Williamsburg: See
1 The College of William & Mary, ☏ +1 757 221-4000. The campus is just at the end of Colonial Williamsburg's Duke of Gloucester Street. The Christopher Wren building, where Thomas Jefferson attended classes, is one of the college's original academic buildings and is open to the public, with tours provided by a group of student volunteers. If you're approaching campus from Colonial Williamsburg you will find the College's Sunken Garden just on the other side of the Wren building. The Sunken Garden is a gorgeous place to walk, sunbathe, and play frisbee. It's an impressive sight and a favorite haunt of students and local residents, as well as being a prime example of 20th-century Colonial Revival architecture.
2 Colonial Williamsburg. America's largest outdoor living history museum. A fully operational 18th-century city with tradesmen and tradeswomen working in their shops. The ticket prices vary depending on the length of your stay and begin at $50 for a one-day pass for adults. Enjoy a step back in time and see how 18th-century people of all social classes would have lived. Participate in a court proceeding, tour the Governor's Palace, and see how the American Revolution affected the people of this historic town.
James River Plantations. A collection of historic sites located in and around the Williamsburg area. Some such as Berkeley, Chippokes, Lee Hall, and Shirley are open for guided house tours on a daily basis. Others, such as Bacon's Castle and Smith's Fort are open for guided tours for certain months throughout the year. Edgewood, North Bend, Piney Grove, Sherwood Forest and Westover are open for self-guided grounds tours and for guided group house tours by appointment.
The Colonial Parkway runs between Jamestown and Yorktown, passing through Williamsburg. Jamestown and Yorktown each feature a National Park Service site containing the actual historical site, and a privately-run living history museum nearby designed to amplify understanding. Visitors should be wary of signs designed to draw attention to the more expensive living history museums, rather than the true historic sites.
National Park admission of $15 (adults) will cover the original sites of Jamestown and Yorktown. Free guided tours directed by park rangers run at posted intervals, typically last about 45 minutes, and are the best way to understand the history of the sites. …