16 Best Sights in Williamsburg and Hampton Roads, Virginia

Voted the world's most beautiful theme park for 26 consecutive years and counting, Busch Gardens features more than 50 rides and attractions, including some of the world's best roller coasters. Six beautifully landscaped European "countries" re-create the look and feel of France, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Italy. Sesame Street Forest of Fun brings Elmo and his Sesame Street friends to life. Grover's Alpine Express is designed for children and parents to enjoy together, and is among Busch Gardens' most popular kids' attractions. Tempesto, the latest roller coaster, offers a thrill ride with a full inversion. Busch Gardens also hosts popular song-and-dance shows (country, Americana, Irish, German folk) in several theaters.

Adjacent to but distinct from Historic Jamestowne is a mainland living-history museum called Jamestown Settlement. The site marries 40,000 square feet of indoor facilities with outdoor replicas of the early James Fort, the three ships that brought the founding colonists from England, and a Powhatan Indian village. The introductory film 1607: A Nation Takes Root is shown in the theater. The handsome Tudor-style Great Hall is arranged by decades from 1607 to 1699, when the capital was moved to Williamsburg. Gallery exhibits examine the lives of the Powhatans and their English-born neighbors, their interaction, and world conditions that encouraged colonization. Outdoors within James Fort, interpreters in costume cook, forge metal, and describe what life was like living under thatch roofs and between walls of wattle and daub (stick framework covered with mud plaster). In the Powhatan Indian village you can enter a yehakin (house) and see buckskin-costumed interpreters cultivate crops and make tools. At the pier are full-scale reproductions of the ships in which the settlers arrived: Godspeed, Discovery, and Susan Constant. All the vessels are seaworthy; you may climb aboard the Susan Constant and find out more from the sailor-interpreters. A riverfront discovery area provides information about 17th-century water travel, commerce, and cultural exchange, reflecting Powhatan Indian, European, and African traditions. Dugout-canoe making takes place in this area. Spring and fall bring lots of school groups, so it's best to arrive after 2 pm.

A world history of seagoing vessels and the people who sailed them occupies the outstanding Mariners' Museum, inside a 550-acre park. An alliance between the museum and the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City allows the two institutions to share collections, exhibitions, and educational programs. Among the more than 50 full-size craft on display are a Native American bark canoe, a sailing yacht, a speedboat, a gondola, a Coast Guard cutter, and a Chinese sampan. In separate galleries you can often watch the progress of a boat under construction; view ornate and sometimes huge figureheads; examine the watermen's culture of the Chesapeake Bay; and learn about the history of the U.S. Navy. The museum also holds artifacts from the RMS Titanic and remains of the ironclad USS Monitor, which served in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and was recovered from the coast of North Carolina. A 63,500-square-foot addition, the USS Monitor Center, houses the ironclad ship and Civil War exhibits. One of the highlights is the August Crabtree exhibit, authentic scale models hand carved by August Crabtree that portray historic shipbuilding accomplishments in miniature from ancient Egypt to 19th-century Britain. They are so tiny that you must view them through magnifying glasses (built into the display).

The Virginia Air and Space Center traces the history of flight and space exploration. The nine-story, futuristic, $30 million center is the visitor center for NASA Langley Research Center and Langley Air Force Base. Its space artifacts include a 3-billion-year-old moon rock, the Apollo 12 command capsule, a lunar lander, and NASA's new Orion space craft. The center also holds a dozen full-size aircraft, a 3-D IMAX theater that is five stories high, a variety of flight simulators, and hands-on exhibits that let you see yourself as an astronaut or launch a rocket.

The largest children's museum in the state, the Children's Museum of Virginia has so many hands-on exhibits that teach through activities that kids learn while they "play" with all aspects of life; they can take classes and workshops, participate in interactive story times, race on an obstacle course, do giant floor bowling, rediscover old carnival games, and so much more. You can also book a party, which includes a private room and all-day admission to the museum.

In a waterfront park near the Virginia Air and Space Center is the Hampton Carousel. Its prancing steeds and bright-color chariots carry riders round and round to the tunes of carnival music. Expert artisans have meticulously restored the 1920 carousel, which was a fixture at the city's former Beach Amusement Park for 60 years, and the carousel and building are now climate-controlled and air-conditioned.

An island originally connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, Historic Jamestowne was the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America (1607) and the capital of Virginia until 1699. The first settlers' bitter struggle for survival here, on the now uninhabited land, makes for a visit that stirs the imagination. Redbrick foundation walls roughly outline the settlement, and artists' conceptions of the original buildings can be seen at several locations. The only standing structure is the ruin of a church tower from the 1690s, now part of the Memorial Church built in 1907; the markers within indicate the original church's foundations. Other monuments around the site also date from the tercentenary celebration in 1907. Statues portray the founder of Jamestown, Captain John Smith, and his advocate, the Native American princess Pocahontas, whom Smith credited with saving him from being beheaded.

Near the entrance to the park, you can stop at the reconstructed Glasshouse to observe a demonstration of glassblowing, an unsuccessful business venture of the early colonists. The products of today are for sale in a gift shop. Archaeological discoveries from the site are showcased at the Archaearium. You can also observe digs on-site where archaeologists from Preservation Virginia continue to dig up evidence of colonists' and Native Americans' ways of life, including the remains of the original 1607 fort.

