Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson

We planned on climbing Old Rag mountain today in the Shenandoah National Park. The weather ended up being too bad to climb and so we decided to switch our days around and head to the Monticello plantation sitting on a hilltop just outside of Charlottesville. The plantation was built and run by the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. He designed the house there, which is now a world heritage site and he owned over 600 enslaved people in his lifetime. The historic area includes a visitors centre which houses the ticket office, a museum and a short film about the life of Thomas Jefferson. We did not end up having time to look around this area. We headed up the hill to catch our house tour slot. There is a shuttle from the visitor centre to the house and gardens but I would recommend walking the trail up which is less than half a mile and takes no more than 15 minutes. The ticket price includes a house tour of Jefferson’s house, a garden tour (which we did not do but you are free to walk around on your own), a slavery tour, a short film and exhibit on Sally Hemings and a discussion with Thomas Jefferson himself. We were really really impressed with the quality of the tours; the guides had a really in-depth knowledge and understanding of their topic areas and their Thomas Jefferson played a fantastic role in helping us understand the contrived and controversial figure Jefferson was. With all of the tours and discussions which each lasted approx. an hour as well as just looking around the grounds, reading the information boards and enjoying the hilltop views we ended up spending our whole day at Monticello. We really enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to anyone travelling near Charlottesville or the Shenandoah National Park.