Williamsburg, Virginia is a great destination for a family vacation. This area has both an educational side and one that’s pure fun. Here are 10 fun spots that both adults and kids will enjoy.
- DIG! Kids, Dirt & Discovery. This 50-minute hands-on excavation gives kids an introduction to archaeological digging, screening and lab work. Located at the Prentis Store in Colonial Williamsburg, this real archaeological dig site recommends that the archaeologists-in-training be between the ages of 5 and 16 to enjoy this experience. Younger kids have the option of digging in a specially prepared box with its own treasures.
- Busch Gardens® Williamsburg. Busch Gardens® Williamsburg is fun for the whole family, not just kids. The beautiful 383-acre theme park has an old-world theme and a Sesame Street theme, which is great for younger children. The park is separated into 10 hamlets (small villages). Two attractions provide transportation around the park, the Skyride gondola lift and replica steam trains. Spend a day or two exploring and discovering the excitement!
- Water Country USA. Just around the corner from Busch Gardens® Williamsburg is Water Country USA, Virginia’s largest water park! Water Country USA offers water rides, shops, restaurants and other attractions, including loungers and cabanas. There are tons of rides available at Water Country USA, including Aquazoid®. Aquazoid® plunges riders on a raft down more than 850 feet into an enclosed pipeline at more than 20 feet per second. If you’re looking for a high-speed slide, try Nitro Racer®, a six-lane super highway that you can race down…which one of your loved ones will win? Try it and find out!
- Go Ape Treetop Adventure. Go Ape Treetop Adventure Course is only minutes away from Colonial Williamsburg in Freedom Park. There are two courses available for visitors, Go Ape Treetop Adventure and Treetop Junior. Go Ape Treetop Adventure visitors must be over the age of 10 and 4’7” or taller to tackle the course. The course has numerous rope ladders, 37 new crossings to include a trapeze, wobbly ladder, two Tarzan swings, five zip lines and more! The Go Ape Treetop Junior course is for all ages 3’3” and taller. This course is perfect for children under 10 to enjoy their very own adventure on a course that has an easy-to-use safety system and is made up of 20 obstacles and two zip lines.
- Ripley’s Believe It or Not! There are many unique attractions at Williamsburg’s Ripley’s Believe it Or Not! including the Odditorium, a 4D movie Theater, Ripley’s Impossible Laserace and Catfish Cove Mini Golf! The Odditorium features shrunken heads, a 12-foot-tall Transformer sculpture made of scrap car parts and more! The 4D Theater plays movies that require 3D glasses and as an extra feature (to make the experience 4D) the audience gets blasted with air, misted with water and much more!
- Powell House. Visit the Benjamin Powell House in Colonial Williamsburg to experience interpretations of 18th-century children and family life. Activities taking place in the house vary from doing chores such as making the bed to goofing off and playing games. Kids and adults may be asked to help out with the chores, or perhaps join in an 18th-century style children’s game.
- Public Gaol. Take the kids to the Public Gaol (an 18th-century jail – the word gaol is pronounced “jail”) to show them what will happen if they misbehave on your vacation! Only kidding. Most of the occupants were men and women awaiting trial in the General Court and the Court of Oyer and Terminer, or convicts waiting to be branded, whipped or hanged, according to their sentences. Learn about the Public Gaol’s most infamous occupants, 15 henchmen of the pirate Blackbeard.
- Yorktown Beach. Located in historic Yorktown, the two acre beachfront is an ideal spot for boating, swimming and fishing. A fishing pier and a 10-acre grass picnic area are also available for guests to use. This is the perfect spot to let the kids splash around in the water and play on the beach, while the adults relax and soak in some sun.
- Great Hopes Plantation. Great Hopes Plantation is part of Colonial Williamsburg that represents the daily life of members of the community such as African-American slaves, carpenters and working farmers living in a more rural setting. Guests can interact with citizens and hear their stories about living life enslaved.
- Palace Green. This spot can’t be missed while visiting Colonial Williamsburg. Take the family to enjoy a picnic on what 18th-century residents described as “a big lawn that forms a pretty avenue.” The Palace Green is also a great spot to play some 18th-century games!
To start planning your next vacation to Williamsburg or one of our other 40+ destinations, email us at info@takethreenights.com.