Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

The grounds and visitor’s center are very, very nice and well-​kept, although I didn’t think there was that much of interest in the «museum.» It seem like the gift shop was bigger than the museum, so that should tell you something.
Monticello, the house itself, is very, very cool. But the tour only takes you (VERY quickly!!) through the rooms on the ground floor. So you really see maybe ¹⁄₃^rd of the structure. You can lead yourself on a basement tour, but you can’t even go upstairs! I thought the tour guide was great, and he was very knowledgeable and even entertaining. There are so many neat little details and gadgets, and I learned some fun things about TJ. But overall, I wanted to do/​learn/​see MORE.
The gravesite of TJ is here also, so it’s neat to be able to pay respects to such an important historical figure, although the obelisk erected there now is not the original tombstone.
It’s worth going if you’re within a few hours’ drive, but probably not worth a special trip way out of your way. Especially given Charlottesville otherwise is a pretty terrible town.

We were visiting friends in Charlottesville for the weekend and Monticello was on my must-​do list. As a nerd and history major in college, I love visiting historical homes and the homes of men and women important to our history. Monticello is an amazing place for anyone interested in Thomas Jefferson, architecture, cartography, or history. Our entire morning there was amazing — there was a quick heavy storm, followed by a double rainbow to start our tour. Our tour guide was young, enthusiastic, and very charismatic. The tour was about 45 minutes, and I wasn’t bored for a minute of it! The grounds are beautiful as well — so take the walk back to the tourist center through the woods. And don’t miss the cemetery where Jefferson and many members of his family are buried.

As the culminating event to my recent study of Thomas Jefferson, I visited his beloved Monticello plantation in Charlottesville, VA on New Year’s day. The drive to the visitor center was pleasant and there was ample parking upon arrival. The day pass w/​the house tour was $ 20 (it’s free for active duty military) and the shuttle to the main house was free (or you can walk the trail).
I found the tour very interesting and a great way to round out my historical knowledge. Certainly the «paradox of liberty» is keenly felt and pondered as one navigates from the house to Mulberry Row, the «industrial hub… for dozens of free whites, free blacks, indentured servants, and enslaved people» (
). Back at the visitor center, there is a an introductory film that is played throughout the day and exhibitions over various aspects of Monticello. There is also a new online exhibition that is highly recommended and can be studied anytime called Landscape of Slavery: Mulberry Row at Monticello
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I definitely recommend checking out the website first, especially the «visit» tab — there are a couple of suggested itineraries, like the «Presidents Passport» and «Presidential Itinerary» that might expand your experience and facilitate the planning stage of your Virginia adventure
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Lastly, if you have time, I recommend driving to the 4 miles to the University of Virginia, «the hobby of Jefferson’s old age» and a visit to historic downtown Charlottesville.

Oh, I adored Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. The grounds are absolutely breathtaking and everything you probably ever needed to know about Thomas Jefferson can be answered by their very knowledgeable tour guides. The drive up here was so picturesque and exciting given the property was on top of a hill. If you have a set tour time, get there 1-​hour to 45 minutes before your tour’s start time. There is a short film (about 15 minutes long) that the guides recommend you to watch, then you can board the boss that will take you up the hill. Also, if you choose to, there is a walking path that leads you up the hill to the home. After exiting the bus, your tour guide will meet you and the tour starts. Feel free to take as many pictures outside the house and the cellar areas of the house. Photographs in the house are strictly forbidden. Be sure to ask as many questions as you’d like. The house has aged some and about 75% of what is in there are still original pieces from when Thomas Jefferson resided there. You will only get to see the main floor (foyer, office, bedroom, common areas, extra rooms, etc). You will learn about how innovative this man truly was and how he was ahead of the times with the overall theme and design of his home. He brought back influences from European architecture and applied it to his home. Thomas Jefferson loved learning and was a big believer in education. After all, he was the founder of the still standing University of Virginia. He also loved family and opened up his house to his kids, grankids and siblings at one time. He made perfect use of the space that he had. So much history in this home. Explore the gardens where he honed his farming skills and the graveyard (that is still active) where him and his family members are buried. My family and I decided to take the quick (less than 1 mile stroll) back to the Visitor’s Center. Their café is fabulous! Surprising enough, there were healthy options that did not break the bank. For those with kids, head down to the children’s discovery zone and let the kids play with several replicas from the home (his office, his bed, etc.). Before you leave, don’t forget to pop by the gift shops for some souvenirs from Monticello. FUN FACT: Did you know Monticello is what is shown on the back of the nickel? So cool, right?

