The Complete Guide To: Historic Virginia

WHY VIRGINIA, WHY NOW?

No state of the US has stronger connections with Britain than Virginia. The 400th anniversary of the founding link makes it an ideal time to visit this beautiful and diverse region, which is the historic heartland of the US: 60 per cent of 10,000-plus Civil War battles were fought on Virginian soil. And besides a depth of antiquity not found elsewhere in America, Virginia has some spectacular scenery and excellent opportunities for exploring the great outdoors. There is a sombre mood in the state, after the appalling shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech in the far west. This is an area into which visitors rarely stray, with most places of historic interest located in the east.

This month marks four centuries since the first permanent English settlement in North America took place. On 13 May 1607, 104 adventurers arrived in three ships and landed on a wooded peninsula in Chesapeake Bay. The establishment of this settlement, named Jamestown, is being commemorated by year-long celebrations and special events in Virginia and elsewhere. A highlight this weekend, which the Queen is witnessing, is the re-enactment of the colonists' arrival using replica ships.

A succession of special events organised by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (001 757 253 4838; www.historyisfun.org) takes place throughout the year at Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Centre. For example, The World of 1607 exhibition has just opened at Jamestown Settlement (until the end of 2008; open daily 9am-5pm; combined admission $17.75/£9.90). A replica of the Godspeed - one of the three ships - will sail to Alexandria for an eight-day visit to the Old Town Waterfront from 27 May, where she will be open to visitors.

The dramatic story of the first colonists has been told with varying degrees of accuracy. Walt Disney's Pocahontas was twaddle. Terrence Malick's The New World is bleak but a more accurate portrayal. It stars Colin Farrell as John Smith, whose robust practicality and common sense enabled the precarious colony to survive its first grim years. The story is very readably conveyed in David A Price's paperback Love and Hate in Jamestown.

Jamestown is on one of the deep indentations all around the huge expanse of Chesapeake Bay, which forms almost the entire coastline of Virginia. The brick foundations of the settlement are still visible beside the gravel paths along the broad James River and the completely unspoilt views over its low, wooded shoreline. Archaeological excavations have produced a staggering variety of objects, which can be seen in the new Archaearium, which opens daily 9.30am-5pm.

One 17th-century building still stands at the original site: the remnant of the 1640s church tower, to which was added the Memorial Church in 1907. The Historic Jamestowne Visitor Centre (001 757 229 1733; www.historicjamestowne.org) has an exhibition and audio-visual explaining the significance of Jamestown as the birthplace of America and its democratic institutions. It opens daily 9am-5.30am; admission $10 (£5.60), including entry to the Archaearium. The prime purpose of nearby Jamestown Settlement is education through an even larger exhibition, a well-made film, a reconstruction of the palisaded fort as it would have been in 1610-14, and the three replica ships berthed in a small, wooded harbour.

HOW DID WE LOSE VIRGINIA?

The English colony began at Jamestown in 1607 and ended 174 years later in 1781 at nearby Yorktown with the surrender of British forces under Lord Cornwallis to the American Revolutionaries.

Yorktown is one corner of the "historic triangle", together with Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg (001 757 229 1000; www.colonialwilliamsburg.org). Outside the remarkably untouched battlefield, there is a visitor centre with a film about the last battle of the American Revolution and a museum of artefacts, including Washington's field tent. Open daily 10am-7pm; $9 (£5).

On the opposite side of the site is the Victory Center, which provides an excellent overview of the build-up to the revolution, the conduct of the war and the aftermath, including a section on what's been brought up from the British ships sunk in Yorktown harbour. Open daily 9am-5pm; $8.75 (£4.90). A walk between the two centres takes you through the pretty village and past the Royal Welch Fusiliers' redoubt on the clifftop.

HOW DID THEY LIVE?

To find out, visit Colonial Williamsburg (001 757 220 7286; www.colonialwilliamsburg.com) - the largest living history museum in the country. It's an attractive place, covering 301 acres with 88 original and 500 reconstructed buildings. They range from white weatherboarded single-storey houses to the imposing Governor's Palace, and are connected by traffic-free roads with such period touches as the occasional pile of logs for fuel or barrels left beside a house. The town was laid out by governor Frances Nicholson when the capital was moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg in 1699. More than 400 costumed staff interpret the buildings, and the courses taken by all staff enable them to answer the most recherché questions, whether on smoking meat or casting pewter. You can eat 18th-century dishes by candlelight, and there is a full programme of evening performances that changes each week. Children can have fun treading clay to smooth it for brick-making or learning 18th-century dances.

Colonial Williamsburg opens daily 9am-5pm; combined admission to all sites is $36 (£20). The sites in the "historic triangle" are linked by shuttle buses between 1 March and 31 October, and there are trolley services within Yorktown and Williamsburg (001 757 229 6511; www.visitwilliamsburg.com).

THE LOCAL HERO?

George Washington, whose home at Mount Vernon is a shrine for American patriots. The neo-classical dwelling, where the first president lived for 40 years, stands on a hill overlooking the wooded banks of the Potomac River. It opens every day of the year, from 8am-5pm, admission $13 (£7.20) - but it is often extremely crowded. The best month to visit without queuing is in December: with visitor numbers down to only 400 a day, the upper floor is opened to the public.

The house is complemented by a museum and "orientation center", introducing Washington as general, statesman and farmer. Cultivated fields, rare breeds of livestock and a reconstructed barn designed by Washington for threshing convey his interest in the economic potential of farming for the newly independent country.

WHERE NEXT?

Alexandria (www.alexandriava.gov), close to Washington DC, and accessible on the US capital's Metro. When the present American capital was still an unmapped marsh, Alexandria was already a flourishing town. Its historic core has changed little since General Robert E Lee grew up there. Long terraces of brick sash-windowed Georgian houses flank the tree-lined streets, with brick pavements set into wide verges.

