American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

A state museum covering the entire Revolution rather than just the siege — from the tobacco economy and colonial grievances through the war to the writing of the Constitution — and the counterpart to the National Park Service battlefield down the road.

The galleries are modern and heavy on artefacts, with a wraparound film of the Yorktown siege that uses wind and smoke effects and is better than that description suggests. Outside, a Continental Army encampment and a 1780s farm are staffed by interpreters who fire flintlocks and cannon on a schedule, tend tobacco and demonstrate camp medicine. The interpretation gives real weight to the enslaved and Native people whose choices in the war are usually left out.

Practical: open daily, around $20, combination ticket available with Jamestown Settlement. Two to three hours. A free shuttle or a 20-minute riverside walk connects it to the Yorktown waterfront.