268 Best Sights in Virginia, USA

Alexandria's showcase firehouse dates from 1855 and is filled with typical 19th-century implements, but the resident Friendship Fire Company was established in 1774, the same year it bought its first "engine." Among early fire engines on display is a hand pumper built in Philadelphia in 1851. 

An outdoor living-history museum, the Frontier Culture Museum re-creates agrarian life in America. The four illustrative farmsteads, American, Scotch-Irish, German, and English, were painstakingly moved from their original sites and reassembled on the museum grounds. A West African village and an American Indian village are also among the exhibits. The livestock and plants here resemble the historic breeds and varieties as closely as possible. Special programs and activities, held throughout the year, include soap and broom making, cornhusking bees, and supper and barn dances.

The young republic began to take shape through conversations and choices being made in these hospitality spaces, a circa-1785 tavern and the 1792 City Hotel, that comprise today's museum. Named for the Englishman John Gadsby who operated them from 1796 to 1808, the tavern businesses were central to Alexandria’s port-based economy, offering places to dine, entertain, and spend the night. A large enslaved labor force made Gadsby’s renowned hospitality possible. Notable patrons included George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the marquis de Lafayette. The taproom, dining room, assembly room, ballroom, and communal bedrooms have been restored to their original appearances. Opt for a self-guided tour to dig deeper into early America. A variety of public programs are held throughout the year.

The last owner of this 1790s Georgian-style house was American artist Gari Melchers, who chaired the Smithsonian Commission to establish the National Gallery of Art in Washington. His wife, Corinne, deeded the 27-acre estate and its collections to Virginia. The home is now a public museum and a Virginia National Historic Landmark administered by the University of Mary Washington. You can take a one-hour tour of the spacious house, which is furnished with a rich collection of the owners' antiques. Galleries in the stone studio, built by the Melchers in 1924, house the largest repository of the artist's work. An orientation movie is shown in the reception area, which was once the carriage house.

This museum preserves the memory of the World War II army chief of staff. Exhibits trace his brilliant career, which began when he was aide-de-camp to John "Black Jack" Pershing in World War I and culminated when, as secretary of state, he devised the Marshall Plan, a strategy for reviving postwar Western Europe. Marshall's Nobel Peace Prize is on display; so is the Oscar won by his aide Frank McCarthy, who produced the Academy Award–winning Best Picture of 1970, Patton. An electronically narrated map tells the story of World War II.

After you pass the town of Oak Grove on Route 3, all signs point to the national park on the Potomac River. At Pope's Creek, George Washington Birthplace National Monument is a 550-acre park mirroring the peaceful rural life our first president preferred. The house in which Mary Ball Washington gave birth to George in 1732 burned in 1779, but native clay was used to make bricks for a representative 18th-century plantation home. Costumed interpreters lead tours through the house, which has items dating back to the time of Washington's childhood. The grounds include a kitchen, garden, cemetery with 32 Washington family graves, and the Colonial Living Farm, worked by methods employed in Colonial days. Picnic facilities are available year-round, and children under 15 are admitted free.

Because Alexandria, like Washington, D.C., has no really tall buildings, the spire of this memorial dominates the surroundings and is visible for miles. The structure overlooks King and Duke Streets, Alexandria's major east–west arteries, and reaching it requires a respectable uphill climb from the King Street Metrorail and bus stations. From the ninth-floor observation deck (reached by elevator), you get a spectacular view of Alexandria and Washington, but access above the first two floors is by guided tour only. The memorial contains furnishings from the first Masonic lodge in Alexandria. George Washington became a Mason in 1752 in Fredericksburg and then became Charter Master of the Alexandria lodge when it was chartered in 1788, remaining active in Masonic affairs during his tenure as president, from 1789 to 1797. Guided tours are included with admission, but you need to make a reservation.

If it hadn't been for the outcries of historians and citizens, a Walmart would have been built on this site, the boyhood home of our first president. The land was saved by the George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, and the megastore found a location farther out on the same road. Recently, archaeologists have uncovered the original fireplaces and four cellars from the house where Washington was raised, as well as thousands of new artifacts. Ferry Farm, which once consisted of 600 acres, is across the Rappahannock River from downtown Fredericksburg, and was the site of a ferry crossing. Living here from ages 6 to 19, Washington received his formal education and taught himself surveying while not chopping a cherry tree or throwing a coin across the Rappahannock—legends concocted by Parson Weems. The mainly archaeological site also has an exhibit on "George Washington: Boy Before Legend." The ongoing excavations include a summer program for children and adults, "Digging for Young George." Ferry Farm became a major artillery base and river-crossing site for Union forces during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Reproductions of these two operations sit near the Mount Vernon estate, on the sites of the originals. In 1799, the distillery was one of the largest American whiskey producers. Today, using an 18th-century recipe and processes—thanks to the excellent records kept by Washington—small batches of his whiskey are made and sold here. During guided tours, led by costumed interpreters, you'll meet an 18th-century miller and watch the water-powered wheel grind grain into cornmeal before seeing the grain being distilled. The mill and distillery are 3 miles from Mount Vernon on Route 235 (Mount Vernon Memorial Highway) toward U.S. 1, almost to Woodlawn. General-admission tickets to Mount Vernon include the gristmill and distillery.