A visitor center near the main parking lot tells the history of Jamestown and the Virginia Indians, Europeans, and African peoples who lived here. Ranger-guided tours, held daily, explore many different events in Jamestown's history. Living-history programs are presented daily in summer and on weekends in spring and autumn.

A 5- to 8-mile nature drive (some cut out a loop within the loop and skip certain sections) that rings the island is posted with informative signs and paintings.

An open green between Queen and Palace Streets along Duke of Gloucester, Market Square was the site where cattle, seafood, dairy products, fruit, and vegetables were all sold—as were slaves. Market auctions are sometimes reenacted. Recently reconstructed, it now serves for historical interpretation and retail sales. Shop like you stepped back to the 18th century, including fruits, hams, soaps, candles, ceramics, and clothing. Children and families are invited to join the games and role-play with the toys for sale.

A popular attraction on Norfolk’s redeveloped downtown waterfront, Nauticus is a maritime discovery center featuring interactive exhibits that tell the story of Norfolk’s maritime environment, industry, and the military. Visitors can walk the historic decks of the Battleship Wisconsin, the largest and last battleship of the U.S. Navy, learn to sail through an award-winning sailing program, and charter a tall ship for an educational cruise along the Elizabeth River.

Nauticus is undergoing a major transformational redesign project, opening in stages. Phase I features a new children’s exhibit, Aquaticus, encouraging experiential play, as well as "Norfolk in Time," a look at the past, present, and future of Norfolk. Stage 2 opens in 2024 to include the addition of three state-of-the-art exhibit galleries.

Between Nauticus and Waterside Festival Marketplace, this park is the site of many free outdoor festivals and concerts, the annual Fleet Week and Harborfest, and a wine festival. Fun, food, and music are here most Fridays from May through October. Check the website and local newspapers for events.

This museum, at Fort Eustis, traces the history of army transportation by land, sea, and air, beginning with the Revolutionary War era. More than 90 vehicles, including experimental craft and numerous locomotives and trains dating to the 1800s, are on display. The museum's Korean War and World War II–era trucks can be toured inside and out. Be prepared to show a driver's license or other identification at the military checkpoint at the base entrance.

The sea is the subject at the popular Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, a massive facility with more than 200 exhibits. This is no place for passive museumgoers; many exhibits require participation. You can use computers to predict the weather and solve the pollution crisis, watch the birds in the salt marsh through telescopes on a deck, handle horseshoe crabs, take a simulated journey to the bottom of the sea in a submarine, and study fish up close in tanks that re-create underwater environments. The museum is almost 2 miles inland from Rudee Inlet at the southern end of Virginia Beach. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center has a nature trail—well worth it, but be sure to wear comfortable shoes.

At the Virginia Living Museum, visitors are transported to a steamy cypress swamp and cool mountain cove, the underwater world of the Chesapeake Bay and the underground realm of a limestone cave, all with living exhibits and hands-on activities. Outdoors, a ¾-mile boardwalk features animals native to Virginia in naturalized habitats and wildflower gardens. Check out the evening laser shows the second Saturday of the month at the planetarium.

The largest in the state, Virginia Zoological Park has more than 400 animals in 100 species living on 55 acres—including rhinos, ostriches, African elephants, and Siberian tigers as well as such domesticated animals as sheep. In the Africa exhibit, elephant demonstrations are scheduled regularly in summer, and nine new species have been added in an expansion, including zebra, lion, giraffe, red river hog, and meerkat. With the assistance of docents, children can handle some of the animals.

The nearly 45 acres of pools, children's play areas, lazy rivers, and water rides have a colorful 1950s and surf theme. Blast down Rock 'n' Roll Island's nearly 600 feet of body slides, ride the 700-foot lazy river, or soak in the 9,000-square-foot pool. Or you can enjoy relaxing by Virginia's largest wave pool in a lounge chair or a private cabana. There is also live entertainment, shopping, and restaurants.

On the western edge of Yorktown Battlefield, the Yorktown Victory Center has wonderful exhibits and demonstrations that bring to life the American Revolution. Textual and graphic displays along the open-air Road to Revolution walkway cover the principal events and personalities. A Declaration of Independence entrance gallery and long-term exhibition, The Legacy of Yorktown: Virginia Beckons provide background information. Life-size tableaux show 10 "witnesses," including an African American patriot, a loyalist, a Native American leader, two Continental Army soldiers, and the wife of a Virginia plantation owner. The witnesses' testimony is very dramatic and makes the American Revolution real for children. This presentation brings the personal trials of the colonists to life more effectively than the artifacts of the war.

The exhibit galleries contain more than 500 period artifacts, including many recovered during underwater excavations of "Yorktown's Sunken Fleet" (British ships lost during the siege of 1781). Outdoors, visitors may participate in a Continental Army drill at an encampment with interpreters costumed as soldiers and female auxiliaries, who reenact and discuss daily camp life. In another outdoor area, a re-created 1780s farm includes a dwelling, kitchen, tobacco barn, crop fields, and kitchen garden, which show how many Americans lived in the decade following the end of the Revolution.