Williamsburg, Va any suggestions??

[ursula28]

Thinking of doing a short trip to Williamsburg, VA, probably around 3 to 4 nights and then 2 nights at Virginia Beach. It has been about 20 years since I've been to VA. Anyone that lives nearby or that's traveled there have any suggestions or tips to make my trip enjoyable and budget friendly?

 

[jenk99]

We just went to Williamsburg in June. My only suggestion to make it more budget friendly is to stop off at a McDonald's in town. They had $12 off coupons for Busch Gardens/Water Country.

The other thing we did was a tour of Colonial Crossings timeshare and we got 2 free tickets to Busch Gardens. But I must warn you that they are VERY pushy. I mean total high pressure, scary pushy!! So if you decided to do it, make sure that you are ready to stand your ground if you don't want to buy. Also, stop off at the "gift" desk before your tour and make sure that they have the tickets. Because we did the whole tour and the high pressure sales presentation and they tried to tell us that they ran out of BG tickets. Smoke was coming out of my ears!! Let me tell you. They finally just gave us cash to get us to leave. It was a pretty terrible 2 hours, but BG is pretty expensive so you may want to consider it.

Good luck!!

 

[roselindsey]

We live in Md. if you go there's Busch Gardens and Watercountry USA (owned by Busch). We really liked it there. At the waterpark you can rent a cabana for the day. We did, it was great, you get a free locker,drinks and towels that are towels that are yours to keep

 

[Promomx2]

Watch the restaurants,they're really expensive, especially Capt. George, (over $100 for just me and dh). And VA. Beach is just as high. We're only 2 hours away but haven't been in years, because the room rates are too high. it's cheaper to go to WDW. (go figure). Hit the computer for a deal and Good luck.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We went last summer for a week (traded our timeshare so it's always for 7 nts.) I really wouldn't stay that long if I were paying for nightly hotel stays. We did not do the colonial stuff since ds11's 5th grade class trip is to Colonial Williamsburg/Jamestown, etc. and I didn't want to spoil that for him.

We had plenty of time to do parks and relax at the resort. We took only a day trip to VA beach since dh is not really a beach person. We all loved it and even dh wished we had spent more time there. (My neighbor stays at the Courtyard by Marriott right on the boardwalk every year and loves it.)

I don't know if it's still being offered but we bought our BG ticket thru AAA. It was $70 pp for 7 consecutive days of BG and WC. Works out to only $10 per day pp. We really got our $$$ worth there.
We all especially loved Hubba Hubba Highway at WC.

 

[Janet Hill]

Check for timeshare rentals. Williamsburg has lots of nice resorts and you could rent a timeshare much cheaper than you can get a hotel room. There's lots to do just depends on what you enjoy and if you will have kids with you. There are also lots of good budget friendly restaurants in the area (both chains and local establishments).

What specifically are you looking to do?

 

[winnapooh]

Watch the restaurants,they're really expensive, especially Capt. George, (over $100 for just me and dh). And VA. Beach is just as high. We're only 2 hours away but haven't been in years, because the room rates are too high. it's cheaper to go to WDW. (go figure). Hit the computer for a deal and Good luck.

I haven't been to Captain Georges in a while, but if you look up on their website, the seafood buffet is only $29.00 a person...which is a REALLY good deal once you see the buffet!

 

[eclairemom]

DH and I love Capt. Georges too we have even (before DD) planned a trip to Williamsburg to go there to eat and we are about 2 hours away. Jamestown is great, we just went to Yorktown last weekend and it was nice too but if you have to choose do Jamestown. Yorktown was a nice little town there seem to be public beaches along the river. I highly recomend the aquarium in Virginia beach and we have been to the Zoo in Norfolk which I enjoyed but there was hardly any shade.

 

[skjuls]

We live in Md. if you go there's Busch Gardens and Watercountry USA (owned by Busch). We really liked it there. At the waterpark you can rent a cabana for the day. We did, it was great, you get a free locker,drinks and towels that are towels that are yours to keep

Aren't the cabanas around $150 a day? Hardly budget friendly.

My family may be the only family that doesn't like Captain George's. We will never go back. Most of the food was fried, my sister got sick from the food. Not a good experience for us.

I have stayed at two timeshares in Williamsburg. Patriot's Place and Kingsgate. I own Wyndham points and I love these resorts. For an owner's update I got two passes to Colonial Williamsburg which we upgraded to annuals.

There are a ton of coupon books for Williamsburg that will give you 10% off this or that (I forgot to use my coupon at breakfast, DUH!)

I agree with another poster,that Hubba Hubba Highway is the best. It is so much fun!!

 

[tar heel]

skjuls -- You're not the only one who's not a fan of Captain George's. We thought it was a LOT of food, but mostly mediocre -- sort of like a seafood Golden Corral.

We found the best prices on multi-day Busch/Water Country tickets to be in advance from out local AAA office.

 

[Mickeyorbust]

You've gotten some good advice on Williamsburg. I just wanted to add, you can walk around Colonial Williamsburg without having to pay anything, you just can't tour the Governors House, etc. They have great, really convincing street performers. They really get into character.

