Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

Patricia Abbitt was our tour guide to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. She is an entertaining and informative presenter of the home and the historic artifacts from Thomas Jefferson's home. She is animated and lively and thoroughly enjoyable. No wonder this site is so well visited with excellent tours provided!

We loved it and cannot say enough good things about the things we learned and the things we saw. Definitely go see!!!

Pros:
1. Beautiful scenery, especially in the fall, try to go when the fall leaves are at their peak. We missed it by a week, so the colors weren't as pretty.
2. Tour guides were great, very knowledgeable.
3. Very educational
Cons:
1. Their cafe, The Farm Table is overpriced for what you get. It's self serve similar to a cafeteria and the portions were very small. I would recommend packing a lunch and eating in their pavilion. This is why I gave this review 3 stars.
2. Ticket prices are a little high for what you get. We paid for the highlights tour which includes the first floor of the house and the grounds. If you want to see the second floor, you have to pay for the behind the scenes tour which is $95, a little steep in my opinion.
Some tips to keep in mind:
1. Try to get there earlier so you can view all the exhibits and see all the tours. There are two timed events that are included with your ticket: Thomas Jefferson impersonator and the Slavery at Monticello tour. Times are 12, 1, and 3pm.
2. Give yourself plenty of time to check out the garden and other exhibits. There's an exhibit at the visitor center, in the Gallery. You can enter either enter on the first or second floor. If you have enough time, perfect time would be either before or after your scheduled tour, it's right by the shuttle stop.
3. When you're done with your visit, take the trail to Jefferson's grave then walk down to the visitor center. It's .35 miles downhill and it's very pretty.
4. Remember to take everything you need with you from the car. You could be there for hours, so have plenty of snacks/food so you don't get hangrey.
5. There's a security check point at the entrance, so allow time for that.
That's it, I hope you found this helpful.

Purchased the grounds ticket, and well worth the price of admission. Greeted by informative staff upon arrival, and took a quick complimentary shuttle up to the Monticello. They have free tours that run throughout the day. Ashley did such an amazing job guiding us all though the history of Mulberry Row. We learned about several different enslaved families that resided theres. Then we went to take pictures with the Monticello (the building on the back of the nickel) and down to the grave site of Thomas Jefferson. We went late on a Sunday so it wasn't very crowded and were able to take a lot of great pictures. I don't know how the experiences are for the pricier options, but the grounds option was excellent and I highly recommend it. You should give yourself at least an hour and a half, but could do a few hours there if you have the time.

A wonderful stop for anyone looking to learn a bit more American history (and still enjoyable even if you're just along for the ride!).

First off, the entirety of Monticello is absolutely beautiful and so well-taken care of. There is so much to see and learn here, but just having the chance to stand and take it all in is also very enjoyable.

We did the highlights tour (it was around $42/person). Tour guide was so knowledgeable & encouraged any and all questions. Once the tour is done, you have the chance to peruse the grounds on your own - there's so much to see.

We took the bus to Monticello, but then we walked back to the visitor's center. On the way, you will pass the Monticello Graveyard and have the option to see and pay respects to Thomas Jefferson's resting place.

Definitely book your tickets in advance to make sure your time doesn't sell out.

Highly recommend stopping here.

My husband and I visited Monticello in the Spring , and we had a beautiful visit! Everyone was very helpful and friendly. Perry gathered us up and started giving us information on the grounds. Our tour guide was Charlie. Both men did a fantastic job! Charlie was informative, friendly and funny. The grounds were in full bloom and lovely. The 15 minute movie, which is included with the day pass was great! We had a quiet lunch on the back deck and got a visit from a raven. Thank you for making our first impression of Monticello a memorable day.

We did a self guided tour, which was perfect for us. Expensive, but that is to be expected for historic sites these days. Good signage in the rooms, and you were able to follow along on an audio tour. They do have a "life of the slaves" separate tour that runs several times each day.

This is a great place to visit if you're in the Charlottesville area and have any interest in American history!

The grounds are very nice, the tours are very well run and the docents are extremely knowledgeable. There are a few tours that come with the standard tour and tickets that I highly recommend doing if you have the extra time.

The hiuse itself is very cool to see. The architecture and historical significance truly make this a one of a kind type of visit!

Monticello is worth a visit if you like a little bit of history and find yourself in the Charlottesville/Central Virginia area. The home itself is a fascinating glimpse into the unique architecture and artwork of the time period as per Thomas Jefferson's personal style. It's not as ornate or lavish as the turn of the century historical homes of the Vanderbilt/Rockefeller era, but that's a good thing as it is more historically accurate to an earlier time period.

There are a variety of ticket options. While some may consider it expensive to pay $42 for a tour, Monticello doesn't have any sort of state or federal funding, so the price is reasonable, and they have invested heavily in the visitor experience. The have ample free parking and a nice modern visitor/welcome center with restrooms, shops, a cafe, a theater with a film, and museum exhibits. They also have lots of friendly staff and a shuttle that drops you off right near the home. I'd feel different if they didn't offer these visitor-friendly services, but it all seemed worth the cost for me. The home is on a beautiful mountain top and the grounds/gardens are a pleasure to explore. The tour itself was done by a very friendly guide, and she really took the time to explain things in each room and answered any questions anybody had. The 45-minute tour was perfectly thorough without history overload (there are other tour options for those who want more history or topic-specific tours like examining slavery). All in all, a tour of Monticello was a nice experience, so it's a unique historical attraction I'd recommend to others. It's a one and done attraction that I'd probably not want to visit again, but definitely glad I made the time to visit this historical mountain top home of our 3rd president and drafter of the Declaration oof Independence.

Mary was our tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and helpful. Everyone helped open doors for the scooter (very handicap accessible); AMAZING staff! Every single person we encountered was welcoming, pleasant & helpful! The blueberry ice cream at the shop was soft, flavorful & amazing. The shuttle bus came fast & everything ran efficiently. The property is beautiful & worth a visit.

What's not to like about this historic site? Incredible history, maxing views, lovely well manicured grounds, excellent guides, and walking trails.
Today we enjoyed the grounds and garden tour. As locals, we have visited the site a lot and we're interested in "something to do" with views and flowers and Monticello never disappoints.
Beyond the grounds, the cafes and shopping are also well thought out and classy.