- 1. The James River plantations (about 40 minutes)
- 2. Williamsburg and Jamestown (about 50 minutes)
- 3. Fredericksburg (about 1 hour)
- 4. Charlottesville and Monticello (about 1 hour)
- 5. Shenandoah National Park (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
- 6. Virginia Beach (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
- 7. Norfolk (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
- 8. Washington, DC (about 2 hours)
- 9. Luray Caverns (about 2 hours)
- 10. Roanoke and the Blue Ridge Parkway (about 3 hours)
- 11. The Outer Banks (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
- 12. Chincoteague and Assateague (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
- Getting out of Richmond without a car
- Cheap weekend getaways from Richmond by car
- Last-minute weekend getaways from Richmond
Richmond sits within a comfortable drive of more variety than most people give it credit for, and the twelve below are ordered by how long it takes to get there. Drive times are for clear roads, so add to them for a Friday evening start.
1. The James River plantations (about 40 minutes)
A string of 18th-century estates along Route 5 between Richmond and Williamsburg, several open to visitors. They are also where the enslaved labour that built them is now documented properly, which is the more useful reason to go.
2. Williamsburg and Jamestown (about 50 minutes)
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history town rather than a museum, and Historic Jamestowne down the road is the actual 1607 site with an active archaeological dig.
3. Fredericksburg (about 1 hour)
A compact old town with four major Civil War battlefields within a short drive of it, and a main street that handles the eating and drinking side of the weekend.
4. Charlottesville and Monticello (about 1 hour)
Jefferson’s house on its hilltop, now told alongside the Mulberry Row exhibits on the people he enslaved. The Downtown Mall and the Monticello Wine Trail fill the rest.
5. Shenandoah National Park (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
Skyline Drive runs 105 miles along the ridge with overlooks the whole way. Old Rag is the famous scramble and now needs a day-use ticket in the busy months.
6. Virginia Beach (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
Three miles of boardwalk and a long flat beach, with First Landing State Park at the north end for cypress swamp and maritime forest instead of arcades.
7. Norfolk (about 1 hour 45 minutes)
The battleship Wisconsin on the waterfront, the Chrysler Museum with its glass studio, and the largest naval base in the world running tours.
8. Washington, DC (about 2 hours)
The Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery are free, which is what makes a DC weekend affordable once you have solved the parking.
9. Luray Caverns (about 2 hours)
The largest caverns in the eastern United States, with an organ that plays the formations themselves. Combines naturally with Shenandoah into one weekend.
10. Roanoke and the Blue Ridge Parkway (about 3 hours)
A revived railway town with a good market and a star on the mountain above it, and the Parkway running in both directions from the doorstep.
11. The Outer Banks (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
Barrier islands with tall dunes at Jockey’s Ridge, the Wright Brothers memorial at Kill Devil Hills and Cape Hatteras stretching south. Traffic on summer Saturdays is the catch.
12. Chincoteague and Assateague (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
Wild ponies, a working fishing town and a national wildlife refuge on the Eastern Shore. The pony swim in late July is the busiest the island gets.
Getting out of Richmond without a car
Unusually good for a Southern city. Amtrak runs frequently north to Washington in around two hours and on into the Northeast Corridor, and there are direct services east to Williamsburg, Newport News and Norfolk, which covers four of the trips above without driving. Shenandoah, the Outer Banks and the Eastern Shore all need a car.
Cheap weekend getaways from Richmond by car
- Washington, DC: the Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery are free
- Shenandoah: one park pass covers the whole of Skyline Drive
- Fredericksburg: the battlefields are free to walk
- Virginia Beach: the beach and boardwalk cost nothing outside parking
Last-minute weekend getaways from Richmond
- The James River plantations, forty minutes and rarely busy
- Fredericksburg, an hour with beds most weekends
- Washington, DC, where the free museums need no tickets
- Norfolk, large enough for a same-day room
If you are deciding on the day, work backwards from the drive rather than the destination: anything under two hours leaves you a genuine Saturday, and anything past four is really a three-day trip wearing a weekend label.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
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