Suggestions for Williamsburg, VA

[Big Matt]

Thanks for the suggestions. We do like Chinese. Enjoy your stay in Williamsburg this week.

Peter Chang's is good also

 

[escanoe]

I'm here right now. My favorite place to eat (if you like Chinese) is Pekings on Bypass Rd. I've been going there some 30 odd years now on my visits to Williamsburg.

Yes, but where is the best seafood and @Fried_shrimp

 

[Fried_shrimp]

Yes, but where is the best seafood and @Fried_shrimp

I like Capt George's myself because it's right down the road and I can eat as much fried shrimp as I want but the best can probably be found at the restaurants along the shore that get their seafood directly from the fishing boats.

 

[missyrcrews]

I have three years to convince Laney that THIS is where she wants her big graduation present trip to be....(Audrey and Edward chose the Myrtle Beach area for next summer....) So much history in W-burg!

 

[Louavulpugs]

We are headed to Williamsburg June 12-19th. We are looking for suggestions for places to eat, prefer moderately priced. Wondering where the locals go?

We plan to visit Colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown settlement. Any advice? Other places to visit?

At Jamestown get on one of the free quided tours. You get so much more information. You will be tempted to stop at the replica of Jamestown by all of the signs on the way to the historic Jamestown. Both are worth seeing, but if I only had time for one I would choose the history of actually standing in the spot Pocahontas stood as she repea her marriage vows.

in Colonial Williamsburg plan on more than a day if you are a history buff. My wife and I had different interests so we split up and then at noon joined up to eat sandwiches we had taken under a shady tree. The restaurants in Colonial Williamsburg are nice and authentic but we’re too pricey for our budget so we only ate one evening meal there. Reservations required. You can look their menu on the internet.

 

[ndang3]

Don’t go to Peking. Definitely do Peter Changs. Little Charlie’s Pizzeria is also very good for take out (they do have a small eat-in area). The owner used to own Doraldos which was around for 20+ years before the owner of Kingsmill Village Shops wanted to shut the whole center down which forced Doraldos to close. There is a Greek restaurant on Richmond Road that is very good, Kephi. If you like wine try Williamsburg Winery. They also have a tasting room on DoG (Duke of Gloucester) St. The Cheese Shop on the same street has a wine cellar downstairs. At 5 pm the wine cellar opens their “Downstairs at Fat Canary” which is a first come first serve small bites cafe. Same chef as Fat Canary. For a true colonial experience try one of the taverns like Christiana Campbells. Another gem that’s a few minutes away from downtown in Newtown is Turkish restaurant Anatolia’s.

 

[Arusso]

We are headed to Williamsburg June 12-19th. We are looking for suggestions for places to eat, prefer moderately priced. Wondering where the locals go?

We plan to visit Colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown settlement. Any advice? Other places to visit?

If going to Williamsburg for the first time, it would be remiss if you did not go to the King's Arms located right in Colonial Williamsburg to savor period correct cuisine. It's also difficult to find a bad place to eat - simply because there are so many choices. However, keep in mind that many of these eateries are little more than jazzed up diners serving fairly typical menus. Competition keeps prices reasonable and the food good. There are also a slew of ethnic restaurants as well. For example, there are three very good Japanese eateries. For a very good Italian restaurant, I recommend Giuseppe's. For a great steakhouse, Opus 9 is one of the best. There are, of course numerous franchise brands that are found in many communities around the country. Within the last decade or so, local breweries have popped up as well. Some serve food. With the ever changing COVID-19 restrictions, I would check each establishment for their schedules. Some are closed during the week or even on Sunday ! Buon appetito!

 

[Bearster]

If you plan to stay at your resort/timeshare for some meals, there is a wide variety of excellent prepared food to go, including Southern and mid-Atlantic favorites, at Fresh Market on Monticello Avenue. Prices are a bit high for groceries but much lower than restaurant take-out or tabs at moderately-priced restaurants. The store sells beer and wine and is a local favorite shopping place -- popular also with frequent visitors to Williamsburg, especially during the holidays. Have a great time.

 

[Big Matt]

If you are interested in trying some very interesting local establishments you should consider Casa Pearl (Tacos and Oysters) or Charlie's Airport Restaurant. Also, the original owner of Five Forks Restaurant just bought it back from the owners who took over for him when he opened his two Honey Butter's Kitchen locations.

