Visit the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown to explore the struggle for independence through period objects and exhibits. Discover the events surrounding the Siege of Yorktown, the 1781 campaign that brought major fighting in the Revolutionary War to a close.

The museum connects military events with the experiences of the people who lived through them. Yorktown’s place in that history gives the collections a direct sense of setting and consequence.

• 3 Dinner (D)
• 7 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

• Washington: This striking museum has collected more than 40,000 artifacts that reflect history, politics, sports, arts and entertainment. Explore the richness and diversity of the African American experience, what it means to their lives, and how it helped shape this nation. 
• Mount Vernon: Visit Mount Vernon Estate, the former home of America’s first President George Washington. Explore the Grounds and delve into the history of the American Revolution on an included tour of Mansion.
• Washington D.C.: Explore the nation’s proud heritage today as you view the White House, striking Washington Monument and National Mall, stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol building. Reflect on the country’s darkest days at the Lincoln Memorial and sombre memorials to World War II and the Vietnam War.
• Williamsburg: The Museum of the American Revolution uncovers and shares compelling stories about the diverse people and complex events that sparked the American Revolution. Through the Museum’s collection, immersive galleries, powerful theater experiences, and interactive elements, visitors gain a deeper appreciation for how this nation came to be and feel inspired to consider their role in ensuring that the promise of the Revolution endures.
• Jamestown: Step into the story of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English settlement, and discover what life was like for the colonists who arrived here in the early 17th century. Walk through a life-sized recreation of their fort, explore a recreated Powhatan village and climb aboard a replica of one of the three ships that made the voyage from England to Virginia.
• Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg, once Britain’s largest colony in the New World. Get a glimpse into what life was like in the colonies and engage with costumed blacksmiths, tradesmen and enjoy a a marching parade in the towns square.
• Williamsburg: Join Local Specialist Sylvia Tabb-Lee to learn about African colonial life in Virginia and the history of the transatlantic slave trade. Through storytelling, song and dance, Sylvia shares the experiences of African people in Virginia across the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and the stories that shaped their lives.
• Richmond: Visit St John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia — the very spot where George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were inspired by Patrick Henry’s fiery “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech.
• Charlottesville: Explore Monticello, the neoclassical Italian-style estate where Thomas Jefferson, a key figure of the American Revolution and the third President of the United States, once lived.
• Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center: See weapons, uniforms, photographs and other battlefield artifacts at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, alongside exhibits that trace the events of the battle and the lives caught up in it. First-hand accounts from soldiers and civilians reveal what happened here and how Gettysburg was changed forever.
• Shenandoah: Enjoy your visit through the rolling hills of Shenandoah National Park.
• Philadelphia: Explore the UNESCO-listed Independence National Historic Park and see its famous cracked bell whose inscription has inspired so many to “proclaim liberty”. Also see Independence Hall where The Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were both debated and signed.
• Philadelphia: Visit the National Constitution Center which brings the United States Constitution to life by hosting interactive exhibits and inspires active citizenship by celebrating the American constitutional tradition.

• Selected hotel dinners plus a locally hosted meal
• 4-star stays
• Deluxe coach travel

Explore the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Washington’s National Mall. Its collections span centuries of African American life, with objects and stories connected to enslavement, freedom, civil rights, sport and the arts.

Through its exhibitions, encounter the people and experiences that have shaped the United States. The museum’s distinctive bronze-coloured exterior evokes traditional African architectural forms, making the building itself part of the experience.

Trafalgar

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over an included welcome dinner in Washington, D.C. It is an opportunity to share a meal and get acquainted with the group in the nation’s capital.

With the city’s museums, memorials and government buildings close at hand, the gathering sets the scene for a journey through the places where American history is preserved, interpreted and debated.

Explore Washington’s monumental centre, viewing the White House, Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol along with the broad sweep of the National Mall. Visit the Lincoln Memorial and reflect at the World War II and Vietnam Veterans memorials.

These public spaces commemorate both national ideals and the lives affected by war. The Mall’s open lawns and formal avenues place the capital’s most recognisable landmarks within a landscape designed for civic gathering and remembrance.

Join Local Specialist Sylvia Tabb-Lee in Williamsburg for a presentation on African colonial life in Virginia. Through storytelling, song, dance and visual material, hear about the transatlantic slave trade and the experiences of African people across the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

Her interpretation brings individual voices and cultural expression into a history too often told only through institutions and events. It adds essential human context to the colonial setting.

