I had one $#@& tour guide send me to the wrong place to wait for our tour, which then started 15 minutes early. Then openly mocked me for bringing me children (6, 9, 11) on the tour. In front of an entire tour group. Despite this guy...
this place is fantastic. The gardens, the views, the architecture museum. We spent 4hrs here learning and being awed by the significance and history of it all. My wife and I could have easily spent more time there, but kids.
We did the cheapest tour, which is only the ground floor. If it was just the two of us we'd have done the full thing to see the dome. I highly recommend getting there early and doing the architectural museum at the bottom of the hill before going up. Spend a good 45 minutes doing all the reading and learning of what Jefferson did before going to lay eyes on the building.
One of the most well done tours I’ve ever been to.
Amazing experience from the drive in to the tour. We purchased the Behind the Scenes Tour that takes you into the house and the rotunda—it’s worth the investment! You get to walk through history. We saw the actual books Jefferson owned, his bed, his personal tools, and so much more. The tour guides are insightful, thoughtful, and kind. Getting to walk through history has no substitute! Highly recommend for anyone visiting Charlottesville!
It was a great tour. Our guide Don was amazing. Every encounter with the workers was nice except for the lady driving the shuttle and the lady checking tickets to get on the bus.
It’s a must see when you are in Charlottesville. The house had incredible views to the blue ridge mountains and nearby fields. I recommend a guided tour because they share interesting stories of the family and items in the house.
This an awesome place to visit! You can spend most of the day here if you tour the house and walk through all of the out buildings and take part in a few of the walking tours. The gift shop is first class and have recreations of furniture (expensive) and simple items like pencils and kids toys. They did a very good job of talking about Jefferson owning slaves and his children that he had with Sally Hemings. Overall, I felt they did a great job of interpreting history without leaving out the good and the bad.
Great place to visit and get a taste of our founding father. A very complex personality. And the actor playing Jefferson was incredibly knowledgeable. All in all a memorable experience. Although hard to understand why he did not free all of his slaves even though he believed all men are created equal.
Awesome Experience & Tour of Monticello! Highly recommend taking the guided tour. Monticello is filled with much history, inventions, interesting architecture and gorgeous gardens of President Thomas Jefferson's. Over the years, I have gone on the guided tour three times and I always learn something new. My favorite are all the inventions of Thomas Jefferson. I also love walking though the amazing vegetable gardens and flower gardens. Highly recommend if you are in the area & especially if you enjoy history.
Monticello is a beautiful historic location with lots to do. What I love is you can freely walk the property or take guided tours. You will learn about all kinds of history on the families who lives in the home as well land itself. The architecture is breath taking and hard to believe it was built on top of a mountain. A must see for individuals and families!!
Leave yourself plenty of time. There is quite a bit to see. The guides were friendly and informative. Thomas Jefferson was an incredible man. This is the home he built over many years. His wife only saw part of the original building. He retired here. It's in a magnificent location and well designed. There are many original pieces and little has had to be restored. It is inspiring to visit even though much of the focus was on slavery. That is part of history. I would have liked to see more focus on the declaration of independence and more on his life. I am inspired to know more about the man. I hope to return and recommend all going.
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