Colonial Williamsburg Homeschool Days: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go

Williamsburg Homeschool Days: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go

Williamsburg typically hosts Homeschool Days two special times a year- in February and in September.  The 2026 fall Homeschool Experience dates are September 5 – 20, 2026. There is a pretty substantial discount available to homeschool families during this time period.  Williamsburg Homeschool Days seem to be held during the slow times, which makes it a great time to visit – fewer crowds!

If you want to get your kids excited for the field trip, consider reading a few of the best Colonial Williamsburg books for kids.

Tip #1 Buy Tickets Ahead of Time

Williamsburg Homeschool Days tickets are quite a bit cheaper than the standard ticket price, but they are not available at the ticket counter.  They must be purchased in advance online or over the phone to take advantage of these special rates.

Currently, Homeschool Days multiday tickets cost:

Under 6 – Free
Student, ages 6 – 17 – $10 (normally $33.99)
Adult – $19 (normally $59.99) 

Technically, you can buy a discounted single-day ticket, too, but there is so much to see. It would be impossible to see everything in just one day. The multiday tickets are valid for five consecutive days.

The special homeschool pricing is only available during Homeschool Days. It is only available for homeschool families and homeschool groups. Homeschool groups of all sizes can get special pricing all year round, but this is a great opportunity for families.

The Colonial Williamsburg Homeschool Days fine print requires some sort of proof that you are a homeschool family in order to receive the discounted rate.  I just brought my official homeschool registration letter from North Carolina as my proof.  A homeschool membership card, such as HSLDA or VA Homeschoolers, would likely also work.

On one trip, I was asked for proof, and another time it was never mentioned.  I would go ahead and bring it just in case.

Technically, you are able to walk around the historic area without a ticket, but there are two reasons to buy a ticket:

• Entrance into historic area exhibition buildings – This is where most of the learning happens.
• Shuttle bus rides – Riding a bus is exciting when you go to school in the dining room. Hopping on and off the bus makes it easier to get around, especially when little legs start getting tired.

You will be given a clear badge with your Colonial Williamsburg admission ticket.  Wear this clipped so that it is visible to shuttle bus drivers and historic building hosts.

Colonial Williamsburg also offers a homeschool days rate for lodging at the Williamsburg Woodlands, too.  We have stayed in this hotel many times.  It is right next to the Visitor Center and shuttle bus pick-up area.  I like staying on the property so that I don’t need to move my car again after we arrive, but that is just a preference. 

Tip #2 Choose Your Top 5 Ahead of Time

There is a ton to see and do during Colonial Williamsburg Homeschool Days.  It is pretty much impossible to see absolutely everything in one trip.  We just finished our 4th trip and still haven’t seen every single exhibit.

Make a list of the things your family is most interested in checking out.

I had both of my kids make a list of their top 5 a few days before we left home.  Some of the buildings were things they remembered enjoying from previous visits.  The other exhibits were things they saw on the Colonial Williamsburg website. 

After they both finished their lists, we compared them to see if there was any overlap.

I recommend a top 5 list rather than a top 3 because not every building or exhibit is open every day.  It is possible that a building on the list won’t be available during the trip.  Observing the Indian Delegation was on our list, but it turned out not to be offered either day that we were in town.  That is okay, though.  We still saw plenty of other things from our list.

Be sure to look at the events calendar for the days of your stay so you don’t miss any Revolutionary experiences that look fun.

Update – There are activities available in the evening, but those require an additional ticket. My teens really enjoyed the official ghost tours and the witch trial.

Tip #3 Wear Comfortable Shoes

There is a lot of walking during Williamsburg Homeschool Days!  On our first day here, we logged over 15,000 steps.  I think that is pretty good considering we spent 3.5 hours in the car and relaxed in our hotel room all evening.

The terrain varies between cobblestone, old brick walkways, compact dirt, and grass.  There are also stairs located in buildings like the Governor’s Palace, Capitol Building, and taverns. The world-class art museums are definitely worth a look (included in your admission ticket), but it is a little bit of a walk to get there.

