the country (I live in Arkansas) and we are used to the heat and humidity. My family was in Williamsburg two weeks ago in the middle of the cool front that went through. It was heavenly at 67 degrees during the day! Regardless of the heat, you will have a great time. Enjoy!!

I'm not sure if they still have this, or when it would be if they did, but as of about a year ago, CW had periodic weekend programs revolving around the colonial American Girl doll. You may want to look into whether or not that is going on while you're there.

The James River plantations are well worth seeing and much closer than Monticello or Mt Vernon.
http://www.jamesriverplantations.org/
Of course, the others have different historical interest as homes of Presidents.

If you go across the James River on the ferry, Bacon's Castle in surry and Chippokes plantation State Park are
worth seeing
http://www.toursurryva.com/historicsites.html

Hi milford88,
There isn't an American Girl related events anymore. Wish they still did this because it was fantastic and it gave the girls an added event to go to. There are some great events just for the kids. One way for them to experience CW is to rent colonial costumes for the day. Boys and girls do this and I love to see the youngs running around the streets. Makes for some great photos!