Virginia Wine & Equestrian Country

Estimated Tour Pricing Inclusions: 4 nights’ accommodation; 4 breakfasts; 4 lunches; 2 dinners; admissions, entrance, and guide fees as stated in the itinerary, including taxes, and gratuity. Except gratuity for guide fees is not included on adult tours unless otherwise requested.

• Included Welcome Dinner
• The Rotunda
• Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
• Historic Michie Tavern
• Ash Lawn-Highland
• The Marshall House
• Vineyards
• Carriage Museum
• James Madison’s Montpelier
• Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

• Visit the Academical Village at The University of Virginia. The Rotunda was designed by Thomas Jefferson as the architectural and academic heart of the University’s community of scholars. He named the University’s original buildings the “Academical Village.” As the phrase suggests, the Academical Village is based on the Jeffersonian principle that learning is a lifelong process, and that interaction between faculty and students is vital to the pursuit of knowledge. Jefferson modeled the Rotunda after the Pantheon, a second-century temple in Rome. Construction began in 1822 and was completed in 1826, shortly after Jefferson’s death on July 4 of that year. Together with Monticello, the Academical Village is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Check-in to your local hotel.
• Enjoy a welcome dinner included this evening at a favorite local restaurant. Each day, homemade casseroles, are prepared garden-fresh fruits and salads, country style vegetables, fresh baked bread, and dessert selections to please everyone. You will also find more high-quality meat choices than any other buffet around. Slow-cooked pot roast, smoked BBQ and ribs, and famous hand-tossed fried chicken, along with our homemade mashed potatoes and countless other vegetable choices put us in a class of our own! (Meals: D)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart, arrive at Monticello, and catch the shuttle to the house. the mountaintop home of Thomas Jefferson. The house is a remarkable integration of classical architecture and modern innovation designed by Jefferson and built on the mountain top where he had played as a boy. Mr. Jefferson named his home Monticello, meaning Little Mountain and always used the Italian pronunciation of Monticello (mon-ti-chel-oh). We will also visit the spectacular Gardens and Mulberry Row, the plantation “street” along which Monticello slaves lived and labored.
• The Visitor Center is built around an open courtyard with fountain that upon opening visitors immediately began tossing Jefferson nickels in to. The green energy saving buildings includes galleries, educational facilities, theatre, gift shop, and a great café with indoor and outdoor seating. Mr. Jefferson would be proud!
• See Thomas Jefferson's World, in the Carl and Hunter Smith Education Center a 14-minute introductory film that dramatically present Jefferson’s ideals and accomplishments and illustrate Monticello’s central importance to his life and work. The film is shown on a 16-by-9-foot screen in a 2,400-square-foot theater with 125 seats. Tour new Robert H. and Clarice Smith Gallery: The Words of Thomas Jefferson, an innovative exhibition in which quotations by and about Jefferson are projected in light. Thomas Jefferson and ‘the Boisterous Sea of Liberty,’ an exhibition tracing the development and ongoing influence of Jefferson’s ideas about liberty through an interactive presentation on a wall of high-definition screens.
• Monticello as Experiment: ‘To Try All Things,’ an exhibition that explores Jefferson’s use of Monticello as a laboratory for his belief that “useful knowledge” could make life more efficient and convenient. Making Monticello: Jefferson’s ‘Essay in Architecture,’ an exhibition covering the architectural origins, construction, and 40-year evolution of the iconic Monticello house.
• Enjoy lunch included today at Historic Michie Tavern (pending availability). This is one of the oldest homesteads remaining in Virginia. The Tavern and its outbuildings offer a glimpse of 18^th-century life through the exhibit of handcrafted furnishings and artifacts. It contains one of the largest and finest collections of pre-Revolutionary furniture and is expanding its exhibit through the historical restoration of 18^th-century structures. Hearty, Typical colonial fare is served in “The Ordinary.”
• Stop at the General Store located within the Meadow Run Grist Mill, next door to Michie Tavern. The store features a variety of Virginia’s finest gifts. A Christmas Shop, jewelry, apparel, pewter, collectibles, food, and beverages can be found in the store.
