10 Most Popular Attractions in Greater Williamsburg

From theme parks to living-history museums to outdoor adventure facilities, Greater Williamsburg is bursting with fun and unique things to do. To help you plan for your visit — and not miss any of the greatest hits — here are the 10 most visited attractions.

1) Busch Gardens Williamsburg- Sprawling across 383 acres, Busch Gardens is home to European-themed hamlets that feature food, rides and ever-changing roller coasters, lots of them. The InvadR, the parks first wooden coaster features a 74-foot plunge and speeds up to 50mph. Need something tranquil? Stop and smell the flowers. The park has repeatedly been named the country’s most beautiful.

2) Water Country USA- When you get to the top of Colossal Curl at Water Country USA, the mid-Atlantic’s largest water theme park, it is a daunting 552 feet down the slide. While the 43-acre park offers plenty of adrenaline rushes like that one, it’s also a place to chill on the Hubba Hubba Highway, a river float, or the KIDsiderate water playgrounds.

3) Colonial Williamsburg- Walk down Due of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg and it seems as if you’re on the giant lot of a movie set 250 years ago. Then go one stop deeper and live that life in the world’s largest living-history museum. Explore the food, crafts and stories of a revolutionary time with the characters- tinker, tailor, solider, wig maker- who lived them.

4) Jamestown Settlement- Get hands deep into history by grinding corn, digging out a canoe or trying on armour in the recreation of 17th Century life from the Powhatan Indian village to the James Fort to the ships that transported colonists to Virginia in 1607. Board the Susan Constant where you can steer with the tiller, tie sailors’ knots and climb into a sailors bunk.

5) Historic Jamestown- Watch archaeologists literally dig into the past in the field where for 20 years they have been excavating the site of the ill-fated first museum that houses some of the two million artefacts uncovered since the Jamestown Rediscovery Project began in 1994.

6) Yorktown Battlefield- You learned about Yorktown, where the British surrendered, leading to American independence. Now, experience not only the place, but also the history. Watch the twice- monthly artillery firings from April to November. Take a tour guided by a ranger or hop into your car for a self-guided exploration and visit the field where Lord Cornwallis surrendered in 1781.

7) American Revolution Museum at Yorktown- Hunker down in a Continental Army encampment at this new museum in Yorktown where you experience history as well as learn from it. In addition to the artillery demonstrations, military drills and the Revolution-era farm, there are new indoor exhibits including “The Siege of Yorktown” with a 180-degree surround screen.

8) Williamsburg Premium Outlets- Stretch your dollar and your legs by browsing the Williamsburg Premium Outlets. This discount mall opens at 10am daily so you can spend a few hours there or all day, bargain hunting through Burberry, Calvin Klein, Nike, the Coach Outlet, Ralph Lauren, L’Occitane, Waterford and others.

9) Go-Karts Plus- Race around eight acres of fast and furious in Williamsburg from beginner tracks to the expert Super Stockart Track, where you zoom around a high-banked oval, NASCAR style. There is also mini-gold, the watery blaster boats, bumper card, an arcade and more.

10) Freedom Park- Freedom, indeed. This is a place with so many choices. Ride 20 miles of mountain bike trails through historical sites and rainforests, hike along a paved path, smell the wildflowers- literally- and shoot some photographs in the butterfly haven of the Williamsburg Botanical Garden, and let out your inner Tarzan or Jane at the Go Ape Treetop Adventure course by racing down zip lines and rope swings.

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