Visiting Monticello was one of the best things I have ever done with my spare time. I was traveling through Charlottesville, and made a point to visit this historic place early in the day on the day of my departure.
I’m not exactly a history buff. or an academia enthusiast. But I’m a big fan of the TRUTH. And non-​fiction. Everything about Monticello is an incredible and factual account of Thomas Jefferson’s life, and the how important this home was to him. I just have to add, because I could hardly believe it myself — it’s no secret there were some ugly truths in Thomas Jefferson’s life, and everything about Monticello shied NONE away from these historical facts. It is really is a 360 experience of one of the most important forefathers of our country, good, bad and ugly, and I came away blown away by everything I learned.
It’s $ 25 for the basic house tour, and access to the grounds, which was all I had time for (and could afford) when I visited. There was a more in-​depth tour about slavery at Monticello, and some other ‘add-​ons’ I didn’t experience.
SO worth the visit.

How do you write a review about a unique and iconic landmark? A historical legacy?
I’ll simply stick to the facts and record my personal impressions.
To start, I’m a fan of Jefferson, his mind, ideas, thoughts and achievements. A visit to Monticello is a chance to see some of those ideas made real and perhaps a chance to better understand who he was and what inspired him.
As an experience, the drive to Monticello was a nice start. It is mid October, the surrounding countryside is lush with trees just beginning to turn from green to a variety of fall colors.
Parking lot is very full, a busy day, but not so busy that we had to wait. Short walk to the visitors center where we were able to buy tour tickets for the house tour ($ 25 per adult) easily from the automatic ticket machine. House tours are scheduled and we were able to get three tickets for the 12:30 tour; we arrived around 11:00 am.
Note: if you’re on a schedule you can purchase tickets online ahead of time to ensure that you get the time and date you want.
With time to spare before the tour, we visited some of the Visitor Center offerings; the short (approximately 17 minute) movie gave a nice introduction to the life and times of Jefferson.
Short bus ride up to the top of the hill let us out a short distance from the house. We waited till our appointed time, received brief instructions and away we went on the tour.
The tour was nice, the guide did a fine job and there was much (to much) to see.
The rest of the time was spent meandering the grounds, looking into many of the outbuildings. We ended up taking the walking path back, passing by the Jeffersons grave.
A very enjoyable and educational day.

Given a choice between touring Mt Vernon or Monticello, I’d choose Monticello. Both, of course, are fabulous, but Monticello seemed more personal to me, more imbued with Jefferson’s spirit than Mt Vernon was with the Washingtons. If you are a gardener, it’s worth the trip to see the heirloom plants in the gardens. Tthe sunset view over the Blue Ridge mountains is unforgettable and getting to see all of Jefferson’s inventions is worth the price of admission.
Because Monticello is in a more remote spot than Mt Vernon, you can better imagine what is was like there in Jefferson’s time.
Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not dissing Mt Vernon — you should see them both — but Monticello is far more interesting and beautiful IMHO.

My fiancé and I were in Charlottesville, VA for a wedding in August and decided to stop by and check out Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s 18^th century estate. I have mixed feelings about Monticello, given its history, but it was still on my bucket list for a while. The estate itself is LOVELY. The house is very classy and the garden and grounds are exquisite. I loved the gardens most of all. So many beautiful flowers and such a beautiful outdoor walking space on a nice pre-​fall day.
We took a formal tour of the house and our tour guide was very informative and polite, even if she was a bit long-​winded.
What I didn’t like was how they glossed over some of the darker parts of the estate’s history. Also, the tour was quite expensive — $ 25 per person. But I know it goes to the upkeep of the estate and the tour guides.
There’s a shuttle that goes up to the estate from the visitor’s center. The shuttle and tour and walking the grounds took, in all, 2 hours. It’s about 10 minutes’ drive from downtown Charlottesville, VA and is definitely worth a visit.

As part of a business trip to Charlottesville, I had the opportunity to enjoy a tour of Thomas Jefferson’s house at Monticello with some colleagues. I had no idea how huge this place was. When you arrive to the front you have to take a bus to get to the main house. The inside of the house is beautiful, and the tour guide was very knowledgeable about everything and was able to answer every question we had. One thing I appreciate is that he didn’t give us that watered down history that puts every American historical figure in a 100% positive light, they also talked about his hypocrisy in having illegitimate children with Sally Hemmings. It’s good to get the real scoop, because it’s a lot more interesting.
You can also take a tour of the field from the «slaves perspective» which we didnt have time to do, but it sounds like a nice educational experience. The gift shop is also reasonably priced.
All in all it’s always good to experience history and not learn about it watered down, for that I commend this place.