• Depart and visit Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of Jefferson’s good friend and fellow President James Monroe is a 535-acre estate where visitors can find the atmosphere of an early 19^th-century working plantation. Monroe held more major offices than any other President.
• Return to hotel to refresh. Enjoy dinner on own in historic downtown Charlottesville are just a mile away from hotel. (Meals: B, L)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel prior to checking out.
• Depart and visit James Madison’s Montpelier, home of the 4^th President of the United States and Father of the Constitution, James and Dolley Madison. This 1-hour tour of the mansion includes information on Madison the man, The Constitution & Bill of Rights, Slavery – Madison’s big regret, and his wife, Dolley – America’s first First Lady. Depart and continue to Leesburg, VA.
• Arrive to family owned Vineyard located deep in the heart of Virginia's Loudoun County, down a gravel road on a dairy farm that dates back three centuries. Take a short winery tour and enjoy wine tasting along with “A Little Bit of Loudoun” specialty food sampler, which includes Devilish Good Eggs - praline bacon, spiced pecans; Smoked Salmon Bruschetta – goat cheese, remoulade, ciabatta; Pulled Pork BBQ Sliders – potato roll, Italian style vinegar slaw, house made blackberry whisky BBQ sauce; and A Taste Of Loudoun Bar – 64% Manjari dark chocolate, dehydrated strawberries, freeze dried rose petals.
• Depart and arrive to one of Northern Virginia’s “old school” wineries located in Virginia Hunt Country, surrounded by the majestic beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Built by a family with a passion for grape growing and the love of wine, Dry Mill Vineyards & Winery combines old country grape varietals with the latest wine-making techniques to produce deeply satisfying, approachable wines for all palates. Wine tasting included.
• Depart for dinner on own in Historic Downtown Leesburg. Check-in to area hotel. (Meals: B, L)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel prior to checking out. Depart with gourmet box lunch.
• Arrive to Long Branch Farm. In the spirit of historic Virginian hospitality, we cordially invite you and your family to come spend the day with us at Long Branch Historic House and Farm. Imagine Long Branch as your home - stroll the grounds, view the beautiful gardens, enjoy a picnic on our lawn with your family, take in the views, and experience our rich history.
• Depart and visit an upscale Vineyard that offers wines in a country setting. Award winning, hand crafted wines in a variety of styles and unmatched atmosphere & picturesque views. Arrive to the breathtaking vineyard that has been owned by the family for over twenty years now. While the Virginia winery, which was built by father and son, is only four years old. Some of the vines have been flourishing for over sixteen years.
• Enjoy your box lunch with glass of wine (on own).
• Visit The Marshall House, home of George C. Marshall, citizen-soldier-statesman and author of the Marshall Plan, which laid the groundwork for post-World War II European recovery and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. Surrounded by gardens, it offered a retreat during WWII.
• Visit Morven Park, a 1,000-acre historic estate and horse park.  Located on the grounds are the Morven Park Mansion, the Winmill Carriage Museum, formal boxwood gardens, miles of hiking and riding trails, and athletic fields.
• Enjoy an included dinner at a popular local restaurant. Return to hotel after eating. (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel prior to checking out.
• Depart and visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The displays include the Space Shuttle Enterprise, an SR-71 Blackbird, Dash 80 prototype of the Boeing 707, the B-17 Flying Fortress, an F-4 Phantom fighter, the B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, and the de Havilland Chipmunk. On site there are restaurants, a large theatre, gift shops and more.
• Next, visit a local brewery on an 8-acre farm. Enjoy a tasting and chow down on some pizza & BBQ before departing for home. (Meals: B, L)

Base rate does not include motor coach transportation, airfare, airport transfers, driver gratuity, guide gratuity, (student groups exempt) or any upgrades or add-ons unlisted from itinerary as stated. Pricing may vary based on day of arrival or other conditions. Personalized itineraries with custom pricing and/or additional transportation can be created and added based on client needs and upon client’s request. MARS will customize quotes or personalize itineraries for FREE.