Williamsburg & Jamestown

Jamestown is where the first permanent English settlement was founded in 1607, and archaeologists are still uncovering James Fort on the riverbank, while the living-history museum next door recreates the fort, a Powhatan town and the ships that brought the colonists. Colonial Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia for most of the 18th century, is the largest living-history museum in the country, with costumed interpreters, working tradespeople, the Governor’s Palace and the Capitol along Duke of Gloucester Street. At Yorktown, Washington and his French allies forced the British surrender in 1781, and the battlefield and a modern museum tell that story on the banks of the York River. Add Busch Gardens Williamsburg, one of the best-looking theme parks in America, which turns into Christmas Town for the holidays, and you have a destination that works for history lovers, families and couples alike. This guide books the experiences worth booking, from Colonial Williamsburg admission and a full-day Jamestown and Yorktown tour to the best ghost walk in town, flags November and holiday hours, and shows how to fit all three corners of the triangle into a first visit.