This home was the residence of Thomas Jefferson's law professor; Wythe was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. General Washington used the house as a headquarters just before his victory at Yorktown. The large brick structure, built in the mid-18th century, is conspicuously symmetrical: each side has a chimney, and each floor has two rooms on either side of a center hallway. The garden in back is similarly divided. The outbuildings, including a smokehouse, kitchen, laundry, outhouses, and a chicken coop, are reconstructions.

His Majesty's Governor Alexander Spotswood built the original Governor's Palace in 1720, and seven British viceroys, the last of them Lord Dunmore in 1775, lived in this appropriately showy mansion. The 540 weapons, including 230 muskets and pistols, arrayed on the walls of several rooms herald the power of the Crown. Some of the furnishings are original, and the rest are matched to an extraordinary inventory of 16,000 items. Lavishly appointed as it is, the palace is furnished to the time just before the Revolution. During the Revolution, it housed the commonwealth's first two governors, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. The original residence burned down in 1781, and today's reconstruction stands on the original foundation.

A costumed guide greets you at the door for a tour through the building, offering commentary and answering questions. Notable among the furnishings are several pieces made in Williamsburg and owned by Lord Dunmore. Social events are described on the walk through the great formal ballroom, where you might even hear the sounds of an 18th-century harp, clavichord, or piano. The supper room leads to the formal garden and the planted terraces beyond.

If you're not a nature lover, hiker, or biker, don't take the time to visit the Great Dismal Swamp. If you are, do take mosquito repellant. The forbidding name was possibly assigned to the area by William Byrd on one of his early-18th-century surveying expeditions. George Washington once hoped to drain it. Today the swamp is a 106,000-acre refuge that harbors bobcats, black bears, and more than 220 varieties of birds. A remarkably shallow lake—3,000 acres, 6 feet deep—is surrounded by skinny cypress trees that lend the scene a primeval quality. One hundred miles of hiking and biking trails, including a wheelchair-accessible boardwalk, stand in stark contrast to nearby downtown Portsmouth and Norfolk.

In a waterfront park near the Virginia Air and Space Center is the Hampton Carousel. Its prancing steeds and bright-color chariots carry riders round and round to the tunes of carnival music. Expert artisans have meticulously restored the 1920 carousel, which was a fixture at the city's former Beach Amusement Park for 60 years, and the carousel and building are now climate-controlled and air-conditioned.

The museum features permanent and changing exhibits on Native Americans and the early colonists, the city's port, the infamous Blackbeard, contraband and the Civil War, and the development of NASA Langley Research Center.

Hampton University was founded in 1868 as a freedmen's school, and ever since has had a distinguished history as an institution of higher education for African Americans. Booker T. Washington was an early graduate. The Hampton University Museum, on the riverfront campus, is notable for its extensive and diverse collection, which includes more than 9,000 African, Native American, Pacific Island, and Asian art objects. Four permanent galleries are now located in the new Huntington Building. It is the oldest African American museum in the country.

Displays of multimedia folk art reflect the largely German and Scotch-Irish culture of the valley. One Civil War exhibit includes an electric map that traces Stonewall Jackson's famous 1862 Valley Campaign.

Situated near the center of the park, Byrd Visitor Center is a stone's throw from Big Meadows Lodge and Big Meadows Campground. On the way in, admire the "Iron Mike" statue dedicated to the Civilian Conservation Corps, the men who created much of the park during the Great Depression. Inside, a U-shape exhibit hall tells the story of the park's establishment and development through historic photos and artifacts. Watch Shenandoah: The Gift, a 14-minute video on the creation of this national park. You'll also find restrooms and a park bookstore. From the back porch, take in the sweeping views across Big Meadows.

At 4,050 feet, Hawksbill Summit reigns as the highest point in the park, rewarding visitors with far-reaching 270-degree views, including Massanutten Mountain to the west and Old Rag Mountain to the northeast.

There is more than one route to reach Hawksbill Summit, the highest point in the park at an elevation of 4,050 feet. The most popular is the 1½-mile out-and-back hike under a dense forest canopy that leads to Byrds Nest Shelter #2, a day-use shelter with a picnic table, then on to a stone viewing platform for 270-degree views of the Shenandoah Valley, as well as craggy Massanutten and Old Rag Mountains. Hiking time is 90 minutes. Moderate.

A sizeable granodiorite rock formation provides a first-rate vantage point to savor views of Hazel Mountain and Buck Ridge in the distance. With southeast-facing views, it's also tops for a vibrant sunrise.

