Quick Links

• Group Tours
• Distinctly Delaware
• Places to Stay
• Places to Eat
• Artisans & Crafters
• Delaware Film Office
• Travel Services
• Tourism Partners
• Meetings & Conventions
• Sports & Special Events
• Contact Us
• En Español

Top Ten Celebrate Arts & Culture

Celebrate Arts & Culture

1. Nemours Mansion
2. St. Anthony's Italian Festival
3. Riverfront Wilmington
4. Winterthur Museum
5. Delaware Art Museum
6. Biggs Museum
7. Johnson Victrola Museum
8. DuPont Theatre
9. Rehoboth Art League
10. Creatable Crafts

A message from Delaware Governor, Ruth Ann Minner

There is no place quite like Delaware.  Escape to “Chateau Country” for riveting landscapes made famous by Andrew Wyeth’s paintings. Watch the sun rise over the ocean at the Great Dune near Lewes and a great blue heron as it takes flight from the marshlands of Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge. This year, retrace history along the Nanticoke and Broad Creek rivers with the Captain John Smith Reenactment Voyage.

Our state capital, Dover, is home to one of the most beautifully preserved capitol complexes in the nation, captured by the First State Heritage Park. Old New Castle is a charming town to visit with its original cobblestone streets, colonial homes and guided historical tours. And don’t forget the coastal town of Lewes, which tells the story of Delaware’s seafaring past that dates back to the 1600s.

Enjoy the best opera, dance, drama and music or get inspired by a showcase of galleries featuring our state’s finest artists. Shop tax-free at Delaware’s brand name outlet stores, boutiques and antique shops.

We invite you to experience the wonder and diversity the First State has to offer. Delaware, it’s good being first.

Read House & Gardens
Built in 1801 and furnished in the federal and colonial revival styles, this elegant mansion endures as one of the foremost examples of federal-style architecture. It overlooks the Delaware River and is surrounded by a 1-1/2 acre formal garden.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge comprises 15,978 acres, approximately four-fifths of which is tidal salt marsh. The refuge has one of the largest expanses of nearly unaltered tidal salt marsh in the mid-Atlantic region. It also includes 1,100 acres of impounded fresh water pools, brushy and timbered swamps, 1,100 acres of agricultural lands, and timbered and grassy upland. The general terrain is flat and less than ten feet above sea level. Bombay Hook was established in 1937 as a link in the chain of refuges that extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It is primarily a refuge and breeding ground for migrating birds and other wildlife. The value and importance of Bombay Hook for the protection and conservation of waterfowl has increased greatly over the years, primarily due to the loss of extensive surrounding marshland to urban and industrial development. Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge hosts 100,000 visitors a year to view wildlife in natural settings.

Port Penn Interpretive Center
1886 schoolhouse, now a folk life museum in 250-year-old village next to 1,000-acre marsh and Delaware River. Exhibits on town life, historic hunting decoys, fishing, fur trapping, community baseball and local artwork. Self-guided tour of historic building.

Governor Ross Mansion and Plantation
A restored Italian Villa-style structure circa 1859, featuring a three-story entry tower. Once a 1400-acre plantation, it today consists of 20 acres and features eight unique outbuildings, including a log slave quarter and honeymoon cottage. Docents available for tours. Buses welcome. Group rates. Special events.

Old Swedes Church
Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church, built in 1698 by Swedes and Finns who came to America on the Tall Ship Kalmar Nyckel, is the oldest church still standing as originally built and in regular use.