OPEN DAILY
Gift Shop & Ticket Sales:
9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Guided House Tours:
10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m.
Explore Berkeley’s gardens, grounds, exhibits, river shore, and museum at your own pace
Grounds close at 5:00 p.m.
Upcoming Events
Berkeley Homeschool Days
October 1 through 8, 2024
During the first week in October, Berkeley will offer a special rate to homeschool students and their families. Enjoy a guided house tour and learn about eighteenth- century life on a plantation. Explore the museum of paintings and artifacts, walk the five terraces of restored gardens leading to the James River and make your way through Berkeley’s corn maze. Picnic tables are available or bring a blanket and enjoy a picnic by the river shore.
The rate during this exclusive offer is $10.00 per adult and $6 per student (k-12).
Reservations are required for groups of 10 or more.
Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch
October 1 through November 30, 2024
Bring the family to Berkeley to explore the colorful autumn gardens, river shore, and exhibits. Pick a pumpkin and find your way through the corn maze. The corn maze is included in Berkeley’s regular tour admission, an additional fee is charged to take home a pumpkin. Children can take part in our scavenger & nature hunts. Picnic tables are available or bring a blanket and enjoy a picnic by the river shore.
Twilight Ghost Tours
October 11, 25, & 31, 2024
Berkeley’s History and Hauntings will a “maze” you!
Hear the tales of Berkeley’s paranormal activities during a guided tour through the 1726 mansion, followed by a lantern-led walk through the gardens, grounds, and cemetery. You will then finish your ghostly experience with Berkeley’s challenging corn maze, with only the light of your lantern. $24.95 per person. Reservations required.
Virginia Thanksgiving Festival at Berkeley Plantation
November 3, 2024
Celebrating the First English Thanksgiving in the New World
Join us for a day dedicated to history, food, and fun with a living history program, tribal dancers, arts, crafts & jewelry vendors, choral music, Thanksgiving foods and a re-enactment of the Landing of Capt. Woodlief & his men.
Activities and entertainment 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Thanksgiving re-enactment and program 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
For more information, visit: virginiathanksgivingfestival.net
Welcome to Berkeley Plantation
Step back in time to a bygone era and experience a genteel eighteenth-century lifestyle. Nowhere can you find a more unspoiled and tranquil environment. Our history begins in 1619 when settlers observed the first official Thanksgiving in America. Berkeley’s 1726 Georgian mansion is the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison V, signer of the Declaration of Independence and three times governor of Virginia. The estate is also the birthplace of William Henry Harrison, ninth president of the United States, and ancestral home of his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third president. During the Civil War, Berkeley was occupied by General George McClellan’s Union troops. While at Berkeley, General Daniel Butterfield composed the familiar tune “Taps,” first played by his bugler, O.W. Norton.
Berkeley’s mansion is furnished with a rare collection of eighteenth-century antiques, Chinese porcelain, and English silver. Costumed guides tell stories of the first Thanksgiving, the Harrisons, Civil War, and the present owners of Berkeley. Native American, Colonial, and Civil War artifacts, along with historical paintings and exhibits, can be explored in the eighteenth- century basement museum. The original kitchen dependency and reconstructed slave quarters tell the story of the enslaved workers that lived and worked at Berkeley. Grounds tours are at your own pace and include five terraces leading to the banks of the James River with benches along the way to sit and enjoy the views.
During the autumn season, pick a pumpkin and explore Berkeley’s corn maze. On the first Sunday in November, Berkeley celebrates the historic 1619 landing. In December, the plantation is decorated with traditional holiday decorations of fresh greenery from Berkeley’s gardens. Tours, gift shop, museum, exhibits, special events, and children’s activities make visiting Berkeley an educational and fun experience for the entire family.
A Virginia and National Historic Landmark
Photography:
Gary Smith Images
Historical Firsts Await
America’s First Thanksgiving (1619)
The Creation and First Playing of “Taps” (1862)