Visit the home of Pocahontas and the second successful English settlement in the New World. Costumed interpreters reenact the lives of Virginia's Native Americans and English settlers who helped create the nation we know today.

An early-20th-century estate of the Sloane family, the Hermitage Museum offers an outstanding presentation of architecture, art, and nature. The Sloanes, educated collectors with broad artistic interests, were among the founders of what is now the Chrysler Museum. Mr. Sloane was a wealthy New York businessman who moved to Virginia to operate textile mills. Docent-led tours are available on the hour. Visitors may also stroll the waterfront and 12-acre gardens and view contemporary art exhibitions.

Completed in 1735, this church opened its doors when George Washington was three years old. The Georgian-style structure, included in the National Register of Historic Places, was built by Robert "King" Carter, and contains a rare "triple-decker" pulpit made of native walnut. Bricks for the church were fired in a great kiln near the churchyard. An informative 12-minute video is screened in the museum.

An island originally connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, Historic Jamestowne was the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America (1607) and the capital of Virginia until 1699. The first settlers' bitter struggle for survival here, on the now uninhabited land, makes for a visit that stirs the imagination. Redbrick foundation walls roughly outline the settlement, and artists' conceptions of the original buildings can be seen at several locations. The only standing structure is the ruin of a church tower from the 1690s, now part of the Memorial Church built in 1907; the markers within indicate the original church's foundations. Other monuments around the site also date from the tercentenary celebration in 1907. Statues portray the founder of Jamestown, Captain John Smith, and his advocate, the Native American princess Pocahontas, whom Smith credited with saving him from being beheaded.

Near the entrance to the park, you can stop at the reconstructed Glasshouse to observe a demonstration of glassblowing, an unsuccessful business venture of the early colonists. The products of today are for sale in a gift shop. Archaeological discoveries from the site are showcased at the Archaearium. You can also observe digs on-site where archaeologists from Preservation Virginia continue to dig up evidence of colonists' and Native Americans' ways of life, including the remains of the original 1607 fort.

A visitor center near the main parking lot tells the history of Jamestown and the Virginia Indians, Europeans, and African peoples who lived here. Ranger-guided tours, held daily, explore many different events in Jamestown's history. Living-history programs are presented daily in summer and on weekends in spring and autumn.

A 5- to 8-mile nature drive (some cut out a loop within the loop and skip certain sections) that rings the island is posted with informative signs and paintings.

Almost a century before Virginia Tech's founding in 1872, the Historic Smithfield plantation was built in what was then the frontier wilds. Aristocratic colonist and Revolutionary War patriot William Preston moved his family to the estate in 1774, a year before the war began. Among his descendants were three Virginia governors and four U.S. senators. Today costumed interpreters, authentic period furniture, and Native American artifacts reveal how different life in the New River valley was more than two centuries ago.

Designed in a garden style along the banks of the James River, the cemetery requires at least an hour to stroll through the grounds. Many noted Virginians are buried here, including presidents John Tyler and James Monroe; Confederate president Jefferson Davis; and generals Fitzhugh Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, and George E. Pickett. Pets are allowed on leashes.

Offering a close-up view of 18th- and 19th-century medical instruments and procedures, the apothecary was established in 1761, and demonstrates the work of Dr. Mercer, a Scotsman who served as a brigadier general of the Continental Army (he was killed at the Battle of Princeton). Dr. Mercer may have been more careful than other Colonial physicians, but his methods will still make you cringe. A costumed hostess explicitly describes amputations and cataract operations before the discovery of anesthetics. You can also hear about therapeutic bleeding, see the gruesome devices used in Colonial dentistry, and watch a leeching demonstration.

Located near the Washington Birthplace Monument about 40 minutes east of Fredericksburg, this vineyard is one of Virginia's oldest and largest wineries, and has won the prestigious Virginia Governor's Cup more times than any other winery. It produces one of the few sparkling wines from Virginia. There are also white wines (viognier, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, and chardonnay) and reds (sangiovese, cabernet franc, and sauvignon) as well as specially produced labels. The vineyards cover about 65 acres of gently rolling countryside whose climate and sandy loam soil is similar to that of Bordeaux, France. The winery has a tasting bar, a gift shop with grape-related gifts, a large outdoor patio with umbrella tables and a fountain, and a large indoor room for group tastings. There are also two cabins for overnight stays.

At James Anderson's Blacksmith Shop, smiths forge the nails, tools, and other iron hardware used in construction throughout the town. The shop itself was reconstructed by carpenters using 18th-century tools and techniques.

The James Madison Museum presents a comprehensive exhibition on the Founding Father most responsible for the Constitution (Madison became president in 1809). The collection includes some of the china and glassware recovered from the White House before the British torched it during the War of 1812. The fourth president's tiny Campeachy chair, an 18th-century piece made for him by his friend Thomas Jefferson, shows how short he was.