Very interesting tour! As a JMU student, since I live in Rockingham county — I got in for free! I’m sure if you go to Radford or Tech you can too.
Anyways, the tour is cool and you learn a lot about Jefferson. The tour guide, Tom, was really funny and answered all the questions people had. The garden outside was beautiful and it’s great to see where history took place!

I guess this place is a must see when in Charlottesville
Much smaller than I thought, but definitely worth seeing given it’s historical significance.

Monticello is a great American historical destination and should be a must stop for any serious history buff. Our family of five just completed a day visit that was very educational and informative.
Your first stop after parking is to the small center that contains the museum shop, ticket office, theater and café. This little visitor center surrounds a fountain and is well maintained and keeps with the bucolic atmosphere of the surrounding area and the grounds of Monticello. I’d recommend the movie before going to the house and gardens. It is 20 minutes and provides a basic primer on Jefferson and Monticello, highly informative for our kids. You take a short shuttle ride up to the house and proceed on a 30 – 40 minute tour of the main floor of the house (there is now a tour of upstairs but it is $ 30 more than the standard tour, tickets are limited and they recommend purchasing ahead of time).
Jefferson’s relatives sold the property to pay off debts and American’s owe a debt of gratitude to the Levy family who bought the property and carefully maintained the integrity before selling it to the newly formed Jefferson Trust in 1923. The house is in remarkably great condition and there are scores of original artifacts, in addition to period pieces that provide a great glimpse into Jefferson’s era and interests. Our tour guide was knowledgeable on the scripted talking points as well as any questions that came from the tour.
After the tour inside, we spent a great deal of time roaming the exterior grounds, including the terraces that included the cooking rooms, beer and wine cellars as well as the slaves quarters. The grounds are immaculately maintained and enjoying the flowers and the garden along with the views of the surrounding rolling green hills and distant Blue Ridge Mountains is highly relaxing. It is not hard to understand why Jefferson loved this place. They also offer a garden tour and discussion on the slaves on the plantation though we didn’t do either of those
This is such a well-​maintained property that provides a glimpse into one of the giants of American History and is a wonderfully immersive informational experience that should not be missed.

Support the preservation of History and spend a lovely day with views for miles and miles.
One can feel the love and attention the staff dedicate to this place, and care for it’s upkeep.
Very well run. Plenty to explore outside of the tour.

Part of our Sunday-​Funday in Charlottesville, we decided to check out The Monticello. First time that I had been here, and he hadn’t been here since he was a kid.
Tickets were $ 25/​person for the day pass. We hung out and walked around as we waited for our specific tour time. Stopped in the café to get a little dessert and refreshments, which was surprisingly very nice with tons of selection from salads, sandwiches, made-​to-​order food to pies, cakes, and cookies! I had the coconut cream pie and he had a chocolate chunk cookie. They were both very yummy!
We decide to head up to the shuttle on the second level. They take us up to the house and then you have a 30 minute tour inside with about 15 people. No pictures are allowed inside, which was a bummer. The tour was great. Our guide was friendly and personable. We learned a lot about Jefferson and his interests as well as his family.
There are additional outdoor tours (included in the day pass) you can take to see the gardens/​grounds and then one of where the enslaved people lived and worked. We did the house tour and then walked around the gardens/​grounds ourselves. We opted not to take the tour of the enslaved people, as we didn’t think it would be a positive experience…
As for the house and grounds, Jefferson was a great architect, and overall, a very intriguing individual. The museum, exhibitions, discovery room, and gift shop were put together nicely. We definitely enjoyed the views and history, but not a fan of people who supported slavery, even though it is well-​speculated that Jefferson had children with one of the slaves, Sally Hemings.
Great place to view great architecture, which has had a great deal of preservation for so many years, and to get a glimpse into a different era.

