Williamsburg is the middle point of the Historic Triangle. Jamestown, where the English colony began in 1607, sits to the southwest on the James River; Yorktown, where the Revolutionary War's last major battle ended in 1781, sits to the northeast on the York. Jamestown is about 15 minutes from our door by car and Yorktown about 25, in opposite directions, which is why most guests give them one shared day: Jamestown in the morning, Yorktown after lunch, back on Duke of Gloucester Street for dinner.
The complication is that each town has two separate attractions run by two separate organizations, with two separate ticket systems. Sorting that out is most of the planning. Here is the short version.
The four sites
Historic Jamestowne is the original 1607 settlement site on Jamestown Island. The National Park Service runs the island, the visitor center, the 1608 Glasshouse and the New Towne area; Preservation Virginia's Jamestown Rediscovery runs the fort site itself, the Memorial Church and the Archaearium, the archaeology museum built over the excavations. Archaeologists are usually at work on weekdays and will talk to you. This is the real place, not a reconstruction, and it rewards a slow walk.
Jamestown Settlement is a state museum about a mile from the island, with gallery exhibits, a film, a re-created Powhatan village, a re-created fort and replicas of the three 1607 ships moored on the water. Costumed interpreters work every outdoor area. It is the more structured of the two and the better choice if you have two hours rather than four.
Yorktown Battlefield is the National Park Service site: the visitor center at 1000 Colonial Parkway, the siege lines, and two driving tour loops through the redoubts and encampments. Surrender Field is on the second loop. The town of Yorktown itself, with Main Street, the Victory Monument, Riverwalk Landing and a small public beach on the York River, is walkable from the visitor center.
American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, at 200 Water Street, is the state museum: galleries covering the whole war, a Siege of Yorktown film on a wraparound screen, a re-created Continental Army encampment with daily musket and artillery demonstrations, and a Revolution-era farm.
If you have to choose one per town, the usual advice is Historic Jamestowne for the place and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown for the story, with the battlefield drive added if time allows.
How the tickets work
Two organizations, two systems.
The two state museums (Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown) are run by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Both are open 9 AM to 5 PM daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, and ticket sales stop at 4:30 PM. A combination ticket covers both museums for seven consecutive days and costs less than two separate admissions. Tickets are non-refundable, and a card service fee applies online; cash at the door avoids it.
The two National Park Service sites (Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield) are both units of Colonial National Historical Park. One $15 entrance pass per adult, valid seven days, covers both, and anyone 15 and under is free. An America the Beautiful pass, including the senior and military versions, covers the park fee too. At Historic Jamestowne, the Preservation Virginia portion (the fort, the church and the Archaearium) is an additional $15 per adult and $5 for ages 6 to 15, bought at the visitor center after you pay the park fee. Both are open 9 AM to 5 PM; the Jamestowne entrance gate closes at 4:30 PM.
If you want all four, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation sells a multi-day Four-Site Ticket that covers both museums and both park sites. There is also an America's Historic Triangle ticket that adds Colonial Williamsburg, sold by both the Foundation and Colonial Williamsburg. Either way, your first stop must be the organization that sold it (Jamestown Settlement or the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown for the Foundation, a Colonial Williamsburg ticket office for theirs), where the online purchase is exchanged for printed tickets; the park sites do not accept a phone confirmation at the gate. Whether either saves money over buying separately depends on how many of the six sites you will actually visit, so run the numbers against your plan before you buy.
The Colonial Parkway, and the detour
The 23-mile Colonial Parkway is the road built to link the three towns: exposed-aggregate concrete, brick bridges, no commercial development, river views on both ends. It opened its full length in 1957 and is worth driving for its own sake.
The stretch between Williamsburg and Yorktown is in the last phase of a rehabilitation project that began in 2023. Sections reopened over the summer and close again from about September 9, 2026, with full reopening expected in fall 2026. While that stretch is closed, the practical route from Williamsburg to Yorktown is Route 199 to I-64 East, exit 250B onto Fort Eustis Boulevard, then Route 17 North, about 25 minutes. The Parkway's Jamestown stretch, from the Route 199 interchange to the island, is outside the project and open; the short link between downtown Williamsburg and that interchange is still closed, so from the house take Jamestown Road (Route 31) straight to Jamestown Settlement. The National Park Service posts the current detour map on its Colonial Parkway Rehabilitation Project page; check it the week you travel.
A day that works
Leave the house by 9 AM and head for Jamestown. Do Historic Jamestowne first if you want the archaeology and the original site, or Jamestown Settlement if you want the ships and the interpreters; either fills the morning, and doing both is a full day on its own. Jamestown Settlement has a café for lunch; Historic Jamestowne's café is closed for renovation, so eat before you cross to the island or back in Williamsburg on the way through.
Head to Yorktown after lunch. The museum and the battlefield visitor center are at opposite ends of town, about a 30-minute walk apart, and Yorktown's free trolley links them with stops at the waterfront, Main Street and the beach. It runs daily from spring through late November (11 AM to 5 PM in the shoulder seasons, 10 AM to 5:30 PM in summer) and on Friday through Sunday in the run-up to Christmas. Park once, ride the loop, and give the battlefield tour roads the last hour of light.
Back in Williamsburg, dinner is a short walk from the house. See the restaurant guide for the current list.
Without a car
Jamestown Settlement is reachable on the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority's Jamestown route from the Transportation Center, about a 4-minute walk from Armistead House; Historic Jamestowne's visitor center is about a 30-minute walk further on, and the fort site about 10 minutes beyond it. Yorktown has no direct bus from downtown Williamsburg, so rideshare or a taxi is the realistic option for that half of the day. If you arrived by train, our car-free guide covers the rest of a Williamsburg stay on foot.
Staying at Armistead House
Armistead House is a contactless Victorian inn two blocks from Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area, with one free parking space per room behind the house, so the car sits behind the house until the morning you need it. Your access code arrives around noon on the day you check in; staff are on site from noon to 5 PM daily. Rooms can be reserved directly at armisteadhouse.com. Booking direct gives you the best rate, no third-party fees, and instant confirmation.