10 days with Williamsburg and Virginia beach
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Anonymous
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We have 10 days off this summer (mid-August). We plan to drive down from dc and hit Williamsburg and Virgina beach with ES age kids. We are a family of 4.
Can someone help me to look at our itineracy? - Great wolf lodge at Williamsburg (1 or 2 days?) - Busch gardens (1 or 2 days?) Should we do water county as well? My youngest is scared of scary rides of any kinds. - Virginia beach (maybe 4 days?) Hotels need to be on the boardwalk or waterfront, any recommendations? What can kids do except staying on the beach to play with sand and wave? Should we get bodyboard to surf or just do rental? - should we visit yorktown, norfolk or richmond, anything exciting about these? - Any other kid or family activities to do? We won't do ziplining or hiking because my youngest is 6. We don't mind children museum, zoo, aquarium, or some water activities. If 10 days are too long, we can cut some. How many bathing suits and towels should we grab? Any good food must eat or must visit? |
Anonymous
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GWL - one day. As adults you will not be able to take more.
Busch gardens - one full day should be enough. Or two partial ones if you don’t plan to stay all day. Cheese shop and Sal’s by Victor are the must go to food places in Williamsburg. Both are casual but really good. Both very busy so target 11:30 and 5 respectively for eating. Part of a day at colonial Williamsburg could be good. They have some interactive stuff for kids. Jamestown Settlement is a neat living history / recreation spot https://www.jyfmuseums.org/visit/jamestown-settlement. It is way better for young kids than the National Park Service actual Jamestown location that is nearby. |
Anonymous
| Will you be able to get a boardwalk hotel this late? |
Anonymous
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Virginia Living Museum in Newport News is fun for kids.
Victory rover cruise in Norfolk Waterside to get a narrated tour of the naval base/ships is great. It’s right by Nauticus which is a cool museum for kids. There’s also a free museum about general MacArthur within walking distance if you’re interested in history. Yorktown battlefield is interesting and it’s right next to a cute beach with shops and restaurants. Blue bird gap farm in Hampton is free and has animals and a nice playground. |
Anonymous
| Way too long for those places |
Anonymous
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My kids loved the Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Museum. Williamsburg is also fun, but can be very uncomfortably hot in summer and is a lot of wandering around outside.
We go to Sandbridge (just down the coast from VA Beach city) and playing in the sand/ocean/pool keeps us busy for a full week. We do lots of walks, reading, etc. don’t worry too much about scheduling a bunch of stuff. We go to the Virginia Aquarium for a day some years and it’s fun. You can often get cheap boogie boards at 5 below. If you buy them at the beach they’ll be $30 minimum. They won’t be great quality, but you’re only there a few days so it will be fine. |
Anonymous
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Oh, and only do 1 night at Great Wolf Lodge. That gets you into the waterpark all day on both check in and check out days. That will be plenty!
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Anonymous
I'd target right before 11:00 for the Cheese Shop, at least to order. There are lines outside the door before it opens at 11:00. You can always get ice cream (Baskin-Robbins or Kilwins), something from Wythe Candy, or something from Raleigh Tavern Bakery for an afternoon snack if that's too long before meals. |
Anonymous
| Virginia Marine Science Museum in VB is good. There is a historical airfield with many WW2-era planes in the Pungo area of VB. |
Anonymous
I thought I was the only one who knew about Bluebird Gap Farm. 🙂 They also have trails. The Mariner's Museum is close to The Virginia Living Museum, and it's only $1 so however long you stay is great. Here's some of what they have for kids: https://www.marinersmuseum.org/for-kids/ It has a nice trail that goes to the Lions Bridge in the James River. Or you can drive over to the bridge. My kids like bird watching/chasing there. There's often a heron. Kidsburg is a good playground in Williamsburg. You could also stop in Richmond on the way down for the children's museum, science museum, Maymont which had a nature center (mansion currently closed and I'm not sure when it's reopening). There's also and air and space museum in Hampton and a small children's museum in Portsmouth - good for the six year old, might depend on how old there other(s) are. I'm of the mind you can easily have ten days of activities on this trip if you want to. The good thing to me about this with kids is with some of this stuff being cheap or free, you can be flexible and follow their moods. |
Anonymous
| Although I did say you can easily find 10 days of stuff to do, I should point out that whether 10 days is too much for this kind of trip may depend on your family. Our max has been 9 nights on this kind of trip and while I'd be happy going for longer, my spouse is done by then and one of the kids is too. We have had success changing hotels 3 times on similar trips, FWIW, but I think that would be very stressful for some families. YMMV |
Anonymous
| The Virginia Aquarium just south of VB is worth a visit 1 day! |
Anonymous
| I recommended Children's Museum of Richmond. If you do want to stop there on the way have a separate bag of bathing suits and towels and sunscreen ready for that. There's a small water area outside and you don't want to have to dig through your luggage. |
Anonymous
| Jamestown is more fun than Williamsburg |
Anonymous
| Definitely check out Airbnb's for Virginia Beach as hotels are pricey and the affordable ones are run down. Other things to do in Virgina beach first national state park, zip lines, water park, go carts, aquarium. For Busch gardens hotels are the only option but check out Williamsburg. |