A great tour of TJ’s house and his many knickknacks. You can tell, by the history and décor of his home the man had a brilliant mind, but he was an enigma for sure.
When you get in, the visitor center will sell you the tickets ($ 25 per person) and tell you what you need to know in terms of logistics. You’ll need to get on a shuttle in order to make it to the house (yes, the area is that big). Our tour guide was fun and very knowledgeable. She made the tour interesting and worth our while. The house itself is small but the surroundings are huge and it has an incredible view. Maybe this is just my observation, but Monticello has a similar resemblance to the Jefferson monument in DC.
Depending on the tour you choose, you can also get a feel of the other parts of the property. We were able to see and learn about the lives of the servers/​slaves he had in his property, including Sally Hemmings who is believed to have been his mistress. It’s also worth to take a look at the Jefferson vineyards which is only a 5 minute drive.

I feel kind of bad for not giving this place five stars, but it was a little underwhelming to be honest. On the plus side, the staff here was great and at least after paying $ 25 to get in you can see where the money is going.
The part I did not like though was tour itself seemed so crowded and rushed inside his house. They had a group going in each room and it was a bit chaotic. Our guide also did not seem to know what she was talking about. There was a 10 year old girl in our group that seemed to know more about the place than her (or me) and was asking basic questions she could not answer.
I am glad I went but I probably only need to see the place once in my lifetime.

Beautiful grounds, fabulous renovations so why only 3 stars?
We were the last tour at 5:10 pm and they close at 6, so the tour felt rushed a little and she could have gone into much more detail, which she knew because she was able to answer all the questions.
I was hoping on the way back they would let us stop at the gravesite and get out, but it was really a stop, stay on the shuttle listen to the recording and go.
It does have a good theater and gift shop.

Look, don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge lover of colonial history and the people who made it happen. I’ve been to a ton of the houses, sites and battlefields which are both famous and infamous from that timeframe both big and small. With that in mind I really thought that Monticello would be a slam dunk no doubt five star review/​experience except after visiting I’m really left feeling almost like it wasn’t fully worth going.
Let me explain, a visit to Monticello is much more than the just the house if you want it to be and that’s a good thing considering the price.
You can:
* Watch the film at the visitor’s center
* Go into the gallery by the visitor center to see displays about Jefferson’s words/​thoughts/​ideas and on how Monticello was built twice with Jefferson building it once and then coming back from France to tear it down and rebuild it as it stands today.
* Go to the smallish Discovery Room with kids 5 – 11 for a few interesting hands on activities.
* Of course, tour the house/​pay extra for one of the specialty tours that take place either daily or throughout the year.
* Explore the gardens and grounds.
* Stop by the graveyard.
* Take the Mulberry Row slavery tour.
I’m sure there might be other things to do but that covers it in a basic enough way.
While the grounds are nice, they certainly are not nicer than say what’s at Mt. Vernon for example which has a lot more of everything, most of which is still used in some form or other to show you first hand what things would have been like at the time the owner was still alive. The issue simply is that a place like Mt. Vernon gives you more to see/​do for less $$$.
The Monticello house tour while interesting, is just so rushed as to make it more or less non-​enjoyable. It’s the like the McDonalds drive thru window of history. You’re going from room to room with more or less little to no time to stop/​admire/​ask questions before being pushed along into the next room. Sure there’s a few minutes with your guide for Q&A outside the house when your done but the group sizes are large and clearly the guide has limited time before they need to go back in and start over with another tour.
Our guide compared to a few others that I saw wasn’t very good. He was I guess alright in the information department but he had what seemed to be a sore throat which made him difficult to hear in general let alone compared to other guides that were human megaphones plus he had recently been out of the country for a while and as he said «was still a bit rusty in the remembering things department».
We did the first slavery tour of the day at 11am and the information was interesting to a point but it was also quasi-​whitewashed where the volunteer/​guide didn’t want to get into things with too much depth and at the same time it was very difficult to hear him because the group size was huge, there is work being done to the front columns of the house plus we had ye olde fuel truck backing up to make a delivery to the currently closed food/​office? building on Mulberry Row.
I supposed for a better deal we could have paid for the behind the scenes tour of the second floor/​dome which would have been more personalized but I couldn’t justify paying more than double ($ 55 per person regardless of age) for something that I wasn’t sure was worth it and there was at least one volunteer I spoke with during our visit who had been up there a few times («R») who said that «off the record» it wasn’t.
Where does this leave everything for me?
I guess in a weird limbo where parts of the place like the gardens/​grounds are very nice but that is tempered by a lack of outbuildings/​shops/​trade building like you would find at other similar type places.
Just like the house itself is very detailed/​nuanced/​beautiful but what good is it if you can’t fully enjoy it because you’re being pushed thru way too fast to ever possibly enjoy/​be immersed in what you are experiencing?
I’m glad we went but I’m left with a feeling that it was very much a once and done type of thing where I truly can’t imagine why I would trek five plus hours to come back when better interpreted sites/​buildings/​homes exist far closer to home for me let alone that they’re cheaper as well.
If you go:
Basic day pass tickets are $ 25 per adult from March-​October and $ 20 from November-​February with kids 5 – 11 being $ 8 year round. Other paid tours exist during different times of the year all of which are explained on the website.
Included in the basic day pass is a guided tour of Mulberry Row (tours start on the hour 11 – 4 April-​October and a tour of the gardens and grounds also starts on the hour from 10 – 3 from April-​October.
(One noteworthy kudo is that for the visitor center movie they do have Bill Barker from Colonial Williamsburg playing TJ. It makes sense seeing as arguably he is THE best TJ interpreter in the world.)