Gadsby's Tavern, an 18th-century coffee house and inn at 138 North Royal Street (001 703 548 1288; www.gadsbystavernrestaurant.com) was patronised by Washington, Jefferson and Lafayette; its ballroom was so elegant it ended up in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Whilst the interior is little changed, the menu has evolved * * slightly and now includes dishes such as sautéed calves liver and "George Washington's Favourite" - cider-glazed duckling with smoked bacon spoonbread.

Beside the Potomac River, there are good later buildings such as the First World War Torpedo Factory, which is now a flourishing centre for artists, adding to the lively atmosphere of the old quarter with numerous restaurants, cafés and street musicians.

CIVIL WARRIORS?

Virginia saw plenty of them during the Civil War. Notable among the numerous battlefield sites are the two major battles at Manassas Junction, Lee's Seven Days' battles that relieved Richmond, and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign. It was also in Virginia that Jackson died, after being accidentally shot by "friendly fire" at Chancellorsville. The lonely cabin where he died at Guinea Station south of Fredericksburg is now a shrine (001 804 633 6076; open 9am-5pm; free admission).

The key city for Civil War memorabilia is Richmond, the state capital and former colonial capital. The city took a battering in the Civil War, but it has a wealth of good buildings and museums. It stands on seven hills overlooking the James River: the view from here reminded one early colonist of the prospect of the Thames from Richmond.

Thomas Jefferson designed the first stage of the white State Capitol, which is flanked by an equestrian statue of George Washington and the modest Executive Mansion - the oldest continuously occupied governor's residence in the US. Tours of the Executive Mansion (001 804 371 2642) are possible Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 10am-noon and 2-4pm; admission free. Self-guided tours of the State Capitol (001 804 698 1788) are possible daily 9am-5pm, Sundays 1-5pm, free of charge.

Near the Capitol is a statue of the Confederate Civil War hero Jackson, curiously presented by "English gentlemen as a tribute of admiration for the soldier and patriot and gratefully accepted by Virginia in the name of the Southern people", in 1875.

At 707 East Franklin Street, just off Capitol Square, is the house to which Robert E Lee came after the Confederate surrender at the Appomattox Court House in 1865. It opens daily 8.30am-5pm; $4 (£2.20).

The former warehouses district of Shockoe Slip is being regenerated with restaurants, cafés and nightclubs around the restored railway station of 1901. Close by is the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (001 804 648 5523; www.poemuseum.org). Created in and around Richmond's oldest house, the museum has guided tours of rooms of memorabilia, manuscripts, paintings and a model of Richmond in Poe's time. Open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, from 11am Sunday; $5 (£2.80).

One of the state's newest museums is The American Civil War Centre at 490 Tredegar Street in Richmond (001 804 780 1865; www.tredegar.org), located in the pattern shop of an ironworks set up from 1837 by skilled workers recruited from Tredegar in South Wales. They produced the gun that fired the first shot of the Civil War, on 12 April 1861 in the attack on Fort Sumter. The museum focuses on the issues behind the war and its impact on individuals and the country. Open daily 9am-5pm; $8 (£4.40). Richmond also has the largest collection of Confederate relics in the Museum of the Confederacy (001 804 649 1861; www.moc.org) at 1201 East Clay Street. Open daily 10am-5pm, Sunday from noon; $10 (£5.60).

HOW DO I GET THERE - AND AROUND?

Fly to Washington Dulles airport, in Virginia, on United (0845 8444 777; www.unitedairlines.co.uk), British Airways (0870 850 9 850; www.ba.com) and Virgin Atlantic (0870 574 7747; www.virgin-atlantic.com) from Heathrow, and on BMI (0870 6070 555; www.flybmi.com) from Manchester. Amtrak trains (www.amtrak.com) from Washington Union or Alexandria stations; serve Manassas, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Petersburg and Williamsburg. Greyhound buses (www.greyhound.com) serve more destinations.

To get off the beaten track, there is little option but to hire a car. Hertz (0870 844 8844; www.hertz.co.uk) offers a week's rental from £145 - plus a nifty option, the NeverLost navigation system for $10 (£5.50) a day. Additional research by Sam Gammon

THE FULL MONTI

The great Renaissance character, Thomas Jefferson (right), designed his own home at Monticello (001 434 984 9822; www.monticello.org), the only house in the US ranked as a World Heritage Site. He also designed the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Both buildings are based on Jefferson's love of classical architecture, and Monticello has numerous reminders of the exceptional inventiveness and practicality of the man who was also responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence. It opens daily 8am-5pm; $15 (£8.30).

GONE WITH THE WIND

Over a dozen private plantation homes in Virginia are open to visitors; some have presidential connections and five of them are located along the James River. The oldest, and one of the most elegant, stands on the banks of the James River east of Richmond and was the childhood home of General Robert E Lee's mother. Shirley Plantation (below) (001 804 829 5121; www.shirleyplantation.com) was an early land grant by James I to the governor of Virginia, Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, but within a few years it had been bought by the Carter family who still live there. The beautifully proportioned brick house of 1723-38, with symmetrical detached wings housing the kitchen and laundry with servants' accommodation above, is approached down dusty dirt roads and an avenue of trees. Inside are rooms little changed from the 18th century and a fine "flying" staircase held up by concealed wrought-iron bars. Open daily 9am-5pm; $10.50 (£6).

Closer to Washington is the mid-18th-century Gunston Hall (001 703 550 9220; www.gunstonhall.org), built by George Mason, who wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights which Jefferson took as the basis for the Declaration of Independence.