Things To Do

Make Learning About Wilmington and New Castle Delaware an Active Event. Here are a Few Tips on How:

• Take walking tours
• Keep track of the number of steps you take while walking around
• Take the stairs when possible

Click These Links For More Ideas

• Delaware Tourism Office
• City of New Castle
• Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau

Free Museums, Cultural Events and Other Places of Interest

Are you more interested in cultural experiences than physical activity? Why not combine the two- keep track of the number of steps it takes you to see an entire museum, take the stairs whenever possible, walk around for 30 minutes when visiting art and craft shows, concerts or the Riverwalk.

Museums

• Historical Society of Delaware The Historical Society of Delaware, founded in 1864, is private, non-profit, educational organization operated for the benefit of the public. Its mission is to provide and encourage a greater understanding and appreciation of history, particularly the history of the State of Delaware.

Places of Interest

• Wilmington Riverfront Riverwalk This 1.3-mile riverfront path provides pedestrian access to attractions from Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park to the Shipyard Shops. Strollers can enjoy extensive native plantings with more than 5,000 trees and shrubs, 36,000 grasses, perennials and annuals, and 27,600 wetland plants.
• Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park Located along the Wilmington Riverwalk, this park hosts concerts and festivals.
• Dravo Plaza Years ago it was the center of activity in town as the site of one of the busiest shipyards during World War II. Today it is a gathering place for summer concerts, road races, and other functions.

Cultural Events

• The Arts in Delaware The Arts in Delaware web site is maintained by the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware. Includes links to arts and cultural organizations, as well as an arts calendar of events.
• Delaware Humanities Forum The Forum fulfills its mission by sponsoring humanities programs and activities and by providing financial and other support to non-profit groups so that they can sponsor their own humanities programs for Delaware audiences. Web site includes calendar of events.
• Christina Cultural Arts Center The mission of Christina Cultural Arts Center (CCAC), a premier community school of the arts, is to bring professional arts training and education to a broad spectrum of the community with an emphasis on serving low-income families. Includes instruction in dance, literary, and visual arts.

Museums, Cultural Events and Other Places of Interest for a Fee

Are you more interested in cultural experiences than physical activity? Why not combine the two- keep track of the number of steps it takes you to see an entire museum, take the stairs whenever possible, walk around for 30 minutes when visiting art and craft shows, concerts or the Riverwalk.

Museums

• Brandywine Museum Exhibiting American art in a 19th-century grist mill, the Brandywine River Museum is internationally known for its unparalleled collection of works by three generations of Wyeths and its fine collection of American illustration, still life and landscape painting.
• Delaware Art Museum The Delaware Art Museum is dedicated to developing awareness, understanding and appreciation of the visual arts and their impact on culture and to enriching lives by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting the visual arts for a diverse audience.
• Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts Delaware's only professional contemporary arts organization. Features seven galleries, education programs, artist services, auditorium, café, and gift shop.
• Delaware Museum of Natural History The Delaware Museum of Natural History exists to excite and inform people about the natural world. The Museum's core purpose is to help develop a caring society that respects and values our planet.
• Delaware Sports Museum & Hall of Fame As part of its celebration of the nation's bicentennial in 1976, Delaware's American Revolution Bicentennial Commission formed the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. With University of Delaware football coach "Tubby" Raymond at the helm and Al Cartwright as chair of the Hall of Fame subcommittee, the organization welcomed its first set of inductees in April 1976.
• Delaware Toy and Miniature Museum and sample furniture as well as The Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum, a nonprofit organization founded by Gloria R. Hinkel and Beverly J. Thomes, is a historical reference of antique and contemporary dollhouses, miniatures dolls, toys, trains, boats, and planes, both European and American, from the 18th to 20th centuries.
• Hagley Museum and Library Site of the birthplace of the DuPont Company, this destination features an outdoor museum and a specialized research library. The Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society sponsors conferences, public lectures, and seminars.
• Kalmar Nyckel Shipyard Today the Kalmar Nyckel serves as Delaware's sea-going Ambassador of Good Will. A focal point for tourism and historical education, she is a fully functional sail training vessel and has represented Delaware at festivals from Virginia to New York.
• Winterthur Winterthur, an American country estate, is the former home of Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), an avid antiques collector and horticulturist. Features collection of antiques, a library, a 60-acre garden, and hands-on learning for children.

Places of Interest

• Brandywine Zoo (free December-February)
• George Read II House and Gardens Built in 1801 by the son of one of Delaware's signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Read House exhibits the height of Federal grandeur. This 22 room, 14,000 square-foot, mansion was the largest house in Delaware when built, and cost George Read Jr. nearly $12,000 to complete (approximately $2.5 million today).
• Nemours Mansion and Gardens The mansion was built from 1909 to 1910 and is a fine example of a French chateau in the style of Louis XVIth. Containing 102 rooms, the estate looms over the surrounding formal gardens and is furnished with fine antiques, famous works of art, beautiful tapestries, and other treasures. The grounds surrounding the mansion extend for one third of a mile along the main vista from the house, and are among the finest examples of French-style gardens in the United States.

Parks, Trails, Nature Centers and Wildlife Refugees

Parks and Trails

• Rails to Trails Walking, biking, skating paths by state
• Delaware Greenways Web site features a directory of greenways ideal for hiking and bicycling. Greenways are linear corridors of open space that can be used for either conservation or recreation. The greenway trail provides a safe and enjoyable place to hike and bike.
• Delaware State Parks Includes directory of parks, including recreational activities available at each, as well as a calendar of events search engine.
• New Castle County Parks Features a sampling of county and municipal parks run by Newark, Wilmington, New Castle County and the state of Delaware.
• Rockwood Mansion Park Part of the New Castle County Park System, this destination offers 72 acres of park land including paved trails, picnic tables, pavilions, a gazebo, a Victorian museum and café. Garden tours available for a fee.

Nature Centers and Wildlife Refuges

• Ashland Nature Center At Ashland Nature Center, near Hockessin in New Castle County, you can explore four self-guiding nature trails on 200 acres of meadow, marsh, pond and forest. A native plant garden showcases a variety of plants that provide food and shelter for wildlife. Inside, visitors will find exhibits focusing on habitats and a children's discovery corner, and murals depicting changes in the landscape during the past four centuries.
• Delaware Nature Society Founded in 1964, the Delaware Nature Society, a private, non-profit membership organization, fosters understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the natural world through education; preserves ecologically significant areas; and advocates stewardship and conservation of natural resources. Web site includes listing of programs offered, as well as a calendar of events.

Gardens

• Delaware Center for Horticulture The Delaware Center for Horticulture (DCH) is a non-profit horticultural resource organization dedicated to promoting knowledge and appreciation of gardening, horticulture and conservation. Web site features a calendar of events, including fairs, educational workshops, garden visits, and children's activities.
• Gibraltar Gardens The gardens are open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for self-guided tours. Guided tours for garden clubs, school groups, and other organizations are available by special arrangement. $5.00 fee for tours.