It’s hard not to rehash the obvious — the folks running Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello know what they’re doing.
The most well known of the three Presidents in this area (shout out to Madison and Monroe), Jefferson’s Monticello is the nicest and best tourist attraction outside of Charlottesville. For a reasonable price (discounts galore — make sure you do your research i.e. Students get in for free), you are treated to at least a 2 – 3 hour tour of the man’s life, his house, and botanical gardens.
Your tour starts in the visitor center where you watch a short film about the life of the man. You are then shuttled up to his house and taken on a tour of the grounds and inside. Jefferson was an amateur architect, and a good one at that — he designed the entire place himself, and it’s equal part grand as it is a little eccentric. Besides the house, you also have the option of walking around his estate, including visiting a replica of his farmland complete with slave quarters and the Jefferson family grave site. Our tour guide was magnificent and was obviously some sort of Jefferson groupie.
My girlfriend and I spent several hours here, and I would honestly go again if given the chance. The perfect day is brunch at Michie’s Tavern, tour of Monticello, then finish the day at one of the nearby wineries, the most obvious choice being Jefferson Vineyards. It is well worth the time and money.

What a fantastic place. Defiantly worth the $ 25/​per person admission.
I’ve wanted to check out this historic site for 10 years now. Seeing it is real life was amazing. Jefferson was brilliant. Inventor, father of many, and writer of the declaration of independence. I could go on and on about the tours. I will instead say this:
Budget 4 hours to visit the house and gardens.
Wear good shoes. There is plenty of walking.
Now the nice surprise at the end of the day:
The snack shop was reasonably priced and the food was good. At the end of the tour we were starving and I braced myself for bad food at outrageous prices. Jefferson wouldn’t have it! He brought freedom to the tourists with lots of health choices, good prices, and a lovely outdoor area to sit in. What’s more I saw families bring their own packed lunches and picnic in the outdoor area. No one seemed to mind.

Diese Museumsanlage ist wirklich einen Besuch wert: Jefferson war eine äußerst interessante Persönlichkeit. Die Betreiber von Monticello haben sich sehr Mühe gegeben, die vielen Facetten Jeffersons Person zur Geltung zu bringen. Der Eintritt ist okay; für das Geld wird wirklich viel geboten: Neben Jeffersons Wohnhaus ist auch der Garten zu besichtigen und der Arbeitsbereich des damals großen Grundstücks. Im Wohnhaus gibt es viele spannende Details. Man kommt mit einer Führung durch das Haus: Beim Eintrittzahlen bekommt man eine feste Zeit für eine Hausführung zugeteilt. Unsere hat uns die Ess– und Weinaufzüge gezeigt und uns engagiert auf viele Dinge aufmerksam gemacht. Ausserhalb des Hauses fand ich den Gemüsegarten interessant, aber das lag vielleicht auch nur an unserer internationalen Gruppe: das Wort für Schwarzwurzel in Englisch, Französisch, Spanisch und Deutsch abzugleichen, war einfach lustig. Die gesamte Anlage ist angenehm.
Das zugehörige Museum versucht, Jeffersons politische Ideen in den geschichtlichen und politischen Kontext zu setzen. Seine Prägung der Unabhängigkeitserklärung in Einklang mit dem Einsatz von Sklaven auf seinem Anwesen zu bringen, ist unmöglich. Beides wird dargestellt und in seiner Widersprüchlichkeit beleuchtet.
Ohne Auto kommt man kaum dorthin. Wer etwas Vernünftiges essen möchte, sollte das vorher tun: in der Cafeteria gibt es eine Auswahl an Sandwiches; die warmen Optionen waren nicht so toll. Aber das ist ja nicht so wichtig