Free & Cheap Things to Do in Virginia Beach

Iconic Landmarks

Free 3-mile oceanfront Boardwalk running from 2nd to 40th Streets, with a separated bike lane alongside, public art and monuments like the 24-foot King Neptune statue and Naval Aviation Monument, and free Oceanfront concerts most Wednesday evenings from June to mid-September. Street performers, golden sand, and ocean views the whole way.

Address: Atlantic Ave & Boardwalk, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Tip: Free Oceanfront concert series most Wednesday evenings early June–mid-September. The King Neptune statue at 31st Street and Naval Aviation Monument are free photo stops. Street performers work the boardwalk nightly in summer under the city permit program. Metered/garage parking; much of it free off-season.

Parks & Nature

Virginia's most-visited state park — 2,888 acres where English colonists first landed in 1607. Nineteen miles of trails wind through bald cypress swamp and maritime forest, plus 1.25 miles of Chesapeake Bay beach. The 1.5-mile Bald Cypress Trail boardwalk over the blackwater swamp is the signature walk.

Address: 2500 Shore Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Tip: Parking is $5 weekdays / $7 prime-season weekends for Virginia vehicles ($7/$9 out-of-state); there's no per-person admission. Grab a free trail map at the Trail Center. Cape Henry and Bald Cypress are the most popular trails; bikes are allowed only on Cape Henry and Live Oak.

Parks & Nature

The nation's first landfill-turned-park — a 60-foot, 800-foot-long 'mountain' built from compacted trash and clean soil in the early 1970s, now a free city park with two lakes, a skate park, and the 26,000-square-foot Kids Cove playground. A genuine local landmark and the city's best kite-flying hill.

Address: 310 Edwin Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23462

Tip: Free parking and entry daily. The Kids Cove playground includes a wheelchair swing. Bring a kite — the main mountain is the top flying spot in town. Lake Windsor allows kayaks; freshwater fishing at Lake Trashmore needs a Virginia license.

Family Fun

Virginia Beach's marquee family attraction — two buildings of sea turtles, sharks, rays, and a 300,000-gallon ocean tank, plus an outdoor Nature Trail and harbor-seal habitat. A working marine-science center that runs sea-turtle stranding rescue and year-round school and homeschool programs.

Address: 717 General Booth Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Tip: Over the site's usual $20 mark, but the area's top rainy-day pick — reserve online to lock in entry. Homeschool admission is $15/student year-round ($25 per chaperone), and the last Friday in January is Homeschool Day at 50% off. Boat trips for whale and dolphin watching are extra.

History & Military Sites

One of the world's largest private collections of flying WWI and WWII aircraft, most restored to airworthy condition and kept in period hangars on a grass airfield in rural Pungo. Docents walk you through fighters, bombers, and a reconstructed German hangar, and the planes actually fly at special events.

Address: 1341 Princess Anne Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23457

Tip: Open daily 9–5 (a 10% admission tax is added at the till). Seniors, military, and teachers pay $15. Check the events calendar for flying days and the Warbirds Over the Beach air show, when the vintage warbirds take off. Home-educator group visits run $8/student.

Arts & Culture

Virginia Beach's contemporary art museum, reopened in April 2026 in a new 35,000-square-foot building on the Virginia Wesleyan University campus. Rotating exhibitions of contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, and new media fill the galleries — and admission is free for every Virginia resident.

Address: 5811 Wesleyan Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23455

Tip: Free for all Virginia residents (just show ID); children under 12 are free for everyone. Open Wednesday–Sunday 10–4. Note the 2026 move from the old oceanfront Parks Avenue building to this new Wesleyan Drive campus. There's no permanent collection — shows rotate, so check what's on first.

Parks & Nature

More than 9,000 acres of barrier-island marsh, maritime forest, and dunes at the city's southern tip — prime birding, especially during fall snow-goose and tundra-swan migrations. Miles of dike trails and quiet beach, with remote False Cape State Park reachable on foot or by seasonal tram beyond.

Address: 4005 Sandpiper Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23456

Tip: Entry is $5/vehicle April–October and free November–March — pay cash or check in the yellow envelopes, or buy a day pass on Recreation.gov. No pets on the trails. The visitor contact station has exhibits; the Bay and Dune trails are the easy walks. Bring bug spray in warm months.

Historic Sites

One of the oldest brick houses in America (about 1719), set on a quiet lawn along the Lynnhaven River. Free guided tours run every 45 minutes through the period rooms and colonial-revival garden, telling the story of early settlement in what became Virginia Beach.

Address: 1636 Parish Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23455

Tip: Free admission; open Thursday–Saturday 10–4 and Sunday 1–5, with tours every 45 minutes. Part of the Virginia Beach History Museums, whose school and homeschool field-trip programs run $7/student. A combination tour ticket covering the Francis Land and Lynnhaven houses too is $9.

Historic Sites

A circa-1805 plantation house on Virginia Beach Boulevard, once home to five generations of the Land family of planters. Free tours cover Tidewater farm life and the distinctive gambrel-roofed architecture, while a short nature trail and herb garden sit behind the house.

Address: 3131 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23452

Tip: Free admission; open Thursday–Saturday 10–4 and Sunday 1–5. Part of the Virginia Beach History Museums. The back nature trail and gardens are free to wander whenever the grounds are open. Its central Boulevard location makes it an easy stop between the oceanfront and Town Center.

Museums & Galleries

Housed in the 1895 de Witt Cottage — the oldest surviving house on the Virginia Beach oceanfront — this free museum celebrates the region's decoy-carving and waterfowling heritage with antique decoys, wildfowl art, and live carving demonstrations by resident carvers.

Address: 1113 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Tip: Free admission, donations appreciated. It sits right on the Boardwalk at 11th Street, so pair it with a beach walk. Watch resident carvers at work in the museum or boathouse, and browse the beachfront gift shop. Hours are seasonal, so check ahead in winter.

Parks & Nature

A free 100-acre city park near the oceanfront with several themed gardens, anchored by the Miyazaki Japanese Garden — koi pond, stone lanterns, and a promenade honoring Virginia Beach's sister city in Japan. A fragrance garden, Bee City pollinator garden, and cherry trees round it out.

Address: 1398 General Booth Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23454

Tip: Free entry and parking. The Japanese garden is loveliest in spring, when the city's Cherry Blossom Festival is held here. The park also has playgrounds, a dog park, picnic shelters, and sports courts. It's quiet, walkable, and a few minutes from the aquarium on General Booth Blvd.

Shopping & Strolling

A walkable arts enclave a few blocks off the oceanfront, named to The New York Times' '52 Places to Go in 2026.' More than 100 murals and public artworks line the streets alongside indie galleries, coffee roasters, makers, and restaurants, with free First Fridays and the Old Beach Farmers Market bringing it to life.

Address: 17th St & Cypress Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Tip: Free to explore 365 days a year. The self-guided mural walk is the highlight — pick up a map at any district business. First Fridays and the seasonal Saturday Old Beach Farmers Market are both free. Park once near 18th Street and wander on foot.