 

[pedro47]

Francisco Italian Restaurant near the Williamsburg Pottery on Route 60 has a very good lunch & dinner menu's and with some reasonable prices. Plus, they have some good reviews on the internet.

 

[chapjim]

I have three years to convince Laney that THIS is where she wants her big graduation present trip to be....(Audrey and Edward chose the Myrtle Beach area for next summer....) So much history in W-burg!

If she is college-bound, she could do a lot worse than The College of William and Mary.

 

[missyrcrews]

If she is college-bound, she could do a lot worse than The College of William and Mary.

She'll likely go somewhere closer to home. Right now she's in love with Colby-Sawyer in New London, NH. But we are on more of a state school budget, so we shall see. Her end goal is to be a librarian. However, she's 15...so that will likely change 4000 times before she really gets there. THIS summer, we're using our timeshares to take "the college tours" for Audrey and Edward. Audrey had to make me a spreadsheet so I could keep track of my itinerary!

 

[dandjane1]

We are headed to Williamsburg June 12-19th. We are looking for suggestions for places to eat, prefer moderately priced. Wondering where the locals go?

We plan to visit Colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown settlement. Any advice? Other places to visit?

Just spent a few days at the DRI "Historic Powhatan Resort" in Williamsburg, and highly recommend it.
While hours of amenity operations are still curtailed due to the WuFlu, staff, units, and grounds are very
nice, and it's close to Jamestown, W'burg, Newport News Mariners Museum, and all local attractions.
You can probably rent, exchange, or use DRI points for a stay. I'd call first to check hours of pools, on-site
restaurants, activities, etc.

 

[wackymother]

Just spent a few days at the DRI "Historic Powhatan Resort" in Williamsburg, and highly recommend it.
While hours of amenity operations are still curtailed due to the WuFlu, staff, units, and grounds are very
nice, and it's close to Jamestown, W'burg, Newport News Mariners Museum, and all local attractions.
You can probably rent, exchange, or use DRI points for a stay. I'd call first to check hours of pools, on-site
restaurants, activities, etc.

We like Powhatan too. There are lots of nice timeshares in Williamsburg.

 

[Goldi]

We have returned from our trip to Williamsburg. We throughly enjoyed our visit. We bought season passes to Colonial Williamsburg and spent for four days there. We especially enjoyed the Nation Builder speakers. There is so much to see there. We will be going back in September. Hopefully we will get to see the fifes and drums performances. They were not performing while we were there.
We went over to Yorktown one afternoon. The boardwalk and beach area is very nice. While we were there, we saw a submarine being towed to open waters by three tug boats! Such good timing.
We went over to Fort Monroe. The Casement Museum inside the fortress had just opened up. Tickets were required. No charge...they are just limiting the amount of visitors. Tickets can be gotten by calling the visitor center.
Another afternoon we took a 2.5 hour harbor cruise on the Chesapeake Bay. The cruise took us past Fort Monroe, the lighthouse at Fort Monroe, Fort Wool, and then over to the Norfolk Naval Base harbor. The cruise was narrated by a professional tour guide. He was very informative. I would highly recommend this cruise. Miss Hampton II Harbor Cruises in Hampton, VA. Phone number is 757-722-9102 or you can visit the website: misshamptoncruises.com
Thank you Tuggers for all the recommendations.

 

[Brett]

We have returned from our trip to Williamsburg. We throughly enjoyed our visit. We bought season passes to Colonial Williamsburg and spent for four days there. We especially enjoyed the Nation Builder speakers. There is so much to see there. We will be going back in September. Hopefully we will get to see the fifes and drums performances. They were not performing while we were there.
We went over to Yorktown one afternoon. The boardwalk and beach area is very nice. While we were there, we saw a submarine being towed to open waters by three tug boats! Such good timing.
We went over to Fort Monroe. The Casement Museum inside the fortress had just opened up. Tickets were required. No charge...they are just limiting the amount of visitors. Tickets can be gotten by calling the visitor center.
Another afternoon we took a 2.5 hour harbor cruise on the Chesapeake Bay. The cruise took us past Fort Monroe, the lighthouse at Fort Monroe, Fort Wool, and then over to the Norfolk Naval Base harbor. The cruise was narrated by a professional tour guide. He was very informative. I would highly recommend this cruise. Miss Hampton II Harbor Cruises in Hampton, VA. Phone number is 757-722-9102 or you can visit the website: misshamptoncruises.com
Thank you Tuggers for all the recommendations.

