Spring has arrived so now it’s time to start planning for our summer family travel.
I can remember traveling with my family every year for three or four summers to Williamsburg, VA. I was a teenager at the time. We’d explore Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, a few restaurants, an outlet center, and then pretty much spend the rest of the time at our timeshare resort.
Today, family travel in Williamsburg VA is so much more.
Pack the kids in the car for a road trip to Williamsburg and turn your family vacation into an immersive educational experience. The Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center are living history museums that tell the story of our nation’s beginnings through interactive experiences, exhibits, and outdoor settings re-created for the time.
These educational living history museums are excellent ways to bring the classroom to life for your child. We’ve taken our son to destinations like Gettysburg and Prince Williams County, VA where he had a chance to walk onto a preserved battlefield and preserved slave home, respectively.
Having those experiences strengthened his understanding of the stories that he learned and placed them in different contexts. Our trip were both fun and educational.
Here are some activities that you can do in Williamsburg at the Jamestown Settlement and at Yorktown Victory Center:
1. Climb aboard replicas of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607.
2. Try on armor and play quoits inside a re-created colonial fort
3. Learn how to grind corn in a Powhatan Indian Village.
4. help fashion a dugout canoe in a Powhatan Indian village
5. Take a private tour with your family or small group (less than 14) for a customized and in-depth experience with a personal tour guide. Best thing: with an advance reservation, the tour can be added to any admission option. If you have a particular theme you’d like to focus on, opt for a premium theme add-on.
There are 4 combination ticket options to choose from in order to take advantage of all that the settlement has to offer:
1. Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center
Unlimited admission to each museum for seven consecutive days when purchased online and represents a 20 percent savings over single-visit, individual-museum admission. The ticket is $21.00 for adults, $10.50 for ages 6 through 12.
2. Jamestown and Yorktown Four-Site Value:
One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited admission to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Yorktown Battlefield and Yorktown Victory Center is $35.00 for adults, $23.00 for ages 13-15, $12.50 for ages 6-12, and can be packaged with lodging.
3. America’s Historic Triangle:
One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited visits to five historical attractions – Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg’s Revolutionary City and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, and the Yorktown Victory Center – is $89.00 for adults, $41.00 for ages 6-15, and can be packaged with lodging.
4. Williamsburg Flex:
One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited visits, spring to mid-fall, to six attractions – Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Revolutionary City and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, Yorktown Victory Center, and Busch Gardens® – is $193.50 for adults, $152.20 for ages 6-15 and can be packaged with lodging. From mid-May through Labor Day, the Williamsburg Flex ticket includes Water Country USA® as a free bonus.
The Williamsburg Flex ticket is pretty awesome because you’re seven day-itinerary is pretty much planned out for you. Talk about the ultimate in trip planning! If you have a family of four like mine (two adults and two kids, ages 6-15), this would cost $692 for your activities for the week!
Kids are busy, learning, and you don’t have to stumble on the question: “what are we doing today?”
Information about private tours and premium themes is at www.historyisfun.org/visit/special-experiences/private-tours/.
Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, until 6 p.m. from June 15 through August 15. For directions and more information visit www.historyisfun.org. If you want to relax and need help planning an amazing week with your family in Williamsburg and the surrounding area, consider working with me for trip planning services.
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