City I live in borders VB...the local news stations had a segment this past weekend about VB hotels offering gas cards as well as room discounts to draw in tourist. Something to look into.

 

[happylittlebirdie]

Thinking of doing a short trip to Williamsburg, VA, probably around 3 to 4 nights and then 2 nights at Virginia Beach. It has been about 20 years since I've been to VA. Anyone that lives nearby or that's traveled there have any suggestions or tips to make my trip enjoyable and budget friendly?

That sounds like such a fun trip! I was in Williamsburg a few weeks ago because I have been working with Busch Gardens - it is beautiful there! If you have any questions about the park, I would be happy to help you out! Here is a friendly budget idea: you can save up to 20% on Busch Gardens, Water Country USA and Colonial Williamsburg here - http://www.vavacationvalues.com/vavacationvalues/index.html. Do you plan on doing all of that while you are in Williamsburg? I recommend it!

 

[klacey1]

We (a friend and I) just got back from a VERY budget-friendly trip to Williamsburg.
We drove down from NY (10 1/2 hrs on the way down and 11 on the way back!) on a Friday and ate at the Whaling Company, about 5 mins away from Busch Gardens. What an amazing meal! Fabulous crab cakes and white fish. The portions are huge, prices are fair, and the service is quick and very friendly.
We roomed at the Quality Inn, which we had our reservations about, but we found it to be clean and perfectly fine for two nights. We had free wi-fi for only $58 a night. The room was a bit cramped, so people who appreciate their space may not love it, but like I said, for two nights, it was fine.
We went to Busch Gardens all day Saturday (skipped the water park) and had a fabulous time! We put our bags in a locker and rode the rides for a couple of hours in the morning, braked for lunch, retrieved our bags and walked around exploring, looking in the stores, and taking pictures for the afternoon. That night we went to Colonial Williamsburg and took a ghost tour. The tour lasted about an hour and was fun but not overly scary. Seeing the buildings was a lot of fun at night!
The next morning we woke up early and just walked around Colonial Williamsburg (for free!). We may have snuck into areas we weren't supposed to but I had to take pictures of lambs! Considering we paid zero, we got to see much of the plantation and I'm not sure if shelling out tons of cash for special tours is worth it. I was curious about the inside of the buildings, though... We slipped into stores and bought fun souvineers for friends. Around 12, we left for the long drive home
Overall, we spent:
Gas: $160 (We filled up about 2 1/2 times)
Hotel: $130 ($58 a night plus tax)
Road trip food: $40 (way down and back)
Whaling Company dinner: $50 (total for two people!)
Busch Gardens tickets: $120 (for two)
Ghost Tour: $24 (for two)
Late night snack at Hooters: $20 (so much fun, even for two girls!)
Souveneers: $60
Split between two, not bad at all. A trip to Williamsburg on the cheap is definitely possible. As you can see, gas was our most costly expense.

 

[DisneyBrat]

I live 45 min away from Busch Gardens and its a cool park just lots of hills. I personally dont care for terrain but did love the shows and rides.

Va beware of any hotel around the 17th Street and below. Do NOT and I repeat DO not stay at the Dolphin Inn. looks good but its Nasty. The hotels to stay are Marriott on 25th, Holiday Inn SunSpree make sure its SunSpree because they have others. Watermans Seafood is really a good place to eat beware of the others because they aren't so great. Good Luck and have fun

 

[Promomx2]

In williamsburg, dh and I stayed at a Quality Inn that was an older hotel but it did have a inroom jacuzzi. It was alittle out of the way, but we had no problem getting to everything in Williamsburg and I believe we only paid $85, but it was in march.

 

[ursula28]

Just got home from work and have read thru all your replies. Thanks for all the suggestions. We want to do Busch Gardens and the waterpark. I think we might be satisfied walking thru Colonial Williamsburg and not spend alot of extra $ on tours. But that might change when we get there. We love the beach, but usually get bored after a couple days. That's why I've only planned on 2 nights there. Which might turn into one if I can't find a cheaper place to stay. Thanks again for all your thoughts.

 

[happylittlebirdie]

You can save on just doing Busch Gardens and Water Country USA when you book online here is that link: http://www.vavacationvalues.com/vavacationvalues/offer2.html

 

[matthew&haleysmom]

Right now, Busch Gardens is advertising that adults pay kids prices on tickets. You may want to look into that. Have fun!

 

[sndfan]

This is slightly off topic, but the discussion was about eating at buffets and one person getting sick. This may sound like I'm a total germ-a-phobe, but, well, I am.

I enjoy buffets, but I typically take a paper towel or napkin up to the buffet with me and wrap it around the "tongs"...that way I'm not using the same tongs that hundreds of people have used and then picking up, say, an ear of corn or crab legs and eating them.

Just a friendly tip!

 

[karen l]

We're going back to Colonial Williamsburg in a couple of weeks. There was an internet special on their website - 5days 4 nights approx $660w/tax. This included CW tix & $200 food voucher for their onsite restaurants. We got discounted Busch Gardens tix & a great deal on our flights.