The Virginia Tourism Corporation has long recognised the Scots-Irish heritage of the state, and actively promotes Scots-Irish tourism opportunities. The website www.virginia.org contains historical information about the Scots-Irish history of the state, and provides information about more than thirty sites with Scots-Irish connections. (We wonder when the Ulster tourism organisations will do likewise and start to create meaningful and exciting Ulster-Scots tourism experiences?)

Located between Richmond and Virginia Beach, the Historic Triangle is one of America’s most popular tourist destinations.
From 1699–1780, Williamsburg was the political and cultural centre of Britain’s colony in the New World, and is named after King William III. It is America’s largest living history museum, spread over 300 acres. Even today the streets echo to the familiar sound of marching fife and drum bands, dressed in 1600s costume! Jamestown, 400 years old this year, is the site of the first English settlement in America, and founded exactly one year after the Hamilton and Montgomery Settlement of east Ulster. Yorktown was one of the main centres of the American War of Independence, and like Williamsburg, fife and drum bands are a regular sound.

The Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia in Staunton, Virginia is a living history museum. The Museum features five historic, reconstructed working farms from Germany (1710), Northern Ireland (1730), England (1690), Botetourt County, Virginia (1850), and Rockingham County, Virginia (1773).

The farms represent the daily lives and agriculture heritage of the peoples who immigrated to the New World and formed a unique American culture. The Museum is an educational agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Come and explore the life and legacy of President Woodrow Wilson at his birthplace, museum and research library. Enjoy a personal tour through the Wilsons' home: a self-guided tour of the museum where our treasures, such as Wilson’s restored Pierce Arrow limousine, tell the tales of Wilsons' early years, presidency, suffrage, prohibition and World War I; a stroll through the Victorian-style terraced gardens; a trolley ride through 19th century downtown historic Staunton to enjoy shops and restaurants or take in a play at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

The Shenandoah Valley was the first region of Virginia to be settled by Ulster-Scots pioneers. Today it is home to one of America’s most beautiful national parks, with the breathtaking Skyline Drive motoring route winding through the world famous Blue Ridge Mountains

Virginia Beach was the initial landing point for the Jamestown ships in May 1607 before they sailed further inland to Jamestown island, establishing the first permanent English settlement in America. Virginia Beach is twinned with North Down Borough Council – North Down was of course the initial location of James Hamilton’s home in 1606 at the beginning of the Hamilton and Montgomery Settlement, establishing the first permanent Scottish settlement in Ireland. Another great destination for family holidays.