Yorktown Battlefield

Where the American Revolution effectively ended. In October 1781, Washington's Continental Army and Rochambeau's French forces trapped Cornwallis against the York River while a French fleet blocked the sea; after a three-week siege the British marched out and surrendered, and within two years Britain recognised American independence.

The ground is remarkably legible. Earthworks, redoubts and siege lines survive or have been reconstructed, and two driving tours — a 7-mile battlefield loop and a 9-mile encampment loop — take you through them with an audio guide that explains the engineering of a siege far better than a plaque could. Redoubt 10, which Alexander Hamilton stormed at bayonet point, is walkable. The visitor center holds Washington's original field tents and the surrender field is a short drive away.

Practical: National Park Service, modest fee or free with an NPS pass, open daily. Budget two to three hours to do a driving tour properly; the introductory film is genuinely worth the fifteen minutes. Exposed and hot in summer.