Whether you're a family of thrill-seekers looking for outdoor winter excitement or simply want a fun hands-on museum experience to entertain your little ones when the weather is frigid, we've got winter fun sure to please every member of the family along with useful tips on snacks, strollers and planning a full day of adventure. We've spent more than 10 years discovering the best in events and attractions and share with you here our top staff picks for fun attractions.
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Please call ahead to confirm as hours and activities vary seasonally.
Amazement Square
(Lynchburg) 1-2 hour drive
Kids can slide, dangle, crawl, leap, swing and zip through the tallest indoor climbing structure in the nation. Toddlers can roam safely in the "Big Red Barn" complete with a cow to milk, crowing rooster, crops to harvest and an earthworm's-eye-view of growing plants. In the Indian Island Cultural Gallery, you can hear children playing drums in the authentically recreated local Monacan Village. New this year is the Growing Up Global! program, which will feature exhibits and events that highlight a wide array of world cultures, celebrations and traditions while emphasizing common values and shared concerns in the 21st century. Kids of all ages love the James River Waterways where they can take a miniature batteau through locks and canals. The paint-on-the-walls room, music-recording studio and puppet theatre are a few of the other popular exhibits. On fair days, skateboarders can practice their ollies and nollies at Amazement Square's Rotary Centennial Riverfront Skatepark too! amazementsquare.org (434) 845-1888
TIP: Did you know that Amazement Square, the Children's Museum of Richmond, Harrisonburg's Children's Museum, Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum and the Virginia Discovery Museum are all members of the Association of Children's Museums and offer reciprocal membership benefits? If you belong to one, you belong to them all. It's a terrific way to save on admissions. childrensmuseums.org
Wintergreen Resort
(Wintergreen) 0-1 hour drive
Treat your family to magnificent mountain views and fun on the slopes at Charlottesville's closest resort, Wintergreen. Spanning 11,000 acres in the crests of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the resort's villas and condominiums are surrounded by hiking trails, streams, and lush forests. Stay in one of their quiet homes with a fireplace, an option thats ideal for escaping the rush of winter holidays. Enjoy adrenaline pumping downhill skiing, snowboarding, tubing and the brand-new Zip, a 900-foot zipline! Or, if yours is a more sedate pace, there are many recreation activities, including horse back riding, crafts, music, speakers, festivals, a spa, and more. Kids and teens can attend activities at the Treehouse and RIdgely's Fun Park, the Out of Bounds Adventure Center and The Dome at Discovery Ridge, which has lots of high-tech toys. wintergreenresort.com (434) 325-2100
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
(Richmond) 1-2 hour drive
For a breath of springtime even during winter, Lewis Ginter is a treat! It is hard to tear yourself away from Lewis Ginter when you visit, but it is comforting to know you can always return. Return to Ancient Rome when you step down into the Sunken Garden or ease your way around the winding paths in the Perennial Garden. With a special Children's Garden designed to delight and amaze offering a water play area, a hands-on activity center all with parent rest areas with full view of the exploring progeny, it is a must-visit each year. Bring your gift list (and your wish list) as the Garden Shop is too tempting to pass up. If you get hungry, there are two on-premises options for great food.
lewisginter.org (804) 262-9887
Children's Museum of Richmond
(Richmond) 1-2 hour drive
Try on eagle's wings, wiggle through a digestive tract, tinker in the Inventor's laboratory or create your own art. Complete with a Virginia limestone cave, a kid-sized grocery store and a toddler-sized museum within the museum, it's no surprise that CMoR is one of the top-ranked childrens museums nationally. With 42,000 square feet, it offers seven interactive exhibit areas, a changing gallery, a museum shop and more to keep the whole family entertained for hours. Next door, the Science Museum's multi-ton granite kugel sculptures of the Earth and the moon attract kids who are amazed at their ability to move these hefty spheres with a slight touch. To avoid crowds, we recommend visiting these popular "Museums on the Boulevard" midweek, preferably on a nice day when everyone else is outside. Time Traveler's Passport Destination. c-mor.org (804) 474-2667
Massanutten Resort
(McGaheysville) 1-2 hour drive
Every winter, snow-loving folks of all ages don snowboarding and ski boots, waterproof pants, fleece hats, and insulated gloves to converge upon Massanutten's white-frosted peaks. Massanutten Resort boasts 1,110-feet of vertical, the most in the Mid-Atlantic Region! Beginners may careen down the 500-ft slope called Easy Street, perhaps to try their legs on a tiny jump designed for those just starting out. Those who already have their ski legs may opt to carve out a descent of 2,300-ft on their way down Southern Comfort's intermediate terrain. And on the 3,300-foot slope of Diamond Jim, seasoned skiers can be seen with their blades to the sky as they perform fancy tricks like soaring-eagles, switch-backflips, and alley-oops. Extreme sports lovers can check out Massanutten's CMB Terrain Park. This course is several lanes of fun, full of up-down rails, spine-boxes, tabletops, battleships, and jump-on slides. Many families choose to enjoy winter's glory at Massanutten by flying down the Peaked Mountain Express Tube Park, a 900-foot-long hill with up to fourteen lanes of snowy thrills. The two hours of allotted time for each session offers ample opportunity to enjoy many runs down the slippery hill of snow tucked inside an inflated inner tube. massresort.com (540) 289-4954
TIP: Slope Sliders at Massanutten is an opportunity for kids as young as 4 to learn how to ski and kids 7 and older to learn snowboarding. Reservations are required for these sessions, which include slope-use ticket, rental equipment, lunch, and supervised instruction from 9:30am to 2 pm.
