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Virginia

Historic Triangle Sampler: Williamsburg, Jamestown & Yorktown

Program No. 22991RJ

Discover the best of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown as Colonial history is brought to life by reenactors and at living-history museums with lots of time to explore on our own!

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6 days

5 nights

12 meals

5B 3L 4D

Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner, Performance

Williamsburg, VA

Duke of Gloucester Street, Williamsburg Before & After, Wren

Williamsburg, VA

Historic Jamestowne, Yorktown Battlefield and Angela's story

Williamsburg, VA

Interview with a Colonial Character, Art Museums, Free Time

Williamsburg, VA

Berkeley and Shirley Plantation, Tavern

Williamsburg, VA

Performance, Program Concludes

Williamsburg, VA

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At a Glance

Here’s the ultimate experience for history buffs. Learn the best of Virginia’s colonial history with the perfect mix of field trips with local experts and time on your own to explore. On visits to Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Jamestown and Yorktown Battlefield, your expert instructors will take you on an imaginative journey to the most pivotal moments in American history. Look out over the James River from a 17th-century church in Historic Jamestown and imagine the settlers from the first permanent English colony. At Surrender Field, envision the defeated British turning over their arms to the victorious American and French forces. And see history brought to life before your eyes by costumed reenactors and musicians and at living-history museums.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Walking up to two miles on varied terrain, boarding motor coach and standing for long periods of time.

Small Group

Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

Experience an exclusive behind-the-scenes interaction with a member of the Rediscovery staff working to uncover artifacts from the Jamestown colony.
Take a field trip to Berkeley Plantation and see the oldest brick mansion in Virginia that was home to two U.S. presidents: William Henry Harrison and his grandson Benjamin Harrison.
Sample both modern and historical Williamsburg with a stop at a winery along the James River and an 18th-century style tavern dinner.

General Notes

For a more traditional experience with an added day and more time in the classroom, check out "From Colony to Revolution: Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown" (#2011).

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Dean Shostak

Dean Shostak, in 1991, became involved in the revival of the rare glass armonica, invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. Today, he is one of eight glass armonica players in the world, and the only musician since the 18th century to use a flywheel and foot treadle as Franklin originally designed. Dean began his musical career in Colonial Williamsburg at the age of 14, and after graduating from the University of Virginia, began to study 18th-century instruments such as the pocket violin and the hurdy-gurdy.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Dean Shostak View biography

Stephen Christoff View biography

Stephen Christoff has been a musical fixture at Colonial Williamsburg for more than 15 years. Since 2006, he has performed his one-man show called "Seller of Songs" at the Hennage Theater in Colonial Williamsburg to sell-out audiences and rave reviews. In 2007, Stephen was a member of a collaborative performance team that played over 100 performances of "American Musicworks," a signature show designed for the Dewitt Wallace Galleries folk art exhibition. He also performed for the Jamestown Godspeed Sail and Landing Party Festival.

Tom Marshall View biography

Tom Marshall has been an instructor in the music department at the College of William and Mary and a harpsichordist for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for more than 20 years. Not only is he featured playing original instruments in many of Williamsburg’s historical recordings but he has made seven study explorations in Europe to examine and play many surviving keyboard instruments from the 15th to the 19th centuries.

Bunny Rich View biography

Bunny Rich has worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for more than 40 years. Among her many interests, she has concentrated on Colonial family life, cooking, and clothing, often interpreting at the Powell House. Bunny also has served as a leader for VIP guests ranging from Bill Clinton to David Brinkley. A native of York County, Bunny can trace her roots on the Virginia Peninsula back to the 1630s.

Lee Ann Rose View biography

Lee Ann Rose has found a way to use her theatre degree and her love of history into a career that has spanned 20 years at Colonial Williamsburg and now has allowed her to step out creating her own company called, Shades of Our Past. At her time at Colonial Williamsburg, she has played Martha Washington and coached other character interpreters and Nation Builders. When she is not performing, she is working on a book about Martha Washington's children.

Karen Warnecke View biography

Karen Warnecke attended the University of Buffalo. After college, she made her way to San Diego, California, where she met her husband. His 30-year naval flight career led them to raise four sons all over the country. In Charlottesville, Karen continued her career with the University Of Virginia School Of Medicine as a course coordinator for first-year medical students. She retired several years ago to allow more opportunities to travel, visit family and friends, work in her garden, read, and enjoy the local area.

Christi Pancoast View biography

Christi Pancoast is originally from Ohio and has been a teacher in Richmond, Virginia for over two decades. She is a self-proclaimed travel junkie, lifelong learner, and people enthusiast. In her free time, she enjoys Zumba, yoga, and being with her friends.

Carson Hudson View biography

Carson Hudson has been passionate about history since he was a young boy growing up in Virginia, surrounded by Civil War battlefields. He is a practicing military and social historian, author, Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, and circus fire-eater. He lectures regularly at museums and colleges on a wide variety of subjects, but his particular interests are the Civil War and colonial witchcraft. He performs regularly as part of the old-time music duo Hudson & Clark and with the Cigar Box String Band.

Valarie Holmes View biography

Valarie Holmes, as part of the Colonial Williamsburg's Teachers Institute, has traveled the United States demonstrating how to accurately teach the history of enslavement. She has written and performed several productions which focus on the contributions of enslaved and free African American women in America. She also wrote and performed a production highlighting Clara Byrd Baker and the USO at Bruton Heights. Other notable accomplishments include her participation in the yearlong "1619 Commemoration" held at Historic Jamestown.

Leigh Jameson View biography

Leigh Jameson is a Virginia native and local to the D.C. area for most of her life. She has over thirty-five years' experience as an actor and storyteller, and has served as a group leader throughout the East Coast. Over the past fifteen years, Leigh has worked with some of the most prestigious museums in the country, including the Smithsonian's American History Museum, Mount Vernon, and Colonial Williamsburg, and has two published guidebooks focused on this history.

Bill Rose View biography

Bill Rose has lived in central and eastern Virginia his whole life. He proudly served in the U.S. Navy Seabees during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Bill began his career as a historical interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg in 1989; after nearly three decades, he decided to leave and go into business with his wife, Lee Ann, founding Shades of Our Past in 2016. Along with 18th-century characters, he has portrayed his primary character, Theodore Roosevelt, since then.