Head toward Charlottesville for a trip to several homes of presidents past. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, outside of Charlottesville, features house and grounds tours, Saturdays in the garden, an activity center for children and seasonal wine tours. Ash Lawn-Highland, also nearby, is the former home of James Monroe and houses a museum, working farm and performing arts center. In Orange, 30 minutes outside of Charlottesville, find Montpelier, James Madison's home and estate. Don't miss Michie Tavern, right near Monticello, for a midday meal of Southern classics served by waiters dressed in authentic Colonial garb. The tavern, which has been in business for more than 200 years, serves only a daily lunch.
Check out the Richmond National Battlefield Park, part of the National Park Service system of parks, and encompassing an 80-mile area of 13 Civil War historic sites and four visitor centers. The park, which offers self-guided tours (now available through iPod Podcast), includes the Confederate Army's medical facility, Chimbarazo, and the historic sites commemorating the battles of Cold Harbor, Beaver Dam, Gaines' Mill, Drewery's Bluff, Malvern Hill and Glendale. The park service recommends starting the tour in the city of Richmond at the Civil War Visitor Center at Tredegar Iron Works.
Stop by the first permanent English colony in America at Virginia's Jamestown, near Williamsburg, settled in 1607 by a group of English settlers from the Virginia Company. Tour living history replicas of three ships that traveled across the Atlantic, a fort and a Powhatan Indian village, all with costumed actors on hand to provide walking tours and historical narrative. Nearby Yorktown Victory Center, also a good stop, features an indoor and outdoor exhibit on the American Revolution and the Battle of Yorktown, where the British Army surrendered to American and French forces in 1781. Daily tours of the exhibits, as well as a replica army encampment and 18th-century farm, are offered.
Visit historic Fredericksburg, the site of four Civil War battles as well as a thriving town during the Colonial period. Take a tour of a Confederate cemetery, Union headquarters during the Battle of Fredericksburg, a heritage center and several restored historic homes. The Fredericksburg Visitor Center, located in the historic district, offers brochures, tickets, maps and information and is also the starting place for a "can't miss" nightly ghost tour through the streets of old-town Fredericksburg, dubbed one of the most haunted cities in the United States.
Experience the national tourist destination, Colonial Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia during the Colonial period, and the birthplace of many of the ideas that fueled the American Revolution and the birthplace of the United States. Costumed actors narrate and guide guests down the cobbled streets to hundreds of shops, homes and government buildings refurbished or reproduced from 18th-century Williamsburg's heyday. In addition to tours, a number of programs and activities, such as a witch trial and a music procession, are offered daily to allow visitors to experience living history; many of these are child-friendly.