The "historic triangle" with extras and a cruise

 

[travelgirl8]

Thanks for the great info on this thread. The ideas for activities and restaurants are so helpful. Keep this thread alive as it has good information. I'll be using a lot of the ideas here during our trip to Williamsburg.

 

[Fi2]

I know I’m late with these recommendations, but Peter Chang’s serves the most authentic Chinese food in the area. And Sal’s is great for larger groups, whether eating in (large tables) or taking out.

As to season passes, I’ve found that getting season passes to the historic sites, as well as fun passes (plus a pass with free parking) to Busch Gardens, with or without Water Country access, during the SAME visit helped our family make the most of long summer days. We’d hit the historic sites early, leaving only when hot and hungry, and head over to the parks after we’d eaten, to enjoy the rides with lines shorter than found earlier in the day.

Free parking (normally $25/day) was key to our making short park visits, which since they were daily, allowed us hone in on how to quickly get to our favorite big rides each evening. Arriving late meant the ability to take closer, already vacated parking spots. Not eating in the parks saved us time (under the brutal sun!) and money enough to easily offset the cost of purchasing the single pass with free parking. And knowing that we could repeat some or all of it all again the next day was especially freeing.

 

[Arusso]

Thanks for the great info on this thread. The ideas for activities and restaurants are so helpful. Keep this thread alive as it has good information. I'll be using a lot of the ideas here during our trip to Williamsburg.

Just returned from the Historic Powhatan Resort where we have stayed over the years many times. The good. Grounds and overall property are immaculate and in much better shape than I can ever in the past. From my experience, I would say that the resort was no more than 70% occupied as there were never any crowding or parking issues anywhere. No problem getting a chaise lounge around any of the three pools either. Plenty of families with children and a health mix of us seniors as well. Refreshing seeing people enjoy themselves . The bad. As noted by other posts, the major problem is the unpredictable situation at the pool Cabana and the Grill - all a function of not having enough staff in the kitchen. On the next to last day the Cabana was closed altogether ! Incredible. .....certainly not the fault of management. No maid service mid stay as was the norm in the past again due to staffing issues.

BTW, at check in we were enticed to go to an owner's update. I politely said that I had no intention to UNLESS they could prove to me they had information all the owners have with regard to the recent merger as it pertains to the point allocation and valuation between the two systems. I even said I would go for free and learn to be able to share with my TUGGER community. Etc, etc .....Well, a call to the Las Vegas office confirmed that no public info is available. Yet, I'm sure the pitch would have been to convince me to buy more points in order to trade into an HSC resort.

From speaking to the other guests, the area attractions are in full swing and crowded. It's hard to get a bad meal anywhere in Williamsburg and we stuck to our favorites mentioned in other posts.

The Williamsburg area has grown significantly over the past 30 years in both commercial and residential developments so traffic is heavy.

 

[pedro47]

What was the condition of your villa?

 

[Arusso]

What was the condition of your villa?

I believe you are familiar with the property. We stay in building 92 on Legere Lane a 2 BR C/D unit. As you approach the manor house, it's the first left and then left again. I believe this six building parcel was called Phase V or maybe Phase VI - the last building built at the resort was #93. We stayed in a 2BR lock out. The villa was in excellent condition. Very clean. Paint and carpets in good condition. No damage to anything. Just predictable and acceptable wear and tear. Unlike the other 2BR C/D buildings, the "C" units in this area do not have skylights in the Florida room because they never has the spas installed. Two years ago we stayed in Buildings 24 (a 3BR villa) on Taps Neck Loop - near the swimming pools. It was a bit tired but very clean. Many years ago (the Sunterra years) we had stayed in #67 (Meadowfield Lane cul de sac) and later on in #59.

 

[DRIless]

Just returned from the Historic Powhatan Resort where we have stayed over the years many times. The good. Grounds and overall property are immaculate and in much better shape than I can ever in the past. From my experience, I would say that the resort was no more than 70% occupied as there were never any crowding or parking issues anywhere. No problem getting a chaise lounge around any of the three pools either. Plenty of families with children and a health mix of us seniors as well. Refreshing seeing people enjoy themselves . The bad. As noted by other posts, the major problem is the unpredictable situation at the pool Cabana and the Grill - all a function of not having enough staff in the kitchen. On the next to last day the Cabana was closed altogether ! Incredible. .....certainly not the fault of management. No maid service mid stay as was the norm in the past again due to staffing issues.

