The Ultimate East Coast Road Trip for the Family That Loves 'Hamilton'
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Joan Marcus Hamilton
Listen to the show’s tunes on Spotify or download the Hamilton: The Revolution audiobook to keep your squad pumped during this themed family road trip.
Duration: 7.5 hours in the car over 5 or 6 days
Best age-range: Kids 7 and up
Yorktown, Virginia
Drive: 3 hours
Start your journey at the Yorktown Battlefield, where “the world turned upside down.” The 16-minute film in the visitors’ center, The Siege at Yorktown, gives a great overview. Join a free 45-minute Seige Line walking tour led by a park ranger. Then go to the newish American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. The galleries have interactive exhibitions and films relating to Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette, and other key players.
When it comes to hotels, stay at The TownePlace Suites by Marriott.
Washington, D.C., area
Drive: 2 hours
If you can spend two days here, stop at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home, in Virginia. See its “Be Washington: It’s Your Turn to Lead” exhibition, narrated by Chris Jackson, who played Washington in the original Broadway production. Your family can sit under Washington’s vine and fig tree (remember it from “One Last Time”?). Drive into D.C., and check into your hotel; the Hyatt Place at the National Mall has spacious rooms.
Get an early start the next day. “The Washington Monument was a must for us,” says Maria Keller, of Akron, Ohio, who took her three kids on a Hamilton road trip last year. Keller’s family also stopped by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives Museum to see Hamilton’s documents.
Philadelphia
Drive: 2.5 hours
Check into the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia, a historic, kid-friendly hotel across the street from Independence Hall, the heart of all the attractions. Start with a self-guided tour of the U.S. Mint, Hamilton’s brainchild, and then walk a few blocks to the Museum of the American Revolution. Get a photo op in the lobby with life-size dueling bronze statues of Hamilton and Aaron Burr (on display through September), and check out other Hamilton artifacts.
New York City area
On your way into New York City, swing by the Dueling Grounds, in Weehawken, New Jersey, to see where Burr shot Hamilton.
“That was the most moving part of our trip,” says Keller. “My youngest said she could imagine both what it was like for Hamilton and how New York looked without skyscrapers.”
Stay at the W New York Times Square, near the Richard Rodgers Theatre, the home of Hamilton: The Musical, or downtown at the Conrad New York, a short walk from the graves of Hamilton, his wife, Eliza, and sister-in-law, Angelica, at Trinity Church’s Cemetery. Two other close stops to consider: 57 Maiden Lane (“The Room Where It Happens”) and Federal Hall (“My Shot”).
Take the subway to Harlem for a guided tour of Hamilton’s House at the Hamilton Grange National Memorial. “We also went to the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, which displays a lot of Hamilton’s original writings,” says Simran Baidwan, of Los Angeles, who took her son on a Hamilton trip for his eighth birthday. After the show, bring your Playbill to the stage door to get autographs.
RELATED: 7 Fun Cities to Visit With Kids
