My 5th grade son named James really wants to go to Jamestown. We're planning a Wash DC/NYC trip for Easter Break.
We'll be seeing a lot of museums and history in DC and Philadelphia. We can stay 2 nights in Williamsburg. Our kids are 17, 15 and 10.

Should we get passes, or are there a lot of things to see for free? Maybe it's just best to pay for specific things?

Thanks for your help!

If you are talking about Historical Williamsburg, and I assume you are, I believe you need to purchase a ticket to get INTO the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg. You can walk around all you want for free but to get in, you need to pay.

I don't know of specific things that are ticketed separately w/in CW.

The kids wold probably be really bored if they just get to walk around outside, although there are some public activities. For my kids, the highlight was the courtroom recreation of contemporary issues and people.

You've got a lot of choices here:

1. Williamsburg--The streets are public, so you can walk down the streets and look at the facades of the buildings at any time. There are several taverns which are open for lunch/dinner. There are many shops that are free to enter. The Bruton Parish Church is free to enter. However, without a pass you cannot enter any of the trademen's buildings (e.g. silversmith, wigmaker, etc.) nor can you tour the Governor's Palace or the Capitol building. I know that these passes are not cheap, but if you have never been to Colonial Williamsburg before, I really think that you need to get the passes, take the tours, and go inside as many buildings as you have time for in order to really appreciate the place.

2. Jamestown--There are two sites here to visit. The first is the National Park Service's Historic Jamestowne. This is the REAL site of Jamestown. There is a visitor's center and an archeology buidling here. (There's still a lot of archeology going on here.) There is also replica of a glassblowing establishment here and you can watch people blow glass as they would have in Jamestown. You can walk around the foundations of the houses and take a driving tour of other historic sites. There is a $10 admission fee for those aged 16 and over which covers admission to both Historic Jamestowne and the Yorktown Battlefield.
The second Jamestown "site" is called Jamestown Settlement and this contains re-creations of a Native American village, the ships that came to Jamestown, the fort, etc. I have not been here, but it seems to be very popular with schoolage kids. There are admission charges for all over the age of 6.

3. Yorktown--Again, there are two choices. First, is the Yorktown Battlefield and Visitor's Center run by the National Park Service. This is the site of the actual battle of Yorktown. You can tour the visitor's center, walk the battlefield and take a car tour of the battlefield as well.
The second choice is the Yorktown Victory Center. It is a 'sister' property with the Jamestown Settlement. Again, I have not visited this place, but it also has re-creations of things associated with the battle of Yorktown.
Hope this info is helpful.

we were just in Williamsburg over the weekend and hadn't been there in over 7 years and I was surprised how many more buildings/exhibits required tickets, in other words, it is more restrictive, including needing tickets to access more than half of the Duke of Gloucester street during the afternoon (it is roped off and they do a performance in the street, but there are also shops to see, etc.) and dont' let you beyond the rope unless you have a ticket.

There are lots of ticket deals now; everyone there talked about their business being down at least 30%. For example, we stayed in a Colonial Williamsburg property--a Colonial House right in the historic district--it was great--and our tickets were included.

We brought a 3rd grader and she loved seeing the craftsmen--the blacksmith, the printer, etc. and all of that was ticketed. I think it is the way to go.

Hope this helps,

Let me know if you have questions--we have varied dining experiences which I'm happy to share.

Mary in D.C.

Thanks for the help! The courtroom sounds very interesting. It sounds like the passes are valuable. Does the pass get us into the courtroom drama?

Longhorn, thanks for all the detailed info. That really helps!

Marymarra, how long did it take you to drive from DC? We'll be coming from a hotel right by DCA. Mapquest says 2.5 hours but from other posts I've read they said it takes much longer.

Also I'd love to hear some of your dining experiences. We would be looking at mostly moderate family dining.

If you avoid high traffic times, it should only take 2 1/2 to 3 hours. A traffic free trip cannot be guaranteed, however.


Moderate family restaurants include:
Sals by Victor on Richmond Rd. (Italian), Pancho Villa on Rt. 5 (Mexican), Second St. on Second St (burgers etc), Emerald Thai near Busch Gardens.

it took us close to 3 hours, but at all cost you must avoid leaving D.C. at evening rush hour (i.e. leave the city by 3); we went Friday morning and left D.C. about 10 a.m. and had clear sailing. But, as Birdie says, you can't really know because they are constantly doing work on 95, but once you get past the D.C. exurbs it is an easy ride.

We had a really fun time and the food was good and reasonable at Chowning's Tavern--they don't take reservations, but you can put yourself on a list and wander around outside while you wait for your table. A magician came in and did a fun show.

One warning about breakfast; there is a place called Aromas in the Merchant Square shops adjacent to the historic district and it must be the only place to eat because everyone recommends it and it was packed and honestly was just terrible--and breakfast is hard to mess up!

Hope this helps, we stayed right in the historic district so didn't venture beyond there but I'm sure you'll get other restaurant options.

Be sure and go up to the plantation while you are there--it is relatively new part of Colonial Williamsburg and shows the "other" side of life--i.e. slaves; it is not very big yet, but we found the people up there very interesting and the slave quarters are truly humbling.

Mary

P.S. on the D.C. side, it is not too early to request passes for the Capitol and White House from your Member of Congress or Senators--they are all swamped with the Inauguaration, but Easter is packed here and I think interest in coming to D.C. will remain high with our new Administration.

Thanks again to everyone! I have contacted our representatives but haven't heard anything back yet.

I just got our frequent flyer plane tickets tonight. Now I just have to wait for 3 weeks to get enough miles posted so my daughter in college can join us for the 2nd half of trip. Hopefully by then there will still be a ticket left!!