BTW, at check in we were enticed to go to an owner's update. I politely said that I had no intention to UNLESS they could prove to me they had information all the owners have with regard to the recent merger as it pertains to the point allocation and valuation between the two systems. I even said I would go for free and learn to be able to share with my TUGGER community. Etc, etc .....Well, a call to the Las Vegas office confirmed that no public info is available. Yet, I'm sure the pitch would have been to convince me to buy more points in order to trade into an HSC resort.

From speaking to the other guests, the area attractions are in full swing and crowded. It's hard to get a bad meal anywhere in Williamsburg and we stuck to our favorites mentioned in other posts.

The Williamsburg area has grown significantly over the past 30 years in both commercial and residential developments so traffic is heavy.

At least TWO sales people have been fired by DRI in Williamsburg in the past few weeks for saying anything about the sale to HGV other than what is available in financial news.

Williamsburg continues to be a small town and even on the busiest of days it's easy to get anywhere and do anything.

Mid week clean? I don't ever remember one.

Powhatan has been 99% full of late.

I believe you are familiar with the property. We stay in building 92 on Legere Lane a 2 BR C/D unit. As you approach the manor house, it's the first left and then left again. I believe this six building parcel was called Phase V or maybe Phase VI - the last building built at the resort was #93. We stayed in a 2BR lock out. The villa was in excellent condition. Very clean. Paint and carpets in good condition. No damage to anything. Just predictable and acceptable wear and tear. Unlike the other 2BR C/D buildings, the "C" units in this area do not have skylights in the Florida room because they never has the spas installed. Two years ago we stayed in Buildings 24 (a 3BR villa) on Taps Neck Loop - near the swimming pools. It was a bit tired but very clean. Many years ago (the Sunterra years) we had stayed in #67 (Meadowfield Lane cul de sac) and later on in #59.

A 2BR lockoff is TWO 1BR4 with a common foyer A & B units.

 

[Arusso]

At least TWO sales people have been fired by DRI in Williamsburg in the past few weeks for saying anything about the sale to HGV other than what is available in financial news.

Williamsburg continues to be a small town and even on the busiest of days it's easy to get anywhere and do anything.

Mid week clean? I don't ever remember one.

Powhatan has been 99% full of late.





A 2BR lockoff is TWO 1BR4 with a common foyer A & B units.

Thx for the info. Certainly explains why there was not much pressure to talk to me. never even got a phone call.

Yes. the town is small but now quite congested.

Midweek clean was available in the 1990s at no extra charge.

Maybe it was 99% occupied. My experience there is that all the parking spaces are taken when the resort is full. This was certainly not the case this time.

We typically have stayed in the 4BR lock outs in a town-home design with the "C" unit on the first floor and the "D" unit on the second. The unique attraction years ago was that the "C" unit had a spa room. Never stayed in a one BR.

 

[DRIless]

Thx for the info. Certainly explains why there was not much pressure to talk to me. never even got a phone call.

Yes. the town is small but now quite congested.

Midweek clean was available in the 1990s at no extra charge.

Maybe it was 99% occupied. My experience there is that all the parking spaces are taken when the resort is full. This was certainly not the case this time.

We typically have stayed in the 4BR lock outs in a town-home design with the "C" unit on the first floor and the "D" unit on the second. The unique attraction years ago was that the "C" unit had a spa room. Never stayed in a one BR.

Maybe you should have originally said "No maid service mid stay as was the norm in the ANCIENT TIMES .....
it's nothing to do with staffing issues. I've been a deeded owner since 1998 with no mid week cleanings.

Lots of things have changed since the time that it was Signature Resorts, before Sunterra, before DRI. The latest change is the availability to book all types of units including ADA units online, this just occurred in the last couple weeks. You no longer have to 'guess' at whether your 'request' for a Handicap Accesible unit is going to be granted, or not!

 

[mbinpa]

If you are looking for just a relaxing ride I strongly recommend the ferry to Surrey. It's free, loads right outside of Jametown, and is a fine 20 minute or so ride across the river. While on the Surrey side of the river you can tour Bacon's Castle - it's an old plantation and is pretty interesting. The Surrey side of the river is a different world than the Williamsburg side - much less travelled and hardly developed. If you are into biking, one of my best days was biking from Greenspring to the ferry and then up to Surrey for lunch.