There are so many historical sites in Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown, also known as America’s Historic Triangle.
You can’t really do it all in one day, but you could see it all over the course of a long weekend.
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This article is also featured on GPSmyCity.
To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Williamsburg.
You can check out our experience exploring America’s Historic Triangle in this video on our YouTube Channel.
Day 1: Williamsburg
If you’re short on time or just have 1 day to explore the area, Colonial Williamsburg is where you want to start.
Morning: Colonial Williamsburg
I had visited Colonial Williamsburg once when I was 9 years old, but JP had never been, so it was fun to see it again as an adult a couple times now.
It’s free to get into Colonial Williamsburg and walk around, but you’ll need to purchase an admission ticket if you want to tour inside any of the buildings.
Click Here To Book Your Colonial Williamsburg Admission Today!
Governor’s Palace Tour
There are two buildings that you must tour when you visit Colonial Williamsburg and the Governor’s Palace is one of them.
It is a replica of the original building that once stood there.
You’ll learn that there have been many fires over the years in the area.
The original foundation still stands and you can see a clear line from where it was re-built.
Guided tours run continuously through the Governor’s Palace where you can walk through various rooms inside, as well as explore the gardens in what is essentially the backyard.
After the tour you’re able to spend as much or as little time as you’d like on the grounds before moving on to your next stop.
Another fun fact about the Governor’s Palace is that you’ll notice all the rooms are very vibrantly painted.
This was seen as a sign of wealth at this time since it was expensive to make paint that color and to make enough to cover the entire room.
Capitol Building Tour
The second building you’ll want to tour is the Capitol building.
This is another building that has burned down several times and was re-built as a replica on top of the existing foundation.
The Capitol also runs continuous tours throughout the day.
Again, you’ll need to have purchased an admission ticket to be able to tour the building.
Afternoon: Williamsburg Winery
We noticed while driving around that there was a wine trail in the area, but we didn’t have enough time to visit all the wineries.
Williamsburg Winery seemed the most appealing to us and it was close to our resort.
I honestly didn’t have high hopes for the wine in this area since we’re used to California wine.
Not that one is better than another, it’s just what our palettes were used to.
But we were pleasantly surprised.
They had full bodied red wines that were fruit forward and not too dry, which is what we generally look for in wines.
We did 1 Red Wine Flight and 1 Reserve Wine Flight.
My personal favorite was the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Release from the Reserve Wine Flight.
Evening: Colonial Williamsburg Ghost Tour
We’ve done a couple different ghost tours in Colonial Williamsburg over the years and you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
It’s one of the top cities in the US for ghost tours!
It’s a great evening activity for when everything else in town is closed down for the night.
Unofficial Tour: Colonial Ghosts Tour
This tour is booked through US Ghost Adventures, which has ghost tours in like 100+ cities all over the US.
We’ve done tours with them in Cincinnati, Virginia Beach, and DC.
What these tours have that the official Colonial Williamsburg tours don’t have are EMF readers that you can rent and an extended tour you can add on at the end.
Click Here To Book Your Colonial Ghosts Tour In Colonial Williamsburg Today!
Official Tour: Haunted Williamsburg Tour
This is a guided tour booked directly through Colonial Williamsburg where they share old and new ghost stories about the area.
This is a one hour walking tour and each guide has a different route and different stories that they like to share.
We did our tour from 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm, so by the time our tour ended it was pitch black outside.
Day 2: Yorktown and Jamestown
Yorktown is famous for being a Revolutionary War battlefield and Jamestown is famous for being the English settlement you probably learned all about from the Disney movie Pocahontas (which definitely took some liberties in their story line).
Morning: Yorktown
The main things to do in Yorktown are to visit the battlefield and visit the Revolutionary War museum, which you can do in just a few hours.
Yorktown Battlefield Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour
When visiting the Yorktown Battlefield, start at the visitor center.
From there you just have to follow the signs in numerical order to know where to go next.
There is an app you can download to give you a guided tour of the area as you go, which I highly recommend.
Click Here To Download Your Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour Of Yorktown Battlefield Today!
Most stops along the route have parking lots where you can get out and roam around.
Others just have places where you can pull off the side of the road if you want to get out.
We did this in the middle of the day on a Wednesday and only ran into a few other people the entire time.
It took us just under 2 hours to do the entire tour.
The beginning half of the driving tour takes you to battlefields that are set up with cannons, fencing, and dirt trails to help see how battles would’ve played out.
Later on in the driving tour, you’ll go through a more wooded area and see some historic buildings.
The Revolutionary War Museum at Yorktown
The Revolutionary War Museum at Yorktown is an indoor museum and an outdoor living history museum.
The inside part of the museum opens a bit earlier in the day, but there is no photography or videography allowed inside, so we don’t have any photos or videos of this part.
This museum was really nicely done and immersive though.
There is a video reenactment of the battle of Yorktown that is in a small theater, but with an IMAX type screen and it really feels like you’re there.
We were the only ones in the theater and it was a really cool experience.
I recommend doing the Yorktown Battlefield driving tour before visiting the museum because then you will have been to all the places they’re showing you.
After about an hour after opening, the outdoor exhibits opened.
Outside they have a living history museum of the military camps as well as local farms that would have been around at the time.
We had cold/rainy Spring weather while we were visiting, so the campfires were really nice and smelled really good.
On the farm they actually cook meals throughout the day from an authentic 1700s cookbook and they do cooking demonstrations.
In this video on our YouTube Channel you can see more of our experience at this museum.
