Free & Cheap Things to Do in Norfolk

Arts & Culture

Free world-class art museum with 5,000 years of art across 50+ galleries — ancient through contemporary, with a notable Tiffany glass collection. The adjacent Perry Glass Studio offers free public glassblowing demonstrations. Daily docent tours are free, no reservation needed. Open Tue-Sat 10-5, Sun noon-5; closed Mondays.

Address: 1 Memorial Pl, Norfolk, VA 23510

Tip: Free Tuesday-Saturday 10-5 and Sunday noon-5; closed Mondays. Free daily docent tours at 11 a.m. Tue-Sat and 2 p.m. Sun. Free parking on Mowbray Arch. Perry Glass Studio across the street runs free glassblowing demonstrations.

History & Museums

Maritime discovery center on the downtown Norfolk waterfront, with interactive exhibits on the maritime environment, industry, and military. Admission includes access to the Battleship Wisconsin — one of the largest and last U.S. Navy battleships ever built — for self-guided exterior tours and optional paid guided interior tours.

Address: 1 Waterside Dr, Norfolk, VA 23510

Tip: $3 admission with SNAP/EBT or VA Medicaid card (up to 4 people). VA and NC licensed teachers free with ID. Hampton Roads Naval Museum on the 2nd floor is free with admission. Open daily 9-5.

Parks & Nature

Eight-acre downtown waterfront park on the Elizabeth River, Norfolk's premier outdoor entertainment venue. Hosts free Norfolk Harborfest, Bayou Boogaloo, Juneteenth in the Park, Latino Music Festival, and the Norfolk Waterfront Jazz Festival. The Waterside Landing interactive fountain has 28 water spray jets reaching 12 feet high.

Address: 113 Waterside Dr, Norfolk, VA 23510

Tip: Almost all park events are free. Check festevents.org for the current concert and festival schedule. Interactive fountain runs through summer. Permanent high-tech stage with state-of-the-art acoustics. Adjacent to Waterside District restaurants and Nauticus.

Walking Tours

Self-guided walking tour through 400 years of Norfolk and American history — 20+ historic sites including the Revolutionary War-era cannonball still lodged in the wall of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (the only building to survive Lord Dunmore's January 1, 1776 attack on Norfolk). Roughly two hours at a casual pace.

Address: 232 E Main St, Norfolk, VA 23510

Tip: Pick up a free trail map at the Freemason Street Reception Center (401 E Freemason St) or VisitNorfolk (232 E Main St). Trail markers throughout downtown. Includes the MacArthur Memorial, Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Moses Myers House.

Arts & Culture

Free 12-acre estate on the Lafayette River with a nationally recognized art collection spanning 5,000 years, changing indoor and outdoor exhibitions, and the renovated Goode Family Visual Arts School. Twelve acres of gardens and waterfront grounds with art workshops, weekend Sunsets on the River concerts, and family-friendly programming.

Address: 7637 N Shore Rd, Norfolk, VA 23505

Tip: Free admission Tue-Sun 10-5; closed Mondays. Free parking. Check the events calendar for special closures (the Museum sometimes closes for exhibition installations or private events). Picnic-friendly grounds. Periodic free family art days.

Parks & Nature

Free 7.3 miles of Chesapeake Bay shoreline along Norfolk's Ocean View neighborhood, with three city beach parks featuring parking, restrooms, benches, and shade. Boardwalk, beach handicap access ramp, band shell for summer concerts, lifeguarded swimming, and the Ocean View Fishing Pier — one of the longest in North America.

Address: 100 W Ocean View Ave, Norfolk, VA 23503

Tip: Free entry and free parking at all three beach parks. Lifeguards on duty summer months. Ocean View Fishing Pier has a small access fee. Calmer water than the Atlantic-facing Virginia Beach. Sunset views over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

History & Museums

World's largest maritime museum at a permanent $1 admission — endowed by the Batten Foundation. Holdings include the Monitor's recovered turret, full-scale ship models, figureheads, and 35,000+ artifacts. The surrounding 550-acre Mariners' Park is free, with the award-winning 5-mile Noland Trail circling 167-acre Mariners' Lake.

