I tried posting earlier...post seems to have disapeared. My wife and 3 kids 9-15 yrs. old are goint to Williamsburg in late Sept. for a week....Would love to have some ideas on a itinerary, and motels to stay in...thanks in advance

Where you stay is not terribly important. We've been there several times. The first time, I went with a location that advertised being 'the closest' to historic Williamsburg. Well, we still needed to get across the far side of the historic area to purchase our tickets before we could do anything, so it was a minor inconvenience. We wasted considerable time walking to the visitors center. Definitely see historic Williamsburg. It will most likely require two days. Also worth seeing in the area is the Jamestown settlement and there's also Bush Gardens. We were there with kids similar in age to yours and they enjoyed the trip. I'd try to have one meal on the grounds of Williamsburg.

You could try the Williamsburg Woodlands hotel, which is located on the Visitor Center grounds. It's moderately priced and family oriented. They just opened a new building, too. Go to visitwilliamsburg.com for more info.

I'd second the Woodlands recommendation. It's very convenient; the shuttle bus stops at the Vistor Center and there's lots of kids and activities for them (putt/putt golf, ping pong, swimming pool).

I agree with Woodlands suggestion, the new hotel accomodates five with a pull out chair in addition to 2 queen beds. We discovered this while looking for a lost key when leaving. It was very comfortable too. I've seen pull-out sofa's but not chairs, very clever! Also there are lots of recreational activites for the kids and a complimentary breakfast which is a god-send when traveling with kids.

We took our two children to Williamsburg last year. We stayed at the Homewood Suites, you will have to drive a bit to get to historic Williamsburg from this hotel. It is an all suite hotel, so we had a large bedroom with two queen beds and a second room that was a living room with a pull out couch and a kitchen. It had a tv in each room and a large bathroom. In addition, they provided a breakfast buffet and an afternoon snack included in the price of our room. There was also a nice indoor pool. Breakfast and the afternoon snack (hot dogs one day, spaghetti another day, etc) were served in a room overlooking the pool. It was great for the money. We looked forward to a late afternoon swim, a snack and back out again to do and see more followed by a late dinner. Actually, a couple nights the kids skipped dinner because the afternoon snack filled them up!

Thanks so much for the advice....I will check both motels mentioned. Any ideas on an itinerary? Is a week to long?

A good way to go would be the Flex package (formerly Revolutionary Fun package), info also available on visitwilliamsburg.com. This package includes cost of your lodging, admissions to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, Busch Gardens and Water Country. And no, a week would not be too long, maybe just long enough!

We did the Revolutionary Fun package in late July with our 13-year old son, and stayed at the Woodlands. I would strongly recommend you do both, too, especially the Woodlands with the 3 kids. And you want the flexibility to come and go at the various sites -- your kids WILL get restless at all the historical stuff. I'm not sure if Busch Gardens is open weekdays at the time you're going, but if it is and they know that's on the agenda, they're going to be antsy walking through the historical district, so plan short but repeated "historical" visits vs. the amusement park stuff! Given our experience with our 13 year old a few months ago, I'd be happy to offer specific suggestions if you want to e-mail me.