Visit St. John’s Church in Richmond, where Patrick Henry delivered his 1775 “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech to Virginia delegates. Stand in the setting associated with one of the most forceful calls for resistance before the American Revolution.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were among those present at the convention. The surviving church gives a tangible setting to a moment when debate over independence was becoming urgent.

Visit the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center to examine weapons, uniforms, photographs and other artifacts from the 1863 battle. Exhibits trace the fighting and introduce the soldiers and civilians whose lives it changed.

The museum provides context for one of the Civil War’s pivotal confrontations. First-hand accounts help convey the battle’s human cost, while the National Park’s preservation work safeguards its landscape and stories.

Dine at the Dobbin House, a historic Gettysburg tavern, for an included evening meal in a setting rooted in the town’s past. Its old rooms offer an atmospheric contrast to the open battlefield landscape.

Built in the 18th century, the house was standing during the Battle of Gettysburg and is associated with local ghost stories. The dinner brings together the town’s historic character and its long tradition of tavern hospitality.

Explore Gettysburg’s battlefield with a Local Specialist and hear how three days of fighting in July 1863 altered the course of the Civil War. Learn about Pickett’s Charge and the battlefield’s connection to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Standing on the preserved ground gives scale to events often known only through maps and speeches. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience also highlights the work of the Gettysburg Foundation in preserving the site’s history.

Explore Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia and see the Liberty Bell, whose inscription calls on its readers to “proclaim liberty.” View Independence Hall, where delegates debated and adopted the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Set among the streets of the city’s historic district, these landmarks connect founding documents with the places in which they took shape. The bell’s later history also shows how its message reached movements far beyond the founding era.

Visit Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center to explore the creation and continuing influence of the U.S. Constitution. Interactive exhibits examine the Constitutional Convention, the rights set out in the document and the debates it still prompts.

Walk among the life-size bronze figures of Signers’ Hall for a closer look at the people involved in the founding debates. The museum makes a historic text tangible while inviting reflection on citizenship today.

Visit George Washington’s Mount Vernon beside the Potomac River and take an included tour of the Mansion. Explore the grounds, gardens and museum galleries of the estate where America’s first president lived.

The preserved landscape offers a view of 18th-century plantation life, including the labour of the enslaved people who lived and worked here. Its domestic spaces and riverside setting add a personal dimension to Washington’s public legacy.

Step into the story of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Explore recreations of a 17th-century fort and a Powhatan village, and board a replica of a ship like those that carried colonists across the Atlantic.

These settings reveal the practical challenges of early colonial life and the encounters between English arrivals and Indigenous peoples. They also bring the scale and uncertainty of the transatlantic voyage into focus.

Explore Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia’s restored 18th-century capital, and meet costumed interpreters portraying tradespeople, soldiers and political figures. Watch traditional skills at work and encounter the ideas being contested in the years around the American Revolution.

Historic streets, workshops and public spaces turn colonial history into conversation rather than a collection of dates. The experience offers a close look at everyday work and the political tensions of the era.

Explore Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s hilltop estate near Charlottesville. See the neoclassical house and grounds that reflect the third president’s interest in architecture, design and agriculture.

Monticello is also a place to confront the contradiction between Jefferson’s words on liberty and the lives of the enslaved people who sustained his household and plantation. Its carefully planned landscape holds both the ambitions and the difficult realities of early American history.

Travel through Shenandoah National Park and take in the rolling ridges and wooded slopes of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. The scenic passage offers a change of perspective from the cities and historic buildings elsewhere on the tour.

Protected as a national park since 1935, Shenandoah preserves mountain landscapes, forests and wildlife habitat. Its layered horizons reveal the natural setting that has long shaped travel through this part of Virginia.

Meet Samuel and Ruth Lapp at their working 25-acre farm outside Lancaster. Hear about Amish traditions and farm life before sharing a family-style Be My Guest meal featuring recipes passed through generations and ingredients from the farm.

The hosted visit offers a personal introduction to a community whose faith and customs shape daily routines. In keeping with Amish meal traditions, sweet tea or purified water is served rather than alcohol.

Dine aboard the Moshulu, a four-masted tall ship permanently docked at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. Enjoy an included dinner with views across the Delaware River waterfront from this distinctive maritime setting.

Launched in the early 20th century, the vessel once worked as a cargo ship before becoming a waterfront restaurant. Its masts and decks lend the meal a sense of Philadelphia’s enduring connection to river trade and seafaring.