Address: 100 Museum Dr, Newport News, VA 23606

Tip: $1 museum admission daily 9-5. Mariners' Park open daily 6 am-7 pm, free. The 5-mile Noland Trail is a dirt-and-wood-bridge perimeter loop, generally flat, popular with runners and walkers. USS Monitor Center is the showpiece exhibit.

Family Fun

Living museum and zoo combining 250+ native Virginia species across indoor exhibits, outdoor habitats, planetarium, and Discovery Center. View endangered red wolves, touch live horseshoe crabs and fossilized dinosaur tracks, and walk the elevated outdoor boardwalk through habitats from the Coastal Plain through Blue Ridge.

Address: 524 J Clyde Morris Blvd, Newport News, VA 23601

Tip: $5 with SNAP/WIC EBT (Museums for All), up to 4 admissions. $1 off for military, seniors, AAA. Free parking. Open daily 9-5; outdoor areas close at 4:30. Monthly Homeschool Days $10/student, $18/adult. Day planetarium shows add $6.

Parks & Nature

7,711-acre municipal park — one of the largest east of the Mississippi — with 30+ miles of trails through forest, field, and marshland. The Bikeway Trail is 5.3 paved miles; the Swamp Bridge Trail crosses the Warwick River wetlands. Two 18-hole golf courses, picnic shelters, native wildlife throughout.

Address: 13564 Jefferson Ave, Newport News, VA 23603

Tip: Free entry, free parking. Trails free. Discovery Center has free accessible exhibits. Watch for deer, foxes, otters, raccoons, beavers. Boat rentals and fishing licenses available. The Civil War-era Dam #1 site sits inside the park.

History & Military Sites

Free NPS unit at the historic 'Freedom's Fortress' — the Civil War-era fort where the contraband decision in 1861 first sheltered freedom-seeking Black Americans, where Jefferson Davis was imprisoned post-war, and where Lincoln conferred with his generals. The Casemate Museum walks through 400+ years of coastal fortification history.

Address: 41 Bernard Rd, Fort Monroe, VA 23651

Tip: Free year-round, no pass required. Casemate Museum open Wed-Sun. Walk the moat, the seawall, and the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse grounds. Sister site to Yorktown Battlefield and Colonial NHP — NPS interagency passes accepted. Free Junior Ranger program.

Parks & Nature

Free 3-mile concrete boardwalk along the Atlantic oceanfront from 2nd to 40th Streets, with separate walking and biking paths, four 'Live! On Atlantic' beachfront concert stages (most free), and Grommet Island Park accessible seaside playground. The iconic King Neptune statue and Naval Aviation Monument anchor the resort area.

Address: Atlantic Ave between 2nd St & 40th St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Tip: Free walking and biking, free music most summer events. Bike rentals available from boardwalk vendors. Parking meters and lots throughout the resort area ($2-5/hour). Free 'Live! On Atlantic' concerts run Memorial Day through Labor Day. Grommet Island Park is fully ADA-accessible.

Parks & Nature

Virginia's most-visited state park, where English colonists first set foot in 1607 before settling Jamestown. 2,888 acres along the Chesapeake Bay with 19 miles of trails through bald cypress swamp and maritime forest — one of the northernmost stands of Spanish moss in the US. 1.25 miles of beach.

Address: 2500 Shore Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Tip: $4 per vehicle weekdays, $5 weekends. Beach, swimming, fishing, kayaking. Trail Center has exhibits and a small bookstore. Bald Cypress Trail (1.5 mi) is the marquee easy loop. Park closes at sunset. Camping reservations through dcr.virginia.gov.

Walking Tours

Free self-guided walking tour through 250+ years of Portsmouth history — 20+ blocks of brick sidewalks, Federal and Greek Revival 'basement houses,' the 1799 Watts House, 1820 Grice-Neeley House, 1752 Ball-Nivison House, and Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (1857). One of the largest intact antique-home collections south of Alexandria.

Address: 6 Crawford Pkwy, Portsmouth, VA 23704

Tip: Free walking tour map at the Visitor Center (6 Crawford Pkwy). Three loop options (0.6 mi, 1+ mi, ~2 mi) with directions back to parking. History Alive offers paid guided 'edutainment' walking tours. Reach Portsmouth from Norfolk via the Elizabeth River Ferry.