Click Here To Book Your Revolutionary War Museum At Yorktown Admission Today!
Afternoon: Jamestown
If you’ve never visited this area before it can be a little confusing because they have a place called Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement.
Historic Jamestowne is the actual archaeological site of Jamestown.
Jamestown Settlement is a replica of what Jamestown would have been like and is a living history museum.
Historic Jamestowne
There’s one caveat to the claim that this is the actual archeological site of the Jamestown settlement.
It was so long ago that most of the site is underwater as the shoreline has receded.
But everything has been placed and maintained and set up in the same layout.
With our National Park Annual Pass, we had reduced admission for only $10 per person.
The photo below of the tree is roughly where the landing site would have been in Jamestown.
As you exit the park, there is a building where they do glass blowing demonstrations.
They have a gift shop there as well where they sell everything from the demonstrations and other relevant souvenirs.
Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum made up of a replica of Jamestown and the Powhatan Indian Village.
We separated our visit over the course of two different days since they aren’t open very late.
On our first visit, we explored the settlement and watched a cannon demonstration.
On our second visit, we were able to explore the ship.
In this video on our YouTube Channel you can see the cannon demonstration and other parts of our visit here.
Click Here To Book Your Jamestown Settlement Admission Today!
Day 3: Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg has been named one of the prettiest theme parks in the world and they’re celebrating over 50 years of being open!
I went once as a kid when Apollo’s Chariot was brand new and I took JP for the first time recently and that ride was celebrating it’s 20th anniversary.
The all day dining plan is a steal by the way, so I highly recommend it and sharing it with 2-3 people.
It’s a great park with plenty to do even if you don’t love roller coasters.
I have a full day itinerary with the best foods, rides, and activities you can check out.
Where to Eat
Something I researched before visiting the area was historic restaurants or restaurants with cultural significance.
So on our first visit, that’s what we prioritized.
On our next visit, we branched out a bit more to try more of the trendy or modern restaurants.
Both are great in their own way.
King’s Arms Tavern In Colonial Williamsburg
You can’t go to Williamsburg and not eat at one of their historic taverns!
King’s Arms Tavern originally opened in 1772 and the experience you’ll have there today is authentic in every way.
Recipes have been slightly updated to match today’s tastes, but everything else is the same.
Their signature dish is Peanut Soupe.
This isn’t something we would normally think to order, but our waitress highly recommended it and said it was what they were known for so we had to try it.
It came with a breadstick/crouton for dipping and it was just amazing!
Our meal also came with bread service that came with several toppings.
For our entrees, JP had the Tavern Dinner which included Herb-Garlic Crusted Prime Rib of Beef, Horseradish, Herbed Fingerling Potatoes, Popover, Au Jus, and choice of dessert (the Peanut Soupe also came with this meal).
I had the Beef Tenderloin which included Blackstrap Molasses Bacon Butter, Sunchoke Yukon Gold Potato Mash, Cabernet Demi, and Caramelized Cipollini Onion.
I can’t find the dessert menu, but I want to say we had something like a Bread Pudding.
Old Chickahominy House
It is a 1700’s style dining room that has been in it’s current state since the 1960s.
For lunch I had Chicken & Dumplings since that is one of my go-to meals.
JP had a bowl of Chili and we shared a side of Virginia Country Ham on Hot Biscuits.
Neither of us had ever had that before and didn’t think anything of it when we ordered it.
It is very dry and salty, but in the best way possible.
I look forward to eating it again if we’re ever in the area again.
It was a pretty cheap meal too – we spent $38.14, including a tip of at least 20%!
DoG Street Pub
We had lunch here on our most recent visit and got to sample a few different things.
They serve the bottled Chowning’s Tavern root beer, which is so good!
For appetizers, we had the hummus with fried tortilla chips and reuben croquettes.
For our meal, JP and I shared a burger that was topped with ham.
Amber Ox Public House
This is one of the local restaurants that is known to have a ghost in the women’s restroom!
We sat up at the bar and started off our meal with a non-alcoholic drink called Fairy Tea.
It’s an iced green tea with lavender and lemon.
They have a bread board with 4 different toppings that are a great appetizer.
My favorites were the lemon ricotta and the apple butter.
For our next course we had the house salad and it was massive!
As our entree we shared meatballs that had a thin fried layer around the outside.
Wythe Candy and Gourmet Shop
This sweets shop has hundreds of truffles and chocolate covered treats and fudge.
There are also plenty of pre-packaged treats too.
We tried the Irish Cream Truffle and the Bourbon Truffle.
Where to Stay In Williamsburg
We’ve stayed in 2 different resorts in Williamsburg, both of which are pretty close to each other.
You really can’t go wrong with either one.
Historic Powhatan Resort
For our first visit, we chose to stay at the Historic Powhatan Resort.
We have an entire post linked above about why we chose this resort, the perks of staying here, our favorite amenities, etc.
In this video on our YouTube Channel can see a full walkthrough of a one bedroom upstairs unit.
Click Here To Book Your Historic Powhatan Resort Stay Today!
Greensprings Resort
Greensprings Resort is also set up townhouse style.
We had a recently renovated 2 bedroom unit that was just phenomenal.
Our primary bedroom had a huge jacuzzi tub and just so much space in general.
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Conclusion: America’s Historic Triangle 3 Day Itinerary
The Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown area is such a fun place for a long weekend.
Not only are there a ton of historic sites, museums, and tours, but they also have the fun stuff like wineries, ghost tours, and unique restaurants.
