Capital Region Cruiser

Fourteen nights around the capital region, and the least driving of any trip they sell at under 700 miles. This is a history trip rather than a scenery one, arranged from the UK with flights, car and hotels together.

Four nights in Washington open it, which is about right for the Mall and the Smithsonians. Then two nights in Annapolis on Chesapeake Bay, home of the Naval Academy, and three in Philadelphia for Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the art museum steps. Lancaster County and its Amish farmland lead to Gettysburg, where the battlefield is still laid out as it was fought.

The second week goes south into Virginia. Harpers Ferry sits where two rivers and three states meet, and Skyline Drive runs the ridge of Shenandoah National Park from there. Charlottesville follows, with Monticello, the house Jefferson designed and kept redesigning for forty years. Then Richmond and the James River plantations, and two nights at Williamsburg, where the Colonial Parkway links Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement, with Yorktown, where the war that started at the other end of this trip was finished.

Seven stops over fourteen nights, five of them lasting two nights or more, and short drives throughout. Two things to settle when you enquire: the itinerary finishes at Williamsburg with a return to Dulles the following day rather than looping back as the page describes, and Skyline Drive closes in ice and snow, which the page does not mention. The itinerary is bespoke and departures are arranged around your dates. It suits anyone more interested in where America was decided than where it looks best.