I don’t know about your kids, but my kids never mention that their shoes are getting small until they are painfully small.  I specifically checked in on the fit of their tennis shoes about a week before our field trip to Williamsburg Homeschool Days.  This way, I had time to take them shoe shopping before we loaded up the car and headed out of town.

Tip #4 Bring Snacks

My kids are in the pre-teen and teen bottomless pit stage.  They eat all the time!  We ate out for lunch and dinner, but I always had easy snacks like Lara bars and applesauce pouches in my field trip bag.

There are not many snack options available for purchase inside the Revolutionary City, especially during the off-season.  Most of what we saw was ice cream, candy bars, and cookies. We enjoyed a few fun treats, but it was helpful to have healthy snacks in my bag.

I brought our glass water bottle with a locking lid, and that kept us from buying drinks from the vending machines (which are somewhat hidden and pricey).

Obviously, don’t eat or drink while in the historic buildings, but the interpreters didn’t mind us bringing a bag with sealed snacks and a locked water bottle with us. 

There are benches scattered throughout the colonial area and picnic tables near the taverns.  If the ground is dry, you can even spread out a picnic blanket on the Palace Greens.

Related: Healthy Kid-Friendly Snack Options

Tip #5 Talk to the Interpreters

The interpreters in each building have an amazing wealth of information. 

They know so much about the history of the buildings and life in Colonial Williamsburg.  Feel free to ask them questions anytime, but especially during Williamsburg Homeschool Days.

Williamsburg was really slow and quiet when we were in town, so we frequently had the interpreters’ full attention.  I encouraged my kids to ask at least one question in each building. 

It seemed like one question led to another, and before I knew it, we had spent 15 minutes chatting with the interpreter.  We learned things that we had not heard or read before, such as:

• 52% of Williamsburg was enslaved during the Revolutionary period
• The price of clothing depended on the fabric, not the style
• Upper-class children had to stay in their bedrooms unless their parents gave them permission to leave
• Revolutionary War soldiers began the war carrying their cast-iron skillets until they were able to get lightweight, military-issue, tin kitchenware

Talking with the interpreters is a great way to hold children’s interest.  I noticed that once an interpreter realized that the children were engaged, they wanted to keep them that way.  Sometimes the visitor needs to get the conversation going. The interpreters see a ton of people every day and have no way of knowing who is genuinely interested and who isn’t unless you begin the conversation.

The interpreter in the apothecary happily opened drawer after drawer and jar after jar, letting my children touch everything.  The interpreter in the foundry poured melted metal into a mold to create a spoon right before my children’s eyes. An interpreter in the wig shop compared the colored wig powder to hair chalk today.

The interpreters are well-trained and are experts in their trade.

Other Things to Know . . .

The Colonial Williamsburg website offers teaching resources such as:

• Virtual tours
• Livestreams
• Educational videos

Group tours are available, but not necessary. My family has always preferred seeing everything on our own time schedule.

The Colonial Williamsburg bookstore offers a wide variety of books about the founding of America.

The Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown also offer discounted special admission tickets for homeschoolers. It seems to be a secret, though. You have to ask for it and show proof of homeschooling, but it is worth the savings. I keep a copy of my North Carolina homeschool registration acceptance on my phone and was able to use it as homeschool proof.

Update – Jamestown now offers an annual Homeschool Program Days too. The dates in 2026 are September 5 – 13th.

Busch Gardens is only a few miles away from the Colonial area. Families who love history AND amusement parks might like to check out both attractions.

Colonial Williamsburg Homeschool Days is one of our favorite places for homeschool field trips.  I’m so thankful that we have such an amazing field trip opportunity just a few hours away from our home.

Check out this post to download and print a field trip scavenger hunt bundle (no email address required!).  My kids used the historic field trip page to look for things around Williamsburg!