Travel Back in Time by Visiting These Living History Museums

Our family loves visiting Plimoth Patuxet Museums in Massachusetts because each trip offers a unique experience. Why does it always feel new? It’s partly because it’s a living history museum that recreates historical communities, with actors portraying real people from that time period. My husband enjoys trying to get the actors to “break character,” but so far he hasn’t succeeded.

The 2023 U.S. Family Travel Survey found that people who went on skip-generational trips, traveling with grandparents and grandchild, preferred visiting museums and cultural attractions. Here are some living history museums you can visit in the U.S.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums

Location: Plymouth, Massachusetts

Admission: $35 for adults, $31.50 for adults 65-plus

Offerings: Plimoth Patuxet spans more than 30 acres and features four distinct settings, all based on early 17th-century New England, approximately seven years after the Pilgrims arrived. The main campus is a recreation of an English village on one side and a Native American Wampanoag community on the other. “We teach history by recreating immersive historical environments,” says Malka Benjamin, the director of colonial interpretation and training.

Interpreters acting and dressed like a Pilgram can be found in the English village. Whereas the Native American community is comprised of people who are Wampanoag or members of other Indigenous tribes who aren’t acting. The other two campuses located about 2.5 miles from the main campus, in downtown Plymouth, are the Plimoth Grist Mill and the Mayflower II. “A lot of folks think that the museum is really just for kids, and I would say that’s a really big misconception,” Benjamin says.

Special events: Fall Harvest Dinners and Thanksgiving Day Buffet. Offered in October and November, visitors can experience what it was like to dine in the 1600s, featuring authentic recipes from the era and interpreters serving the meal. “The oldest recipe that we serve is from the first-known collected English cookbook from 1390 which is called, The Forme of Cury,” Benjamin says. The Thanksgiving buffet is only served on Thanksgiving Day. Tickets go on sale in June and sometimes sell out.

Mystic Seaport Museum

Location: Mystic, Connecticut

Admission: $31 for adults, $29 for adults 65-plus

Offerings: Mystic Seaport is a recreation of a New England coastal village based in the 19th century including a working shipyard and 500 ships. Even though it’s a recreation some of the homes are historic. “A few of the houses were moved from other parts of [New England] to our village,” says Amanda Furlong, the marketing and communications manager. In the village, interpreters dressed as people from the 1800s bring history to life. Many are skilled in trades such as cooperage, printing, cooking, and other crafts. Guests can watch while interpreters cook meals, Furlong says.

Special events: WoodenBoat Show. In June, visitors can learn how to build boats and see more than 100 wooden boats such as kayaks, daysailers and schooners.

Colonial Williamsburg Museum

Location: Williamsburg, Virginia

Admission: $31.50 adult single-day pass (online)

Offerings: “Colonial Williamsburg is often called the largest living history museum in the nation,” says Ellen Peltz, the public relations manager. She explains that this distinction is based on the property’s 301 acres and the extensive size of its historic collections. The village features 89 original buildings and 500 reconstructed ones, all designed to reflect the late 18th century. “It’s an entire city,” Peltz says. “We have people who are doing first-person interpretation.”