Map view
Governor's Palace, Williamsburg
Best time to visit: late May-early Sept
Cost: $
- The Governor's Palace in Williamsburg was the official residence of the royal governors of the Colony of Virginia
- It was also a home for two of Virginia's post-colonial governors, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, until the capital was moved to Richmond in 1780, and with it the governor's residence
- It is one of the two largest buildings at Colonial Williamsburg, the other being the Capitol
Blue Ridge Parkway
Best time to visit: May-July
Cost: $
- National Parkway and All-American Road, noted for its scenic beauty
- The parkway runs for 469 miles (755 km) through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains
#96 in Best Attractions in the USA
Dark Hollow Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Trail in Shenandoah National Park that leads to Dark Hollow Falls, a 70 ft (21 m) cascade
- Various fauna can be viewed along the trail, including occasional sightings of black bears and timber rattlesnakes
#14 in Best National Parks in the USA
#97 in Best Attractions in the USA
Norfolk Botanical Garden, Virginia Beach
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late May-early Sept
Cost: $
- Botanical garden with arboretum, constructed starting in 1939 and expanded into themed garden areas
- Some of the garden themes include: a healing garden containing medicinal plants, a stream, and pools; a wildflower meadow with more than 50 wildflower species; and a fragrance garden including plants such as lavender and peppermint
#98 in Best Attractions in the USA
Old Town Alexandria Waterfront
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- One of the original settlements of the city of Alexandria, it is situated along the Potomac River
- It was originally laid out in 1749, making it the oldest section of the city
- Old Town is chiefly known for its historic town houses, art galleries, antique shops, and restaurants as well as its unique cobblestone streets and red brick sidewalks
Colonial Williamsburg
Best time to visit: late May-early Sept
Cost: $
- Living-history museum presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg,
- The historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions
- Costumed employees work and dress as people did in the era, sometimes using colonial grammar and diction
- In the late 1920s, the restoration of colonial Williamsburg was championed as a way to celebrate patriots and the early history of the United States
The Rotunda, Charlottesville
Best time to visit: May-July
Cost: $
- Building located on The Lawn on the original grounds of the University of Virginia
- Thomas Jefferson designed it to represent the "authority of nature and power of reason" and modeled it after the Pantheon in Rome, and it was completed in 1826
- The campus of the new university was unique in that its buildings surrounded a library (the principal function of the Rotunda) rather than a church, as was common at other universities in the English-speaking world
- To many, the Rotunda symbolizes Jefferson's belief in the separation of church and education, and represents his lifelong dedication to education and architecture
Arlington National Cemetery
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- One of two cemeteries in the United States National Cemetery System that are maintained by the United States Army
- Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington
- Arlington National Cemetery was established during the American Civil War after the land the cemetery was built upon, Arlington Estate, was confiscated from the private ownership of Confederate States Army general Robert E. Lee's family following a tax dispute
Woodland and Bivalve Trail, Assateague Island National Seashore
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late May-early Sept
Cost: $
- Assateague Island is the largest natural barrier island ecosystem in the Middle Atlantic states region that remains predominantly unaffected by human development
- Bands of feral horses, commonly known as Chincoteague ponies or as Assateague horses, freely roam on Assateague Island
- Although local legend claims that the horses are descendants of animals that survived a shipwreck on the coast, it is more likely that the horses are descendants of domestic horses confined on the island by local residents in lieu of fencing them in on the mainland, where fences were taxed
Kings Dominion
Best time to visit: April-June
Cost: $
- Amusement park located in Doswell, opened in 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and attractions including 13 roller coasters and a water park
Mount Vernon
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha
- The Washington family acquired land in the area in 1674
- The mansion was built of wood in a loose Palladian style; the original house was built by George Washington's father Augustine, around 1734, and it remained Washington's home for the rest of his life
- The mansion and its surrounding buildings escaped damage from the American Civil War suffered by many properties located within the Confederate States of America
- Allowing people to see the estate is part of an over 200-year-old tradition started by George Washington
Monticello
Best time to visit: May-July
Cost: $
- Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 14
- In 2017, a room identified as Sally Hemings' quarters at Monticello, adjacent to Jefferson's bedroom, was discovered in an archeological excavation
- Sally Hemings was an enslaved woman with one-quarter African ancestry owned by president of the United States Thomas Jefferson
- Modern DNA analyses indicate Jefferson was the father of her six children, whom Jefferson agreed to free when they came of age, in exchange for Sally Hemings' life of slavery on Jefferson's plantation
#21 in Best Landmarks in the USA
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Best time to visit: April-June
Cost: $
- Art museum in Richmond, opened in 1936, and considered among the largest art museums in North America for area of exhibition space
- The VMFA's comprehensive art collection includes African art, American art, British sporting art, Fabergé, and Himalayan art
Luray Caverns
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Cave just west of Luray, which has drawn many visitors since its discovery in 1878
- The cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems such as columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and mirrored pools
- The caverns are perhaps best known for the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a lithophone made from solenoid-fired strikers that tap stalactites of various sizes to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells