Want to go on a vacation where the kids will have fun and learn something at the same time? Visiting the Historic Triangle with kids can be as fun and educational as you make it. The possibilities are just about endless.
Historic Triangle
The Historic Triangle consists of Yorktown, Jamestown, and Williamsburg. All are located in eastern Virginia and are within just a few miles of each other. Williamsburg is pretty much in the center and is a good place to put home base if you are visiting for more than a day.
Yorktown
When we visited the Historic Triangle last Fall, we began at Yorktown. The National Park Service runs the Yorktown Battlefield site, while the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is privately run. Both have an entrance fee. Although you can get into the Battlefield for free if you have a National Park Service pass. Don’t forget if you have a fourth-grader, you can get a Fourth Grader NPS pass for free!
American Revolution Museum at Yorktown
On our visit, we were only able to go to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. Next time, we should try to hit both. The Museum has both indoor and outdoor exhibits. It can be a little daunting for young kids. So I suggest splitting up your visit, do a little indoors then go outside and let off some steam. Then return indoors to finish up the exhibits. Inside the exhibit hall, it is set up in chronological order. There are exhibits on everything related to Yorktown and the American Revolution. Some of them are even hands-on. That was a hit with our kids! We had a hard time keeping them interested in reading all the displays, but mention something for them to touch and they were right there.
Outside there are reenactments, a revolution era farm, and a Continental army camp. Our kids loved watching the musket reenactment. Check their website or brochure for reenactment times. There are lots of hands-on things to keep the kids busy. Bring bottled water, depending on the time of year, it can get hot.
If you get hungry, there is a small cafe in the museum. There is also a small gift shop.
Williamsburg
Williamsburg is in the middle of it all! It offers a ton of hotel choices, at all price points. It also has lots of different restaurant options. There is something for everyone. Colonial Williamsburg is pretty much in the center of the city. It is recommended that you park at the visitor center, purchase your tickets, then ride the shuttle bus. This is what we did and it was convenient.
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg can be exhausting for little ones, so plan ahead. There is a LOT of walking! Some buildings are close together, others not so much. Thankfully, you can get on and off the shuttle bus however many times you need. We found touring in a big circle cut down on walking and let us see pretty much everything in one day. We started at Market Square, then headed down Duke of Gloucester Street to the Capitol. There are many places to stop and explore along the way. After the Capitol, we got on the shuttle bus to go to the public hospital and some of the houses. We ended our day at the Governor’s Palace. You could easily spend multiple days exploring Colonial Williamsburg.
Plan your meals wisely! We chose to eat at the cafe inside the old hospital and were shocked at the prices. We should have walked a couple blocks to eat at a Merchant Square restaurant. There is more variety. We also learned the hard way that you can’t bring in outside food or even a backpack into the museums. Unfortunately, there is a real shortage of picnic tables. It is definitely not budget-friendly. We would have happily packed a picnic lunch if we could.
Colonial Williamsburg has lots of things for kids to do. I suggest visiting their website and events calendar ahead of time to plan out some activities. The daily offerings are also listed on the maps they give you at the ticket counter.
Jamestown
Jamestown completes the Historic Triangle. Again, there are two separate sites. The National Park Service runs Historic Jamestowne while Jamestown Settlement is privately owned. There is an entrance fee to get into both. National Park pass holders have to pay a small fee to enter Historic Jamestowne.
Historic Jamestowne
Historic Jamestowne is the actual site of Jamestown. You can view ruins, archaeological digs, the Archaearium, and a small indoor exhibit area. It is a short 5-10 minute walk from the visitor center out to the historic site. There is plenty of room here for the kids to run and stretch their legs. Our kids were a little bored with the ruins but loved the open spaces. They were fascinated by the exhibits in the Archaearium, which holds artifacts from Jamestown.
Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown Settlement is a short 5-minute drive from Historic Jamestowne. It has an extensive exhibit gallery, re-creations of the 3 ships that sailed from Europe to Virginia, a life-size colonists fort, and a Powhatan village. Just like with Yorktown, I suggest splitting up your visit. Do a little inside and then head outside. There are tons and tons of things for the kids to do around the fort, village, and ships. The kids will be having so much fun they won’t even realize they are learning about American history. Don’t forget your bottled water. Depending on the time of year, it can get hot exploring the outdoors stuff. After finishing up outside, you can head back inside to finish the exhibits. The indoor exhibits are in chronological order and some are hands-on. The set-up is very similar to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.
There is so much to do at Jamestown Settlement you could easily spend the entire day exploring. They do have a cafe with moderate prices. Just don’t bring in outside food. If you would like to picnic, there is a large grassy area with lots of picnic tables just outside the front doors. It has some shade. If you arrive early in the day, you can even park pretty close to the picnic area.
Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement have quite a few similar exhibits, but I suggest visiting both sites if you can. It is hard to imagine what the settlement looked like at the historic site. So the settlement re-creations really let the kids see what life would have been like in the colony.
Favorites
Have you visited the Historic Triangle with your kids? What was your favorite thing to do? Tell me in the comments. Our favorite site was Jamestown Settlement. The kids loved climbing aboard the ships and exploring the fort. My son loves telling everyone that he caught a skunk at Jamestown. He didn’t actually catch it, it was an inside joke with one of the volunteers.
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