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Williamsburg Attractions

If you think Williamsburg is just one big history lesson, you may want to think again! When traveling here, there are the typical must-see sites including Virginia's Historic Triangle and the James River Plantations. However, there are lots of other exciting things to do here as well. Williamsburg is the proud home to many award-winning museums, exhibits, tours and also family-fun theme parks. Below is a complete list of all the exciting attractions that Williamsburg has to offer. Get ready for some fun!

Alewerks Brewing Company
 During Colonial times, ale, a top fermenting English beer, was a necessity of life.  Initially the colonies imported beer for family consumption, sale or barter.  Colonial Tavern beer was often brewed on premises.  Over time, commercial brewing developed in the larger cities.  AleWerks is Williamsburg's only microbrewery, brewing handcrafted ales, traditional and contemporary, for the Commonwealth.  Visit our brewery and pick up fresh beer for your lodging or to take home with you.  In addition to great beers, the retail shop offers a variety of unique beer accessories and apparel.  Cheers!
 757-220-3670
Berkeley Plantation

See the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and President William Henry Harrison, “Old Tippecanoe.� “Taps� was composed at Berkeley when General George McClellan headquartered 140,000 Union troops there in 1862. An architectural gem, the 1726 Georgian mansion is furnished with rare period antiques. Costumed guides conduct tours of the mansion daily. Lunch is served in the Coach House Tavern. The gift shop has a unique collection of historical mementos and charming gifts.
804-829-6018 or 888-466-6018

Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Busch Gardens is taking excitement and thrills to new heights in 2011.  With the addition of a new psychological thrill ride, Mach Tower, the rejuvenation of an iconic village and the return of exciting events, 2011 will bring a year of thrills at the Williamsburg theme park.  Mach Tower will lift riders nearly 240 feet above Oktoberfest and drop them at breathtaking speeds.  And the fun doesn't stop there.  Busch Gardens' Oktoberfest village is getting a fresh new look complete with restaurants, games and performance areas.  Summer, fall and winter are packed full of excitement with the return of IllumiNights: A Busch Gardens Encore, the 13th anniversary of Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town:  A Busch Gardens Celebration, the holiday spectacular that transforms the European-themed park into a winter wonderland.
 800-343-7946

The College of William and Mary
Founded in 1693, W&M is the second oldest college in the nation. Attendees in Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
757-221-4000

Colonial Williamsburg
Embark on a Revolutionary adventure! Become an active citizen of Williamsburg when you participate in Colonial Williamsburg’s new program, Revolutionary City™. Through a variety of dramatic events and street scenes, you’ll experience the everyday life of the city against the backdrop of momentous, world-changing events that occurred here between 1774 and 1781. The adventure continues when you explore the gardens, trade shops, homes, and government buildings throughout the Historic Area. Debate the issues of the day with the colorful, talented, and impassioned citizens of the restored capital of colonial Virginia.
800-HISTORY

Go-Karts Plus

Don’t miss Williamsburg’s premier family entertainment center. Spin, dive and soar on the newest thrill ride, The DISK‘O’! Strap yourself into a Super Stockart for a race around a high-banked track or have the little ones try the new Rookie Track. Be the captain of a bumper boat or sink a hole-in-one on the Miniature Golf Course. Play the latest games in our new air-conditioned arcade or win prizes playing Midway games.

Historic Jamestowne
Jamestown was founded in 1607 and became the first permanent English-speaking settlement in mainland North America. Today, the National Park Service and APVA Preservation Virginia preserve and interpret our nation’s roots at Historic Jamestowne—America’s Birthplace. Start your experience at the Visitor Information Station, where exhibits and walking tours are provided. Walk through the townsite to see the original church tower and the reconstructed foundations of some of the earliest buildings. Visit the Glasshouse where costumed glassblowers demonstrate their techniques. Driving tours explore the lush natural setting, and exhibits explain how the settlers harnessed that wilderness for their needs.
 757-856-1200

Historic Yorktown
Immerse yourself in 300 years of history. At Yorktown you can experience many 18th-century homes, and picturesque streets are the backdrop for art galleries and antique and specialty shops. Visit the museums offering hands-on programs and exhibits. Stroll along the scenic riverwalk and relax on the sandy beach at river’s edge. Dine at one of the charming restaurants. Be sure to see Yorktown Victory Monument, commemorating the victory at Yorktown. See Cornwallis’s Cave, where the English general and his staff sought refuge from the bombardment by American and French troops. Visit the York County Historical Museum, which includes exhibits and artifacts spanning centuries of York County history.
 757-890-3300

Jamestown Settlement
At Jamestown Settlement, the story of the people who founded Jamestown and of the Virginia Indians they encountered is told through film, gallery exhibits, and living history. Gallery exhibits trace Jamestown’s beginnings in England and the first century of the Virginia colony and describe the cultures of the Powhatan Indians, Europeans, and Africans who converged in 1600s Virginia. Outdoors, visitors can board replicas of the three ships that sailed from England to Virginia in 1607, explore life-size re-creations of the colonists’ fort and a Powhatan village, and tour a riverfront discovery area to learn about European, Powhatan, and African economic activities associated with water. In the outdoor areas, costumed historical interpreters describe and demonstrate daily life in the early 17th century.
888-593-4682

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum & 4-D Theater
Wander 11 galleries and discover some of Ripley’s strangest oddities from around the world, such as an albino and mane-less lion from Africa, a dress made entirely of guitar picks, a U.S. flag that was flown to the moon aboard Apollo 16 in 1972, and of course a collection of traditional Ripley artifacts including a genuine shrunken head! In the adjacent 4D Theater, guests wear 3D glasses and experience a fourth dimension—wind, water, and other elements.
 757-220-9220

Riverwalk Landing
This beautiful new waterfront development was designed in the spirit of colonial architecture reflected in the town’s historic buildings. It features a variety of shops and riverfront dining that provides a daylong shopping, touring, and dining experience. The waterfront also features a performance area, a beautiful beach, and two floating piers. A mile-long pedestrian riverwalk and a scenic brick walkway link Yorktown’s major attractions. Riverwalk Landing is a one-stop destination for shopping, dining, and touring.
757-890-3300

Sherwood Forest Plantation
Home of John Tyler, 10th president of the United States, Sherwood Forest has remained the home of generations of Tylers. President Tyler’s bride brought magnificent furnishings and objects of art to the house, which remain there today. She also added a ballroom to the house, which made it the longest frame house in America—301 feet-—one foot longer than a football field. The 27-acre original grounds contain 89 varieties of trees, including poet’s laurel planted by Thomas Jefferson. It has 12 original dependencies, and is one of America’ s most complete plantation grounds. National Historic Landmark. 804-829-5377

Shirley Plantation
Shirley Plantation is the most authentic and intact Colonial plantation in the country -- and is considered Virginia's first plantation (1613), America's oldest family-owned business and one of the first economic engines of the New World! Through eleven generations, one family has continued to own, operate and work this grand southern plantation. The guided tour of the Great House highlights 370 years of family stories as well as original furnishings, portraits, silver and hand-carved woodwork. Included in admission is access to leisurely explore seven original colonial outbuildings surrounded by open fields on the banks of the expansive James River.
800-829-5121

Water Country USA
 Guests are in for the slide of their lives in 2011 at Water Country USA.  The mid-Atlantic's largest water park is adding an epic new drop slide, Vanish Point.  The 75-foot drop slide will join the 43 acres of pools, children's play areas, lazy rivers and water rides that make up Water Country USA.  The park also includes "Rock 'n' Roll Island," featuring nearly 600 square feet of body slides, a 700-foot lazy river and a 9,000-square-foot pool all set to a 1950s and '60s surf theme.  For guests who want to relax, enjoy one of the park's 1,500 free lounge chairs or rent one of the park's 16 private cabanas.  
800-343-7946

Watermen's Museum
 The Watermen's Museum is a perfect addition to your visit to Virginia's Historic Triangle of Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown. Our mission is to demonstrate the role that Chesapeake Bay watermen played in the shaping of our nation through a historical display of crafts and methods of their trade.  Located on the Yorktown, Virginia waterfront next to Riverwalk Landing. The museum also offers rentals of its beach front patio area for special events and weddings.
 757-887-2641

Williamsburg Winery
Virginia's largest winery celebrates over 20 years of production with over 65,000 cases annually and new wine releases throughout the year. Wines produced here are appealing to a broad range of wine lovers, from the occasional wine drinker to the wine enthusiast. Our Acte 12 Chardonnay has again been rated as "One of the Best Wines in the World" by DeCanter Magazine's World Wine Awards for four consecutive years.
757-258-0899

Yorktown Battlefield
Yorktown Battlefield is the site of the final major clash of the American Revolution and the symbolic end of the colonial period of our nation’s history. On these fields in the fall of 1781, General George Washington and his allied American and French army surrounded and besieged General Charles Lord Cornwallis’s British and German forces at the Port of Yorktown. The ensuing British surrender resulted in the war’s end, granting independence to the United States of America. Administered by the National Park Service.
757-898-2410

Yorktown Victory Center
To gain an understanding of events that led to America’s war for independence and the impact of the war upon ordinary men and women, start your tour at the state-operated Yorktown Victory Center, a museum of the American Revolution. Visit the permanent indoor exhibits and the living-history programs, both offering visitors the opportunity to experience Revolutionary-era life firsthand.
888-593-4682

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