WE're going to Williamsburg this summer with our 11-year-old son. With just the one child, we would need adjoining rooms or a suite with a bedroom and foldout sofa. It looks like Woodlands Lodge might be our best bet - has anyone stayed there? Also, do any of the taverns in the historic section have kids menus? He's not an adventurous eater, and the menu prices are high for experimenting! Thanks for any help.

We stayed at Kingsmill Resort with our son, who was 14 at the time. We enjoyed Kingsmill very much. We had a beautiful one bedroom - one bath condo with a sleeper sofa. We had a full kitchen, dining area, living room, washer and dryer and a balcony. The resort has a lot to offer. Indoor and outdoor pools, golf, tennis, bikes, spa, etc. It is very convenient to Busch Gardens.

Will you have a car? The Kingsmill Resort is about a ten minute drive from Colonial Williamsburg.

We enjoyed Williamsburg very much, however, it was VERY hot and humid when we were there. It was in the high 90's. The heat and humidity did put a little bit of a damper on our trip. It was hard to stay out in the sun for too long.

I don't know about the kids menus at the Taverns. Can't remember. Have not stayed at the Woodlands Lodge, so I can't comment. I'm sure someone will respond about the hotel and/or the menus.

Hope this is helpful to you.

The Woodlands Hotel and Suites is part of the Colonial Williamsburg group of hotels. It would certainly suit your family. There's a pool there as well and it is an easy walk to the restored area.

Williamsburg offers the typical line up of suites hotels as well. Homewood, Fairfield, Embassy. Kingsmill Resort is also a good choice as mentioned above.

Two of the colonial taverns do not have children's menu's. Christina Campbells and Kings Arms do not have kid menu's. Chownings garden menu includes a lot of children's options. Inside there are fewer options but the menu is still light fare, BBQ sandwiches and chilli and a few other things.

Colonial Williamsburg operates some other restaurants which are not colonial settings but have kid fare:

Huzzah (hooray in colonial speak) is located by the Woodlands Suites and has the gamut of kid food: soups, burgers, salads, sandwiches, wraps, pizza, and pasta. Not a colonial setting though.

There is a fairly new Hilton Garden Inn in Williamsburg located on Rt. 60-which is filled with Pancake houses and restaurants to suit all tastes. All of these places have kids menus. It is a few minutes drive into the colonial district and a few minutes to Busch Gardens (which is a must do with an 11 year old!).

Christiana Campbell's had a kids' menu when we ate there in Nov.

We stayed at Woodlands several years ago and found it to be very handy in terms of location. The room was very nice and pool was large.

Thanks for all your help. WE will have a car, so I will check out the suite-type places - although it seems like it would be nice to be right by teh restored area. We're thinking of 2 1/2 days (which would include either Busch or the water park as a 1/2 day), then going to Jamestown and Yorktown (I don't know how long), and then to DC to visit friends and do some sightseeing. Any suggestions as to how long in Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown?

If you don't mind staying about 10 minutes away the Marriott Manor Club has one bedroom suites which has a separate living room w/ sleep sofa and its own tv (other tv in the master bedroom). Be sure to take your son on a ghost tour and do the "Cry Witch" courtroom drama - it's educational and fun!@

These are just my kids (10 and 12), both did a field trip to Jamestown(we are virginians) and both said it was boring. They liked the historical area of Williamsburg and they loved busch gardens! Depending on how hot, it is a really nice theme park. But if it is too hot, than go to Water country. I would spend two days in the historical area, 1 day at the theme park. Haven't been to yorktown. That may be better because I think there are ships there.

You can do Jamestown and Yorktown in a day. Go to the Jamestown Settlement as well as the nat'l park and to the Yorktown Victory Center and then do a quick drive around Yorktown's battlefield.

We had a junior suite at the Williamsburg Inn. There was a king bed in one room and then a fold out sofa in a sitting room off the bedroom. No door in between.

I really like the embassy suites in Williamsburg. It's great for family's and a full cooked to order breakast is included in the price (usually around $159 per night) They also include a managers reception in the evening with free beverages and snacks. Also the very newest Williamsburg resort will be open by then. The Great Wolf Lodge is fun for kids (though pricey so you may want to only stay a night or two) But the price of their indoor water park is included in the room price. Check out their website, they are currently running grand opening specials.

adeewebstr,

One advantage to staying at the Woodlands property is that you get a discount on admission to Colonial Wmbg for the duration of your stay. That's a real value.

You can spend a lot more time than you've got at any combination of the sites you mention, but with 2.5 days I'd split it up like this:

Williamsburg = 1 full day
Busch Gardens = half to full day
(if less than a day, fill in with whatever you missed in Wmbg)
Jamestown = half day

There are two Jamestowns, the original site run by the National Park Service and the adjacent Jamestown Settlement which is a reconstruction of the indian village, the colonists' fort and the 3 ships which ferried the English to the New World. Kids are much more engaged by JT Settlement as it's staffed by costumed interpreters and there are lots of hands on things to do. I'm guessing girlonthego's kids were at the NPS site. I think both sites offer a great deal to see but if you can only do one, go for JT Settlement. If you can follow it up with a visit to the "actual" Jamestown, your boy will then be able to use his imagination to fill in what isn't acted out for him.

I'd bag Yorktown this visit as it's not co-located with the others and it's typically not as interesting to kids. You don't want to OD on history/museums especially if you're doing a follow up in DC.

Having sons, I think an 11yo boy would like Yorktown. The Yorktown Victory Center is like the Jamestown Settlement, with costumed reenactors. He can talk to a "soldier" and see how they lived in their "tent villages". Our sons were quite interested by the "hospital tent" and how medical procedures were performed in those days. You can see the YVC in an hour. A quick drive through the battlefield will show you some cannons and you can see how differently war was fought in those days. I haven't met many boys who are intrigued by wars, guns, and other military stuff. Yorktown is a half day visit, easy to combine with the short drive from Jamestown.

padams, I have girls so I apprecitate your point of view on Yorktown from a young boy's perspective. I shouldn't have made a blanket statement about all kids.

My point was that with only 2 and a half days, fitting all sites into the agenda could be a stretch, especially if it's a hot and steamy week.

Perhaps a better recommendation would be to select either Jamestown or Yorktown. The drive from JT or Wmbg along the Colonial Parkway is a beautiful one and takes about 25 minutes.

Everyone - thank you so much!