Governor's Palace — Attraction in Williamsburg

We spent a lovely afternoon exploring the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg. This was the perfect starting point for our day trip, as the Palace is centrally located within the historic district, making it easy to continue exploring nearby attractions, shops, and restaurants on foot.

We purchased the "Single Day Admission Pass" online in advance for convenience, which cost $35 per adult. Children aged 6–10 were only $10, and children 6 and under were free—great pricing for families. The pass included access to the Governor’s Palace and gardens, the hedge maze, guided tours, live music at the first theater in the U.S., historic trades demonstrations, and the local art museum. A fantastic value for everything that’s included.

Parking was easy to manage—$6 for about three hours. You can pay at the visitor center or simply scan the posted QR code with your phone, which was quick and convenient. That said, parking does fill up quickly, so we’d recommend arriving earlier in the day if you're planning a short trip.

The authenticity of the experience really stood out. The tour guides and staff were dressed in 18th-century attire and stayed in character, making it feel like we had stepped back in time. The grounds were beautifully maintained, and the Palace itself was both grand and educational. Horse-drawn carriage rides are available for an added fee and would be a great enhancement to any visit.

This location is ideal for families, history buffs, and anyone looking to enjoy a mix of culture, gardens, and colonial charm. We’re already looking forward to returning during the holiday season to see how the town transforms. Highly recommended for a memorable and...

Although the people who lived here, at the Governors Mansion, were in charge of the place, I wouldn’t want to have been in their shoes! Nope. Not me. It is soooo big. However. There were more than 500 slaves/servants to run the place. For me that would make it worse, I’d want to free them all and ask them if they wanted a job. And then we could all go long in a better situation. In those days there were such clear definitions of class and position. People were more concerned about feeding themselves and not being attacked. But the continued Royal British control meant all the Governors wives brought the fashions and ideas with them and along with it their religion, technology and food.

This house has Windsor Castle written all over it! It looks like a mini English Palace. And it was meant to be that way. There are other ones like this all around the glob, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the rest of the Commonwealth countries to which England once laid claim.

The Governors Mansion has been reconstructed so well. The Verdigris green paint just took my breath away.

And one thing lingers: it’s shocking the way people were judged based purely on appearances alone. (And Still Are) Initially you would receive an audience if your wore the right clothing and had the right appearance and bearing. Manners were also a tell.

That would be the first step. If you had business with the Governor, it would depend on the purpose of your visit where you would be escorted to within the Governors Mansion. We got to visit the inner workings of the...

Beautiful building and grounds, but very difficult to access. There is no parking for this specific location, and the roads are closed daily for at least 2-3 blocks away. The closest access was the bus drop off, and this is not a handicapped accessible option as the bus doesn't permit motorized wheelchairs. The building claims to be handicapped accessible but it is not. All the entrances had steps, and only one had a railing. This was disappointing considering it indicates otherwise on their website.

In regards to the actual grounds, it is hard to know if the tour was limited due to Covid, but it didn't seem to cover as much as I would have expected. There were only five rooms shown on the first floor in a guided tour. They were beautiful, and the tour guide really gave genuine insight into life there for the governor and visitors, and she was able to answer all of our questions. I also appreciated the context shared about enslaved people living there and what that experience was like.

The tour ended at the back of the property, and it was very confusing to find the entrance with no one around to ask for guidance. They all just seemed too busy to help. Overall, the experience would be improved if there was a bit more politeness to visitors, more signage, and more explanation of why everything was blocked off. Even the phone staff seemed irritated and impatient to recite a scripted answer and get me off the phone when I called to ask questions about how to...