I have long wanted to take the kids to Colonial Williamsburg. When I was looking for a mid-way stopping point on our way home from our annual summer road trip to NJ, I felt like we had covered almost everything on both the mountain route and the I-95 / I-85 route. So even though Williamsburg was off the path a bit, I figured we could stay two nights to make the stop worthwhile.
Despite horrendous traffic, we made it in time to go on the Haunted Williamsburg tour our first night. We had a full day to explore Colonial Williamsburg the next day and then had a carriage ride booked for the last morning before we hit the road. I booked everything online ahead of time, which was really easy and convenient.
We debated parking at the visitor center and taking the bus but ultimately decided to park in one of the garages in town. The cost was reasonable, spots were plentiful, and we felt like it gave us more flexibility. We arrived mid-morning and walked around town a little and then headed over to the campus of William and Mary. The campus is really pretty, with old buildings and even older trees. I texted my husband that I’m certain if they offered a tree-climbing major, our youngest would want to come here.
From campus we headed back through town and over to Colonial Williamsburg. It was a beautiful – but hot – day and we visited a mix of indoor and outdoor sites. After watching the horses in the field for a few minutes, we listened to an engaging speaker outside the American Baptist Meeting House and saw the archaeology project across the street.
We stopped to stroll through the gardens on our way to the palace. Dressed in colonial clothes and using period-appropriate tools, gardeners tended to the plants and crops.
The streets of Williamsburg are open to the public but walking through gardens or inside any of the buildings requires a ticket. Staff were setup at each entrance to check your tickets – either printed if purchased onsite or digital if purchased online in advance. We went inside a few of the buildings and really enjoyed watching the reenactors practicing all the different trades of the colonial period. From silversmiths to tailors to blacksmiths, the authentic demonstrations were really interesting to watch.
When we visited in July 2021, they had recently changed their covid policies to require masks and social distancing only for unvaccinated guests. But as has become common during the pandemic, things change rapidly so check their website before your visit to get the most up-to-date rules. Since one of my boys was too young to be vaccinated at the time and out of an abundance of caution (as well as respect for the employees), we all wore masks while inside. They were also limiting the number of visitors in each building to keep from overcrowding so overall we felt like this was a very safe environment.
While we spent most of our time wandering around the town and popping into the buildings that interested us, we did visit one “guided site”. The Capitol, the Courthouse, the Governor’s Palace and a few other locations can only be visited as part of a guided tour. These tours are included in your admission ticket and cannot be signed up for in advance – you simply join the queue outside the building. They run roughly every 20-30 minutes so we waited on a bench outside the Governor’s Palace for about 15 minutes before joining the next tour there.
Completed in 1710, the Governor’s Palace was home to 9 governors over the years, including 7 royal governors and the first two elected governors of Virginia, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. The capital of Virginia was moved to Richmond in 1780 and the former governor’s palace in Williamsburg burned down the following year. It was reconstructed on the original site in the 1930s, using archaeological evidence and historical artifacts to recreate the building as it had been 150 years earlier.
We were glad that this was the one guided tour we opted to take. From the ornate sword display in the entrance hall to the brightly colored ballroom, the quick tour through the downstairs of the palace was interesting and worthwhile.
Our tour ended in the back gardens, where our guide shared that the palace children loved to run around out back and play the game of “Touch and Go”. I was fascinated when she told us that “tag” is actually an acronym for Touch and Go and couldn’t believe I had missed such an obvious etymology. I was disappointed when I looked it up later and found out that snopes.com and other sites have debunked this claim. Oh well. It was fun to know that bit of (false) trivia while it lasted.
We really enjoyed exploring the beautiful gardens behind the house and finding our way through the hedge maze. Although the maze apparently went hand in hand with a drinking game back in the day, today it is great fun for the kids (and adults!) to run around in. You can scope it out from a viewing platform before heading in. Interestingly, the maze only leads you to the center of the hedges. The entrance and the exit to the maze are one and the same so you also have to find your way back out.
We fit in a good amount during our day at Colonial Williamsburg but we had one last activity that my youngest had been wanting to try in several cities up and down the east coast – a carriage ride. Carriage rides must be booked in advance and are not included in your regular ticket. I will admit that I hemmed and hawed a little too long on whether or not to spend an additional $50 on a carriage ride. (At $45 per adult and $25 per youth (6-12), plus $19/$12 for Haunted Williamsburg tickets, this was already a pricey stopover on our drive home.) When I finally decided to spring for it, the tickets were sold out for Saturday, which meant we would have to stick around until 12:30 on Sunday for the carriage ride.
We didn’t want to buy another day of admission tickets and thankfully we were able to confirm that while you do need an admission ticket in order to buy a carriage ride ticket, they do not have to be on the same day. So we spent our morning at the Williamsburg Pirate’s Cove mini-golf course before heading back into town for our carriage ride.
We apparently lucked into the “best carriage driver in town”, as declared by many, many Williamsburg employees that we went by on our ride in the Madison Carriage. Our driver seemingly knew everything about Williamsburg and knew everyone who worked there.
Our driver was informative and entertaining. The roughly 30 minute ride was interesting but probably would have been better at the beginning of the trip to help us get our bearings and a sense of what we wanted to see. Was it worth $50? For me, I’d probably say no but I think the smile on JB’s face says yes.
Overall we enjoyed our trip to Williamsburg. I would say that we probably just missed the sweet spot age-wise for this trip. Unless your teens are history buffs, kids age 10 and under will probably enjoy this more. I’m glad we finally made it there but we probably would have gotten a little more out of the trip 3-4 years ago. Also, a visit in the dead of summer is not the best timing so I’d aim for spring or fall if at all possible. But Williamsburg is really well done. The sites are historically accurate and well maintained, and the reenactors are passionate and knowledgable. It is well worth a visit with younger kids and history enthusiasts.
