Colonial Williamsburg

Dont ever pay for a ghost tour. It is a waste of money.

Great experience. I loved it and we walked everywhere. Our kids enjoyed it as well. Plenty of options. From walking around or attending all the events and tours.

WHAT A FUN TIME!!!
When we arrived at the visitor center and were trying to use the bus, it appeared you had to buy a ticket to some of the colonial buildings to use the bus, which was pretty pricey and we weren’t looking to spend so much money.
With that being said, I Google-​mapped a parking garage and found Prince George Parking Garage that is SUPER close to Colonial Williamburg, like a block away (
). It’s also only $ 1/​hr, HOW AWESOME.
Once we had our parking settled, my husband and I just explored around and I took lots of photos. I love how nice all the actors are and much you feel you are pulled back into the past. After a certain point, roads are blocked off for just pedestrians and horse-​drawn carriages to just use.
A great place for littles kids to learn some history and explore around. We are definitely going to make it back! Maybe to purchase a ticket for a look inside the buildings. Not all buildings require a ticket to enter, but the cool ones do. Also for the little shows they have during the day.

I never been to Colonial Williamsburg before and I must say it is something that everyone should see.
I visited over Memorial day weekend and I thought it was nice that they allowed military free passes for the weekend. They even had a special lounge (liberty lounge) where military members can get refreshments and sit in a cool place.
My husband and I explored the grounds to include the Governors house. The grounds are quite lovely and a sight to see. We also payed to do other activities to include shooting muskets and taking a carriage ride.
My favorite activity had to be the musket range. It was an hour long experience and sure was fun. A group of 6 went along and we each had the opportunity to shoot 2 different types of muskets. Definitely something everyone should experience.
The carriage ride was sweet. Something I had always wanted to do. We rode the randolph and had the prettiest horses (Diamond and Jewel) take us around the grounds. It was really nice.
Overall, I thought it was a great experience!

Colonial Williamsburg has lots of historic houses. They include the Governor’s Palace, the Capitol, the Powder Magazine, the Wythe House, and the Raleigh Tavern. There are also shops on Duke of Gloucester Street, and the Wren Building at William & Mary College. There were people dressed up in Colonial costume with a tricorne. There is also a fife and drum corps.

Overall, although the restorations of the colonial buildings are beautiful, as a full experience it leaves much to be desired.
The main problem is that, although it markets itself as a destination to learn about colonial living, in reality, it is little more than an overpriced tourist trap. Every single one of the shops and houses I stopped into were not there to teach you about the time period, but only to sell you cheap souvenirs behind counters. Every single one! I was so disappointed. And if you want something actually hand-​made, as you may have expected, then you have to pay exorbitant prices! There are a few shows throughout the day, but not enough to warrant the price.

Very lovely grounds to get a blast from the past. Clean and family friendly. The park ticket gives you access to some buildings and events but there is alot to see for free.
There is a small marketplace to buy food, drinks, and souvenirs from various vendors where there is metered hourly parking here besides the free parking at the visitors center.
The visitor’s center closes for ticket sales at 5pm but the grounds are still open to walk for visitors, check their calendar online to see the events throughout the day and night until around 9pm.
Beside the sights you also get to enjoy plenty of locals walking their cute dogs throughout the grounds and making their contributions to the horse manure on the paths. Also free. Good times.

Very nice little town. We only went for a couple hours, we did not purchase tickets, but we did go shopping in their «publick» stores and eat at a tavern. It’s a lot of walking, but a beautiful place. The actors/​actresses are great.

I have been lucky enough to visit Colonial Williamsburg 3 times — once in the 1970’s, once in 2000 and now in 2016.
I have loved it each time. Hey, I like to pretend I live in the past. Don’t judge!
The historical village is wonderful, a place you should bring your kids. There are great authentic restaurants and cool shopping. I have a thimble that is too small for my finger now that I bought here 50 years ago and I just bought another. We have stoneware and glasses from our trip of 2000, they are still favorites.
The lodging is great and there are modern stores and restaurants as well.
Learn about your country and have a cool vacay!

