Williamsburg Museums

(Williamsburg, Virginia - VA, USA)

Williamsburg is home to several excellent museums that detail the local area's long and interesting past, from the time of initial settlement, throughout Williamsburg's colonial era and up to the present day.

Local Native American art and history is also dealt with extensively, while the showpiece has got to be Colonial Williamsburg, the country's largest outdoor living history exhibit, spread over several blocks and representing 19th-century America down to the smallest details.

Colonial Williamsburg

Address: Visitor Center Drive, Williamsburg, Virginia VA, 23185, USA
Tel: +1 757 229 1000
This is a sprawling outdoor museum, reminiscent of an 18th-century Disneyland, and a must-see for all visitors to Williamsburg. It is here you will get a detailed impression of America's colonial heritage and you should allow for a couple of days in order to appreciate everything that is on offer here, from period buildings and taverns to gardens, trade shops and demonstrations.
Open hours: daily - 08:30 to 19:00, seasonal variations apply
Admission: charge

Winthrop Rockefeller Archeological Museum

Address: US Route 60, Carter's Grove Plantation, Williamsburg, Virginia VA, 23185, USA
Tel: +1 757 229 1000 ext. 297
Williamsburg's Winthrop Rockefeller Archeological Museum is an underground museum, home to interactive displays and a permanent collection of early 17th-century Native American artifacts. Other highlights include relics from Wolstenholme Towne settlement, one of the first towns established in the country, which was later destroyed by Indians in 1622.
Open hours: Tuesday to Sunday - 09:00 to 16:00, Sunday - noon to 17:00, seasonal variations apply
Admission: charge

Jamestown Settlement

Address: Route 31 off Colonial Parkway, Jamestown, Virginia VA, USA
Tel: +1 757 253 4838
The Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum featuring costumed guides cooking, forging metal, and describing what life was like in James Fort. Highlights include full-scale, seaworthy reproductions of the ships used to carry the settlers and exhibits detailing the interaction between the settlers and local Powhatan Indians.
Open hours: daily - 09:00 to 18:00, seasonal variations apply
Admission: charge

Waterman's Museum

Address: 309 Water Street, Yorktown, Virginia VA, 23690, USA
Tel: +1 757 887 2641
This is a small museum that packs a lot in. Housed in a spectacular Colonial Revival home, the museum documents the life of Chesapeake fishermen and their unique wooden boats as well as other tools used by them. It is worth visiting just to check out the stunning building alone. Various seasonal events and activities are staged here, often in and around the Carriage House, including the York River Floating Folk Jam, summer camps and boat building programs.
Open hours: April to November, Tuesday to Saturday - 10:00 to 16:00, Sunday - 13:00 to 16:00; December to March, Saturday - 10:00 to 16:00, Sunday - 13:00 to 16:00
Admission: charge, discounts available for children