We are going to spend a week in Williamsburg and are looking for ideas for day trips.

Any ideas?

Thanks

If you haven't already booked a hotel, check out the Revolutionary Fun packages offered by Colonial Williamsburg and surrounding attractions. It will save you lots of money. If you are looking beyond the peninsula, Petersburg, near richmond is great for Civil War buffs. Another idea is the Norfolk Naval base but I suspect security is tight. A few years ago my family got a tour of an aircradt carrier and a destroyer. A little further away is Monticello.

A day at the beach(Virginia Beach)is always nice.

Yorktown.

A day at the races at Colonial Downs. Thoroughbreds or trotters, depending on the season.

1) Drive the Colonial Parkway from Yorktown to Jamestown. There are two major sites at each and all four are worth the time. That would pretty much fill a day.

2) A drive along rte 5 to as many of the James River Plantations as you have time for/ want to see.

3) A drive over to Petersburg for the civil war battle field. A great interpretive drive through the whole site.

4) A long drive but definitely worth it - to Montecello and perhaps Montpelier.

I got all these ideas from fodorires for my own trip last Sept. Stayed 7 days in Williamsburg and ran out of time LONG befor I ran out of things to see. never made it to the Air Museum or Richmond or several other places. You will have a great time.

Will you have children with you? What are your interests?

We will have a 14 yr old teenager who enjoys doing most things so we are open to all types of activities--he especially likes history so this is a great trip for him. (And yes he will like Busch Gardens too!!)

Richmond is an hour away. There is a real Tudor home there called Agecroft Hall that is very interesting to see. They have filled it with Tudor furniture and artifacts and do a wonderful job of describing life back in those times. The Confederate Museum in Richmond is also supposed to be good but I haven't been there. Monticello in Charlottesville is almost two hours away but definitely worth the trip. Norfolk has Nauticus, a great naval and science museum. There are a lot of interactive exhibits. You can also take a boat tour which goes past the Navy Base. It originates from Nauticus, I believe. Norfolk is 1 hour from Williamsburg. In Hampton, 1/2 hour away, there is the Air and Space Museum. In Newport News, also 1/2 hr away are the Living Museum, a great museum focusing on Virginia wildlife and nature, and the Mariners Museum, a great boating museum. There is hiking and boating at Waller Mill park and York River State park, both in Wmsbg.