If you’re only going for one day then buy your tickets in front the kiosk DO NOT wait on the long line. Customer service will then give u a lanyard and a map. I feel bad for the day visitors that waited in horribly the long line.
We spent a day visiting the village. So many cool shows and buildings.
They pushed the freshly baked Gingerbread cookies. Um. Not so good. The Oatmeal Raisin was much better. The bakery had a few prepackaged sandwiches which was great.
The staff/​actors were amazing and very friendly.
I wish that there was more signage. Example. We almost passed the candle maker in the yard. Luckily we followed the crowd. We almost missed the maze but luckily hubby read the map
The buses were frequent and clean/​safe.
The bad part is the area is not fenced off. The locals seem to like walking thru with their dogs or on their bikes.
We will def be back. We had a blast.

Very cool place to visit and a quaint little area next to the College of William & Mary that you can do everything on foot and it won’t cost you too much money. Definitely take a guided tour if you didn’t do any research before coming or didn’t pay much attention to your history teacher in high school. The guided tours make Colonial Williamsburg even more enjoyable and interesting because most of the guides are characters themselves.
If you would rather go at it alone or your own pace exploring the old shops & buildings and watching snippets of historical reenactments of yesteryear, that’s totally acceptable, too.
You can see Colonial Williamsburg in about 2 – 3 hours so if you don’t have much time, but you’re in the area – it’s worth the stop to experience it and then shop for some cool souvenirs.

When my fiancé and I went there we got qualified for free tickets since we were local and that was a sweet deal for us to visit all the beautiful scenery and buildings and so much more for free.
Colonial Williamsburg is a precious piece of history from the very early European settlers. This place is open seven days a week, day and night.
The people who work there are not just there for exhibition but they actually hold the same jobs and wear the same style of clothes as the colonial people would in 1700s. Also, when they talk about politics, religion, business, family life, and slavery from that era, they use present tense as if they live in that period.
This living museum is a great place to learn a little bit more about the history of our nation and the people over there do a fantastic job in telling how things were back in those days.

Had a multi day coupon and room discount so decided on an overnight trip. We stayed at the Governors Inn which is off site but very close to the visitors center where you can catch a bus into «town.»
There is really no way to direct where you are going and what you can do for the day. I was able to plan a few shows to attend to reserve in advance online, but they are definitely over priced and it seems as though there is no accountability for those that do pay.
My daughter loves history so I would say for her it was a great trip but definitely overpriced and you need more than a day to figure how things go work out there.

Take your time and enjoy all that Colonial Williamsburg has to offer. It is a beautiful area full of old charm and wonderful old buildings and shops. Lots to do and see for everyone.

Eights visits here at least. It is pricey if you want the access pass to go into buildings, but you can walk along the grounds for free and experience quite a bit. The real draw in my opinion is the integration between Colonial Williamsburg, the College of William & Mary, and the main walking area with shops and restaurants in Merchants Square and Duke of Gloucester St.
Cute area with a lot of culture and history. Everything is colonial themed and kept immaculate. Beautiful aesthetic. For first time visitors, definitely get the all access pass. For locals, just enjoy the area.

Last attended the Williamsburg Grand Illumination, great idea horrible parking, it took us 20 minutes to get to the fire works area no big deal, enjoyed the walk. The fireworks lasted 12 minutes, the main issue was going back to the parking area. It took over an hour to get back, it was like they were filming the walking dead, there were so many people bunched together. Great idea historic area, this is probably my last Grand Illumination!

Cool place, great place to learn about American history. We’re Canadian on a East Coast road trip and thought it would be educational to stop at Colonial Williamsburg. I’ve read other reviews and considered not buying tickets and just walking around the town without going into any of the buildings. But we decided to pay for a day pass $ 40.99 per adult (with the Canadian dollar not doing so well exchange worked out to be $ 54 CA). We thought why not we’re already here might as well have the full experience. Wear walking shoes, its a big place with lots to see and do. Make sure you plan you day and check the schedule for things you wants to see and do. Some actives need reservation. Others are just wait in line for guided tours. Some of my favorite experience is watching a mock trial in the court house and seeing all the horse carriages walking up and down the streets (no cars here). You can pay to have them show you around town. Visiting the coffee house was also great we had some delightful hot chocolate.
Pros: Really well done, workers «towns people» were great and helpful. The town is really well preserved. Very educational, everyone was knowledgable. Great guided tours. They offer deals and specials for groups.
Cons: Depending on which day you go, a place that you want to see might be closed. Schedule changes daily. Not much food options around. I found it to be a little pricey for the day pass.
Overall it was a good educational experience, highly recommend it for those wanting to learn about American colonial 18^th century.

