Virginia’s Eastern Shore and the Bay Bridge-Tunnel

Route description

From Ocean City, Maryland, head south on US-113 and US-13 to the causeway to Chincoteague. The wildlife refuge on neighboring Assateague Island has the Assateague Lighthouse, a loop road past marshes full of herons, and the wild ponies that swim the channel each July.

On the way back to the mainland, stop at NASA’s Wallops visitor center, then follow US-13 south down the narrow peninsula. Detour west to Onancock, a quiet harbor town on a creek off the Chesapeake, and later to Cape Charles, an old railroad town with a public bay beach and good sunsets.

At the southern tip, Kiptopeke State Park has a breakwater of sunken concrete ships and fall bird migration. Then comes the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, 17 miles of trestles and two tunnels under the shipping lanes; there is a toll, and very high winds can close it to trailers and RVs.

Land near First Landing State Park, where the Jamestown settlers first came ashore, and finish in Virginia Beach. Spring and fall are ideal; summer mosquitoes on the Eastern Shore can be fierce.