Newseum
(Washington, D.C.) 2-3 hour drive
Living history meets cutting-edge technology at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. This gigantic building, home to five centuries of news history, features seven levels of fascinating information displayed in amazingly hands-on, accessible fashion. The mission behind the Newseum is to tell how and why news is made, and with 250,000 square feet devoted to this, its full to the brim of information. Little ones will marvel at the giant marble replica of the First Amendment and the many interactive displays, but its the big kids and teens who will really take away the museums message about the important part news and the media play in our lives. The Great Hall of News, with a 90-foot atrium and a giant high-definition media screen, is a must, and the Berlin Wall Gallery, with a three-story guard tower and eight sections of the original wall, make striking statements. Sports buffs wont want to miss the Sports Theater, where the film Press Box shows some of the greatest moments in sports history, and the Internet, TV and Radio gallery follows the journey of technology from radio to todays high tech media. Theres so much to see at the Newseum, its a great idea to map out your visit first. newseum.org (888) 639-7386
Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park
(Williamsburg) 2-3 hour drive
Designed in the spirit of the great camps of the Adirondack, this log-sided resort is all about family. Complete with authentic log furniture, a massive stone fireplace and classic antler-style chandeliers, the three-story Great Room of the lobby is where fireside bedtime stories are read each night to the littlest "cubs" and the animated woodland characters of the two-story Rhythm of Nature Clock Tower put on a show three times a day. From the canvas tent-like booths of the restaurant to the guest suite upgrades that include genuine log cabins for kids to sleep in, no expense was spared in creating the Disney-like, Great Lodge atmosphere. The star attraction of this resort is the 67,000 square-foot, guests-only, indoor waterpark with nine waterslides, six pools and a four-story interactive treehouse waterfort with a huge tipping bucket regularly dousing 1,000 gallons of water onto guests below. For the daring, don't miss the Howlin' Tornado slide, a six-story funnel of extreme tubin' fun! There's also a glow-in-the-dark arcade, a full-service spa and the appeal of MagiQuest, a popular, scavenger-hunt-style game where kids enjoy doing magic with interactive wands throughout the hotel. Guests can enjoy the water park on the day of check-in as early as 1pm and stay until closing the day of check-out. Food at attraction. greatwolflodge.com (757) 229-9700
The Byrd Theatre
(Richmond) 1-2 hour drive
Richmond's Byrd Theatre is a jewel box you can step into. Built in the elegant French Empire Period style, this treasured movie palace looks much as did when it opened, on Christmas Eve, 1928. Glittering chandeliers ranging in size from 3â to 18â tall hang throughout the theatre. Greek and Italian marble, oil painted murals, stained glass windows and a cantilevered balcony are some of the amazing architectural elements in this grand old movie house, listed on state and federal historic landmark registries. On Saturday nights, organist Bob Gulledge plays the mighty Wurlitzer organ, transporting patrons back to the silent-film era. At $1.99 per person, the Byrd Theatre is the ideal venue for families to see a recent movie amid the grandeur of a historic landmark.
byrdtheatre.com (804) 353-9911
Monticello & Michie Tavern
(Charlottesville) 0-1 hour drive
Jefferson worked on perfecting Monticello (pronounced Mon-ti-chello) for nearly 40 years. His clever inventions abound, from the Great Clock in the hallway that ingeniously marks the days of the week as well as hours with a system of pulleys, to the polygraph copying machine used for his many famous letters and the dumbwaiter that brought food quickly up to the dining room from the basement kitchen. At this designated World Heritage site, the guides pride themselves on being fresh with each tour, so you can learn something new with each visit. Parents with young children will want to be sure to take one of the family tours for the hands-on extras that make the experience special for kids. The gardens are beautiful in every season, whether you enjoy the spring tulip display or the vegetable garden in summer; there you will understand its namesake - Monticello is Italian for "little mountain." Newly opened in 2009 is the expansive Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center and Smith History Center consisting of a new Welcome Pavilion, a beautiful new gift shop and a cafe in addition to four innovative exhibitions, a new introductory film and a hands-on discovery space. Just a stone's throw from Mr. Jefferson's home at Monticello is Michie (pronounced Mickey) Tavern, circa 1784. With well-preserved rooms and costumed guides, an authentic 18th-century experience is guaranteed. In its prime, Michie Tavern welcomed travelers and offered them a hearty meal in the Ordinary. Some say you can still hear the gaiety of several earthbound spirits who don't know the party ended 200 years ago! For those who walk among the living, Michie Tavern's dining room is open for lunch with a southern buffet based on mouth-watering 18th century recipes. The Tavern Gift Shop has terrific finds for history buffs of all ages. And speaking of history buffs, visitors can have some fun, 18th-century style, by dancing the Virginia Reel, donning a costume, or every writer's favorite, scratching out a note with a quill pen. Time Traveler's Passport Destination. monticello.org michietavern.com
Science Museum of Virginia
(Richmond) 1-2 hour drive
Imagine yourself climbing into a Piper Cub Airplane or a Friendship 7 spaceship replica! You can do this and much more at the Science Museum of Richmond, occupying the historic Broad Street train station. It offers more than 250 hands-on exhibits on four floors covering topics such as computers, electricity, biology, aeronautics and chemistry. Kids love making paper airplanes at the test station and browsing the butterfly collection. A favorite of aspiring engineers is the real train engine. It goes! National traveling exhibits make each visit unique and have included Chinese Astrology/Astronomy, Grossology, and Candy Unwrapped. As an added bonus, the Carpenter Science Theatre upstairs hosts a local troupe regularly performing for free with admission, and the five-story, domed screen IMAX theatre will make you feel as if you are part of the action. (There's a separate charge for movies.) During the cold months you can even stretch your legs out back in the Winter Skating Pavilion. Lectures, special events, astronomy activities and many hands-on workshops are posted on their website so you can plan your visit. Time Traveler's Passport Destination. smv.org (800) 659-1727
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