I am planning a trip to Colonial Williamsburg over spring break and am looking for itenerary ideas. Mom, Grandmother and boys ages 9 and 12. Both boys are history buffs so I want to do Jamestown and Yorktown. Looking for tips on anything I need to sign up for beforhand or times each event will take.

I would make reservations for dining at one of the restaurants in Colonial Williamsburg.

I believe we ate at the King's Arms and Shields Tavern. One, I can't recall which, had musicians and a "town crier" at dinner.

If budget permits, my kids enjoyed wearing authentic period clothing which you can rent from the stand across from the Courthouse. For boys, it's a shirt and wooden toy gun. You need to buy or use your own hat. My son was 7 when we did this, so chance it won't appeal to a 9 and 12 year old.

You need to buy tickets for a carriage ride. You can do that at the main ticket office where you get your passes. That was worth it.

I would find out what time the Fife and Drum Parade is and the "militia" training at the armory.

Check Colonial Williamsburg's website for special and evening activities. It's well organized and you can see which things will be most engaging for your boys. Some you won't need to sign up for but will only need to know the schedule which can change weekly.

http://www.history.org/visit/whatToS...rams/index.cfm

In addition to the actual Jamestown site operated by the National Park Service the state of VA has an adjacent site called Jamestown Settlement. Both places are well worth seeing but if you only have time for one, I'd opt for JT Settlement. It's ideal for ages 9 & 12 focusing a bit more on hands-on activities and re-enactments (indian village, the english settlement and scale sized replica of the three ships which made the original journey). The museum there is excellent as well, re-opened a couple of years ago for Jamestown's 400th anniversary.

If you don't have them where you live, consider taking the ferry ride (free) across the river. It offers a beautiful view of the river and Jamestown Island. It's gorgeous at sunset. The ferry ride is about 20 minutes each way. Across the river is Surry County. Across the street from the county seat court house is the Surrey House restaurant, a southern family diner. The food isn't brilliant but it's pretty good and what most visitors consider southern, fried chicken, VA ham, hushpuppies, and peanut pie.

Don't know if it's on your agenda but I think Busch Garden's begins opening on weekends during "spring break season."

Have a great trip!

It's been a while since our last trip to Wmburg, but the kids went to Yorktown battle field and got to play "soldier" in the Continental Army, which yours might really enjoy. You can probably find out more if you Google. They also got to be "representatives" at the House of Burgesses for a few hours while someone conducted a session. If you contact the Wmburg history site, there is probably more info on that too. If your boys are as active as my girls were, they will LOVE Wmburg, as there is so much to DO.

If you do cross the river on the ferry, there are some historic sites in Surry County
http://www.toursurryva.com/historicsites.html

obxgirl: Brilliant idea about the ferry! we go for a golf week every year, and I've done the ferry about 20 years ago during a charity bike ride and loved it - we'll all be going this year! Thanks for reminding me about another neat to-do in my home state!

Your trip has probably already occurred and maybe even happened again since! You should try using www.whattodoinwilliamsburgva.com when looking for different thing around Williamsburg. It's got a ton of great historic sites along with a bunch of other cool information. Definitely worth a look!