Virginia can pack a tour itinerary to overflowing. The state has history, art, mountains, beaches, country cooking, natural spas, spaceships and even some Shakespeare. Here are ideas stretching from the outskirts of Washington, D.C., to Virginia Beach and into the Shenandoah Valley.

Popular Demand

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

There’s no reason to fight the Washington, D.C., traffic to see some of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s stellar artifacts. That’s because the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, near Dulles International Airport, has everything from an Air France Concorde and a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane to biplanes, sailplanes and ultralights. The center’s enormous Boeing Aviation Hangar is the length of three football fields and 10 stories tall. Most docents are pilots, flight instructors and engineers, and none of them works from a script while leading tours.

American Shakespeare Center

Staunton is perhaps an unlikely home for the American Shakespeare Center and the Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s only re-creation of the London playhouse where Shakespeare’s company began performing in 1608. Groups can expect interaction between players and audiences, especially audience members whose seats are directly on stage. It is possible for guests to see more than one show even during a short visit because plays are presented in repertory. The playhouse’s version of “A Christmas Carol” is a Virginia tradition.

Virginia Beach Boardwalk

While the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center and the Military Aviation Museum are major Virginia Beach group destinations, the simple appeal of sand and surf is often more than enough for visitors. Groups can enjoy sea breezes, surfers and sunshine on the city’s 3-mile-long boardwalk that stretches from Second to 40th streets. A favorite spot for group photos is with King Neptune, a 26-foot-tall bronze statue of the god of the sea at 31st Street. Neptune points the way to four boardwalk stages that offer free nightly entertainment in summer months.

Up and Coming

Chrysler Museum of Art

Norfolk’s Chrysler Museum of Art opened in 1933, and it has never been static. A recent major change came in 2024 when the museum tripled the Perry Glass Studio from 9,200 square feet to 33,200. The studio enhances the museum’s international reputation in the world of glass arts and includes a 200-seat amphitheater “hot shop” that delivers up-close-and-personal glassblowing demonstrations. Hands-on experiences are also available. Beyond the glass studio, the Chrysler has 50 galleries and more than 35,000 paintings, sculptures and other pieces of art. Elsewhere, Norfolk has more free art glass to see than any other city, according to Visit Norfolk.

Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg is not frozen in time. In fact, archaeologists find new stories to tell every day as they pull long-buried artifacts out of the ground. While seeing an archaeological dig in process is common, what happens afterward in laboratories and in scientists’ workplaces has been behind the scenes — that is until 2025, when the Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center opened. Visitors now get to see the process continue. Colonial Williamsburg, which turned 100 in 2026, is the world’s largest U.S. history museum and encompasses 301 acres of the original colonial city, 89 original buildings, 515 reconstructed buildings, plus lodging, restaurants, abundant programs and now an open archaeology lab.

Kalahari Spotsylvania

The Kalahari name is synonymous with the company’s Midwest water parks, but Kalahari Resorts & Conventions evolved into developing properties that combine watery fun with modern lodging. Its newest is Kalahari Spotsylvania, about 70 miles south of Washington, D.C., on Interstate-95. In addition to 175,000 square feet of raft rides, water slides and splash pads, the resort has 900 hotel suites, group and meeting facilities, restaurants, and shopping. The $900 million project officially opens Nov. 12, 2026.

Overnight Sensations

The Omni Homestead Resort & Spa

The Omni Homestead Resort & Spa in Hot Springs is one of America’s most storied resorts. It is a decade older than America itself; the first iteration of the resort, an 18-room log hotel, was built in 1766, and travelers began stopping there to “take the waters” in the springs that give the town its name. Now, something old is new again because the Homestead has completed a $4 million rehabilitation of the historic Warm Springs Pools, where taking a dip is a memorable experience on a Virginia itinerary. That project was part of a $170 million renovation that touched many aspects of the historic resort.

Bolling Wilson Hotel

The 30-room Bolling Wilson Hotel in Wytheville honors the Southwest Virginia town’s most famous citizen, Edith Bolling Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson. The building dates to 1927. It opened as a hotel and later housed a succession of banks. A local couple returned it to its hospitality roots and chose to recognize the first lady. She was born in an apartment across from the hotel in a commercial building that now houses a museum about her life.

Colony House Motor Lodge

The thoroughly updated Colony House Motor Lodge in Roanoke is a mid-century modern roadside motel that recalls America’s golden age of automobile travel. It was built in 1959, and its style is so distinctive and culturally significant that it is on the National Register of Historic Places. It operated in its first incarnation until 2018, and the Farrell family of Roanoke undertook an extensive historic renovation in 2022. Today’s Colony House retains the vibes of a bygone era, but with today’s hospitality amenities.

Memorable Meals

Michie Tavern

When Thomas Jefferson lived at Monticello, Michie Tavern was 17 miles away on Black Mountain. Jefferson’s home and the tavern became close neighbors in 1927 when the tavern was dismantled, moved on wagons and trucks, and rebuilt nearby. It became a private home, then a museum and ultimately a restaurant open every day for a bountiful Southern buffet. Groups can enjoy fried chicken, baked chicken, pulled pork barbecue, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, mashed potatoes, pickled beets, coleslaw, green beans, vegetable soup and more, plus buttermilk biscuits and cornbread.

Southern Kitchen

Watching the verdant farmland of the Shenandoah Valley pass by whets everyone’s appetite. Southern Kitchen restaurant in the town of New Market has been satisfying those hunger pangs since 1955. The classic diner is family owned and is open seven days a week for hungry travelers. Its regional fare includes fried chicken and barbecue ribs, available Friday through Sunday. For something special, guests can order a cup of peanut soup and end their meal with a slice of chocolate meringue pie.

virginia.org