The Best Things To Do In Colonial Beach, Virginia

There’s more to this coastal town on the Potomac River than its celebrated flip-flop lifestyle, including award-winning wines, family-friendly festivals, and a rich presidential history.

Once called the “Playground on the Potomac,” Colonial Beach is an eclectic small town of fewer than 4,000 residents that is known for its sandy beaches, osprey, murals, and palm trees. Yes, palm trees, which are donated each year and are the calling card of Colonial Beach. It’s also the birthplace of two U.S. presidents: George Washington and James Monroe. You’ll even find Bell House, a summer residence of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone.

This one-time resort town sits quietly on a small peninsula, boasting warm sunrise views over the Potomac River and vibrantly-colored sunsets across Monroe Bay. To be honest, Colonial Beach is still largely a secret, despite a location that’s just 90 minutes from Washington, D.C. For those in the know, however, it’s the perfect place to scoop up a weekend cottage.

This four-block wide beach town is also noted for its golf carts. Got a golf cart? You’ll fit right in. No golf cart? No worries. Rent one at T and T Golf Cart Rental or Custom Cartz. Golf carts are so popular that the town has a gram-worthy sculpture on the beach that features what the town holds in high regard—osprey, oysters, flip-flop life and sandy shores—all perched atop a golf cart.

What to Do

Situated on Virginia’s Northern Neck, Colonial Beach is steeped in presidential history thanks to James Monroe Birthplace Park & Museum and George Washington Birthplace National Monument, which sits on 550 acres of Popes Creek Plantation and features a museum, farm buildings, a Colonial Revival-era garden, and two nature trails. Less than 25 minutes from Colonial Beach is James Madison’s birthplace, Belle Grove Plantation, which is now a bed and breakfast.

Colonial Beach is also a part of the Chesapeake Bay Wine Trail, which features nine wineries, including Monroe Bay Winery and Ingleside Vineyards, both of which are a short drive from the five beachfronts in Colonial Beach. Ingleside Vineyards notably won a coveted gold medal at this year’s Virginia Governor’s Cup awards for its 2021 Albariño.

For craft beers, you’re covered in Colonial Beach too, thanks to Colonial Beach Brewing and Ice House Brewery, which also has a small marina. In 2024, Ice House expects to dock tiny houseboats as overnight rentals too. A few doors down from Colonial Beach Brewing is the Museum at Colonial Beach. It’s a tiny three-room museum that’s only open weekends, but you’ll find well-preserved town artifacts, like newspaper clippings, photographs, and memorabilia.

The museum is a good starting point for the town’s self-guided walking tour, which features historic buildings, including a church, inns, a general store, and a school house. Along the way, you’ll spy a dozen colorful murals that speak to the town’s history and heritage, including seashore scenes that depict Colonial Beach’s early days as a resort town.

For retail therapy, and maybe a few choice wines, pop in the shops on Hawthorn Street, including Beach Paws Boutique, Hawthorne Mercantile, and Circa 1892, which was so named for the year that Colonial Beach was incorporated. Circa 1892 is a new gourmet shop that sells wines, cheeses, chocolates, and cigars, as well as artfully-crafted charcuterie boards.

Colonial Beach is a festival town too, hosting multiple annual events, like the Virginia Osprey Festival in April and Colonial Beach Bike Fest in September. It’s also a cinch to get around Colonial Beach. Zip around town on a golf cart or jump on the free trolley that operates from 11 am to 7 pm on weekends during the summer season, picking up riders hourly at 17 stops across town. Given Colonial Beach is barely four miles long, it’s completely walkable too.

Where to Eat

For a small town, Colonial Beach offers a surprising variety of seafood restaurants, coffee shops, tiki bars, and ice cream shacks, even Mexican restaurants (three are three taco joints in town). Dockside Restaurant & Tiki Bar, which sits at the very tip of the peninsula, is the hands-down favorite among visitors and locals thanks to live music, colorful picnic tables, palm trees, thatched tiki umbrellas, and stunning waterfront sunsets.

Wilkerson’s Seafood Restaurant, which you’ll pass as you drive into town, lures you in with river views, but the seafood is first-rate too. Wilkerson’s has been a mainstay in Colonial Beach for more than 75 years. The all-you-can-eat seafood buffet on weekends draws in the crowds.

There are new spots in town too, like Orchid Thai and Oomboon Restaurant, which interestingly is heralded for its sushi and French cuisine. Want to take lunch out to the beach? Stop in Circa 1892 for salads, sourdough grilled cheese, artisan baguette sandwiches, and house-made soups.

Where to Stay

When you want to stay the weekend, look to Riverview Inn, a historic 1950s motel that was refurbed to preserve its classic charm. The uniquely cyan and crimson retro-style motel is among the most photographed in town, especially its large neon sign on the street corner.

Colonial Beach is also home to historic inns, like the Colonial Beach Plaza Bed & Breakfast, as well as a number of comfortable Airbnbs with vacay-worthy names like Anchors Away, Crab Shack, and Sunnyside Up Cottage.

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