I had visited here in the 80’s as a school-​kid and now that my own kid is 10 we took her here. She enjoyed it — but it is alot of walking and oh that August VA summer heat and humidity!
Get a bounce-​pass so you can also visit Busch Gardens and/​or Water Country USA.
The «Rev Quest» for kids — kinda like a scavenger hunt — was good but again, so much freakin’ walking.
One visit is enough.
Really.

Where your comfortable shoes!!! Stretch it out, plan on getting your exercise in for the day (aka a lot of walking). I’m a big history fan so I a BIG fan of Colonial Williamsburg. Plan on spending some time, this isn’t one of those historic places where you walk around for 45 minutes and feel like you «got the tour». You need to spend some time here, you really need to walk around and take it all in. Plan on spending the day (at least). Take your time, listen to what all of the people/​craftsmen and craftswomen to say and how they do the things they do, it really is fascinating to see how it was done and how far we’ve come.

It’s not cheap, let me state that but it is worth the price of admission as they say. I’ve never stayed on site so I can’t speak to the accommodations but if they pay attention to details anything close to like what they do on the grounds, they have to be good.

The hubby and I were obsessed with Colonial Williamsburg and the whole historic triangle both times we visited. We’re history nuts. Not gonna lie, I’ve also been obsessed with Pocahontas and Powhatans since I was little.
The first time we visited we did the whole works. Stayed on site, hit every structure and watched all the shows, dined on site, and even did a ghost tour. It was awesome, especially if you love history and how genuine and dedicated the actors are at their roles.
Our favorite spot was definitely the Governor’s Palace and the palace scullery where we were able to see examples of 18^th-​century cooking and how the well off ate.
It’s worth it to buy the full day pass ($ 40 adults/​$ 20 kids) to check out all the sites, trade shops, two art museums, and the comp shuttle.
It’s a beautiful spot to take pictures and wonder around for a tranquil stroll too.
If it’s your first time here definitely just splurge for the historic triangle pass (Williamsburge, Jamestown, Yorktown). It was definitely worth it and was about 4 days worth of places to see and things to do.
Don’t skip warm ginger cookies Raleigh Tavern Bakery with a root beer from Chowning’s Tavern!
We finished off two bags of the cookies and on the drive back home and bought a whole case of the root beer with us.

Lebendiger kann Geschichte nicht dargestellt werden. In Colonial Williamsburg wandert man durch einen Ort, in dem sich alles wie vor langer (amerikanischer) Zeit abgespielt hat.
Am besten parkt man auf dem großen Besucherparkplatz beim Visitor Center (PKW wie RV). Von hier aus fährt ein Shuttlebus alle 15 Minuten im Kreis um Colonial Williamsburg. An jeder Haltestelle kann man aus und zusteigen. Ticket $ 1. Wer mehr
ausgeben will und damit Zutritt zu allen Museen und Darbietungen bekommt, zahlt $ 43. Darauf haben wir verzichtet.
Colonial Williamsburg besteht hauptsächlich aus einer langen breiten Straße, an der Gebäude im Kolonialstil stehen und in und vor denen sich das Leben wie vor 100 oder 200 Jahren abspielte. Darsteller laufen in den Kostümen von damals umher, Pferdekutschen laden zum Mitfahren ein und überall kann man sein Geld mit Einkäufen los werden.
Am oberen Ende der Straße dann kleine, sehr gefällige Shops der Jetztzeit, die wiederum zum Geldausgeben verführen.
Amerikanische Geschichte der Kolonialzeit wird hier hautnah und gekonnt lebendig dargestellt und wenn die vielen Touristen nicht wären — von denen man selber einer ist — könnte man glatt glauben, dass die Zeit stehen geblieben ist.