A Five-Day Journey Through New Jersey’s Living History

Explore battlefields, mansions and colonial taverns where the American story was written

By Randy Mink

Follow in the footsteps of Washington, Hamilton, and other revolutionary figures on this five-day, history-rich itinerary through New Jersey.

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Great New Jersey attractions:

Fort Lee Historic Park
Boxwood Hall State Historic Site
Morristown National Historical Park
Monmouth Battlefield State Park
Princeton University Art Museum
Red Bank Battlefield Park

Five-Day New Jersey Itinerary

Day 1 of Things To Do in New Jersey

Start your journey through Revolutionary times at Fort Lee Historic Park, enjoying scenic views of the New York City skyline and Hudson River from atop the cliffs in Palisades Interstate Park. Exhibits in the visitor center’s museum spotlight Fort Lee’s role in the Revolutionary War. The strategic site was chosen by General George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, to defend against British warships. A reconstructed campsite, gun batteries and soldiers’ hut help tell the story.

Next, head to Elizabeth to learn about colonial life and America’s early aristocracy at Boxwood Hall State Historic Site. Built around 1750 in the Georgian style, Boxwood Hall was the home of Elias Boudinet, president of the Continental Congress that ratified the 1783 Treaty of Paris, and Jonathan Dayton, youngest signer of the U.S. Constitution. George Washington visited the home in 1789 en route to his presidential inauguration in New York City. Alexander Hamilton was a frequent visitor.

Top lunch choices for your group in Elizabeth include Tropicana Diner & Bakery, Valenca (Portuguese) and Del Porto Italian Restaurant.

At Liberty Hall Museum in Union, your group will see exquisite antique furniture and decorative artifacts collected over seven generations by families who called the mansion home. Located on the campus of Kean University, the grounds include an elegant English garden and a maze, plus some of New Jersey’s oldest trees. Liberty Hall was built in 1772 by William Livingston, New Jersey’s first governor and a signer of the U.S. Constitution. During a recent restoration of the wine cellar, museum staff uncovered one of the largest collections of 18th-century Madeira wine in the United States. Liberty Hall’s Firehouse Museum, built in 2004, houses three antique fire engines, including a rare 1911 American La France Metropolitan Steam Engine, and other firefighting memorabilia.

Day 2 of New Jersey Attractions

Morristown National Historical Park preserves the site where George Washington and his army spent the brutal winter of 1779-1780 during the Revolutionary War. Galleries at Washington’s Headquarters Museum & Library contain exhibits related to the encampment. Tours of Ford Mansion, where Washington spent the winter with his wife, Martha, reveal period furnishings and a few original 18th-century items. The park has re-created five of the more than 1,000 soldier huts that housed 12 men each.

For lunch in Morristown, consider The Colonial Grill, 1776 Morristown or South + Pine American Eatery.

In Piscataway, historical interpreters bring the past alive at East Jersey Old Town Village through trades and crafts. Reconstructed and replica 18th and 19th century structures include homes, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, a schoolhouse, church and tavern.

Continue south to Monmouth Battlefield State Park, near Manalapan, the site of a day-long battle in which Washington and his men emerged victorious. Exhibits and audio-visual programs at the visitor center bring into focus the heroism and horror of the battle, which is refought in fiber optic animation on a three-dimensional terrain model. The well-preserved 18th century rural landscape encompasses farm fields, a pick-your-own orchard, wayside exhibits and a restored Revolutionary War farmhouse.

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Day 3 of History and Art in New Jersey

Start your day at Princeton Battlefield State Park, where General Washington led his men to his first field victory over British troops. Monuments chronicle the 1777 battle, one of the fiercest in the Revolutionary War. The Clarke House Museum, a farmhouse furnished with period items, includes a carriage barn and smokehouse.

Morven Museum & Garden, a National Historic Landmark on five pristine acres in the heart of Princeton, was a mansion built in 1759 by Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Distinguished residents included five New Jersey governors. Besides focusing on the better-known patriarchs who led on the national scene, the permanent exhibition tells the stories of the many people who lived and worked at Morven, including women, children, generations of enslaved men and women, immigrant servants, and later, employees. The tour can be booked with a box lunch.

The new and expanded Princeton University Art Museum, in the heart of the storied Ivy League campus, will open to the public on October 31, 2025. Housing one of the world’s leading university art collections, the museum is free.

In the evening, catch a show at the two-time Tony Award-winning McCarter Theatre Center, which offers more than 200 performances each season.

Day 4 of Fun Things to Do in New Jersey

This morning we drive to Titusville and the visitor center museum at Washington Crossing State Park. Featuring over 500 artifacts from the American Revolution, exhibits chronicle Washington’s ambitious Christmas night crossing of the icy Delaware River en route to key victories at Trenton and Princeton. View the film “The Ten Crucial Days: The Road to Liberty.” The new visitor center under construction will be ready for America 250 celebrations in 2026. The park is also well known for its trails and wildlife habitat. A wide variety of migrating birds use the stream and ravine as a resting place and for nesting.

In Trenton, see the Trenton Battle Monument, a triumphal, 148-foot-tall column of granite topped by a statue of Washington. It celebrates the American victory of December 26, 1776.

Next, tour the gold-domed New Jersey State House and admire the art and architectural beauty in the legislative chambers and rotunda. Then visit the New Jersey State Museum, a treasure house of fine arts, cultural history, natural sciences (including planetarium shows) and archaeological finds.

For dinner in Trenton, enjoy Eastern European and Continental cuisine amid Old World trappings at Blue Danube Restaurant.

Day 5 New Jersey Historical Attractions

Located on the Delaware River in the town of National Park, Red Bank Battlefield Park features a house that played a crucial role in the Revolutionary War when Hessians attacked Fort Mercer on October 22, 1777. Just north of the fort, the Whitall House, the 1748 plantation home of a Quaker family, was used as a field hospital. Tours of the house include its garden, which grows vegetables, herbs and flowers representative of the 18th century. Groups can make use of picnic pavilions that offer views of the river.

Our final stop is Indian King Tavern State Historic Site in Haddonfield. From January to September in 1777, the newly formed New Jersey legislature met in the colonial inn’s second-floor meeting room, passing laws and dealing with matters of war. The tavern, which offered food and bedding for travelers on their way to New York or Philadelphia, was New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site (acquired in 1903).