Dover is Delaware’s state capital and it is built for people who want things explained properly. The Old State House on the Green served as the capitol until 1933, and Legislative Hall took over from it. The Air Mobility Command Museum is free and holds over 30 aircraft. Bombay Hook is 16,200 acres of birds. Dover Motor Speedway is the Monster Mile.
Delaware’s state capital lines its historic sites along quiet streets, and the city gathers around them rather than around a shopping district. That is unusual, and it is the reason this place works.
Dover takes national events better than its size suggests. The NASCAR Cup Series races here, and the Firefly Music Festival is one of the biggest multi-genre festivals in the United States.
Beyond the big weekends, this is an average-sized city that pulls people in for the events calendar, the outdoor country, the museums and the range of “Central Delaware Experiences” on offer.
Dover’s three-day getaway plan fills Kent County with countryside and a suburban pace. Day one is “Chill and Thrill”, built around a tour of the city’s famous race track.
Moreover, spend an afternoon in a charming vineyard and try your luck with an evening game at Dover’s awesome casino.
Day 1 done, the second belongs to downtown Dover, where the museums, parks, bars and restaurants sit close enough together to walk between.
Day three goes to the quiet end of town, along the nature trails and the wildlife habitats, which is where Dover’s landscape actually shows itself.
Below is a more extensive list of the best things to do and places to visit in Dover, Delaware.
Air Mobility Command Museum
Dover Air Force Base holds the only military aviation museum in the state, and it exists to honor Delaware’s airlift history.
The Air Mobility Command Museum keeps a substantial collection of vintage aircraft going back to World War II. It was established in 1986 and it stands on Hangar 1301, which was a World War II-era site of top-secret military operations.
There are over 30 aircraft here alongside the exhibits, and veteran volunteers do the explaining, which changes the visit entirely. The planes outside are the draw. The indoor exhibits hold up just as well.
The exhibits cover the airlifts during the Vietnam and Korean wars. The AFB Control Tower and the CA-1 Tractor are the two that people crowd around.
You get to stand inside a cargo or tanker plane of the kind you have only seen in films. The C5 and the C-130 outside are the large ones. The tour covers the airforce’s humanitarian work alongside its war record.
The Air Mobility Command Museum takes school field trips and educational tours in numbers, and it handles them well. Children and adults both come out knowing more about flight history and the operations run from Hangar 1301 between the 1950s and the 1970s.
It costs nothing and it is genuinely family-friendly. The gift shop carries aviation-themed pieces that are more carefully made than gift shop stock usually is, which makes them worth buying for anyone who follows this.
Address: 1301 Heritage Rd, Dover AFB, DE 19902, United States
Biggs Museum of American Art
The art in Delaware’s state capital starts at the Biggs Museum of American Art.
The Biggs Museum brings substantial collections of American decorative art to Dover, Delaware. The permanent collections and the changing exhibits are held to the same standard, which is not always true elsewhere.
It is named after Sewell C. Biggs, a local art collector, and it holds American paintings, local crafts and antiques. The range runs from Colonial portraiture through to 20th-century American Impressionism, with the weight on local work from the Colonial and Federal periods.
The exhibits take in sculpture, illustration by notable artists, and early-American furniture. The collection of American silver is among the finest in the country.
The museum sits in Dover’s Legislative Mall and the space is limited, which makes for an intimate visit rather than a route march. It is due to expand into two historic buildings on Dover’s The Green.
For now, the three-story building holds a good spread. Winslow Homer’s work is on the first floor and the historical artifacts are on the second, including an old grandfather clock and dishware.
The third floor is mostly colored paintings and statues. Work through the Biggs museum properly and it takes over an hour.
The museum runs public art education programs, and joining the Biggs community is how that gets funded.
Address: 406 Federal St, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
A 16-minute drive from Dover puts you in the best birding country in Delaware.
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge holds thousands of birds and a great deal of other wildlife across more than 16,200 acres. Migrating ducks, geese and neotropical songbirds all use it, which is why birders plan trips around it.
The refuge runs along Delaware Bay for a good stretch and covers freshwater pools, mudflats, uplands, forests and large untouched tidal salt marshes. Each of those holds something different.
The wildlife here behaves as if you are not present. Eagle parents teaching young eaglets to fish is the sort of thing you get to watch.
You do not have to leave the car to see any of it. Bombay Hook is the drive to take out of Dover for anyone who would rather be outdoors.
The 12-mile wildlife ride gives you the time and the angles to see as much as possible. It is also worth getting out and stretching your legs at some point.
Leave the car and walk one of the refuge’s five trails, or go up the observation tower. The landscape looks arranged, which is partly nature and partly the Delaware community that has looked after it.
Bring a camera. This is Delaware’s great national treasure and it photographs better than it has any right to.
Address: 2591 Whitehall Neck Rd, Smyrna, DE 19977, United States
Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village
The Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village is where Dover’s farm life and rural heritage are set out properly.
The museum holds more than 12,000 artifacts of the state’s farm life and culture across 10 acres. The historic buildings include a 1700’s log cabin, a schoolhouse, a train station, a church, a general store and more of the old-town shops.
It is a recreation of a 19th-century village, built to restore and preserve the agricultural heritage of the Delmarva Peninsula.
The effort shows, and it is the reason people drive down to Dover for it.
The Main Exhibit Hall covers the engineering inventions and the monuments that came with agriculture expanding across the First State.
Stop at the 1890s Village, the Farmhouse, the Mill and the Blacksmith Shop, all of which are the real thing rather than a set. The tractor exhibits hold a steam-powered tractor that has to be seen at scale.
The farm equipment runs from the 19th century to the present, and the technological progress between them is the point. The apple polisher and the old lawn mower are the two that stop people.
The museum runs education programs in the heart of Dover covering the First State’s agricultural history and heritage.
Anyone with a stake in agriculture should see what else they run.
Address: 866 N Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Delaware Governor’s Mansion
The Delaware Governor’s Mansion is known as the “Woodburn”, and it has been the official residence of serving state governors since 1965.
The house sits by the lake and the tour covers both the architecture and the people who lived there. Getting inside a Governor’s house is the appeal, and the story behind it is better than expected.
The Woodburn House is one of Delaware’s heritage houses and it matters to Dover and the communities around it. Farmers, U.S. Senators, doctors, a judge and their families have all lived here.
The two-story brick house has stood for over 200 years with most of its features intact. It is a good example of Middle Period Georgian architecture laid in a Flemish bond pattern.
The tour runs from the Great Hall and Dining Room through the photo galleries and out into the gardens. The Woodburn is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and it is kept properly, inside and out.
The gardens grow colorful plants and flowers against well-manicured lawns, and they are worth the walk on their own.
The main entrance is a large Dutch door with iron locks and strap hinges. Move through the rooms and the guides greet you and take real trouble over the tour.
The Governor’s mansion also takes volunteers, which is how the events at the Woodburn actually happen.
Address: 151 Kings Hwy SW, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Dover Motor Speedway
Dover Motor Speedway is where Delaware watches NASCAR, on a track built for it.
Known as the Monster Mile, this Dover track hosts at least one NASCAR Cup Series race a year. Anyone who follows the racing leagues should see one event from the grandstands.
The venue has run national and international entertainment for over half a decade beyond the car racing. That includes Dover’s Firefly Music Festival, with more than 100 acts across numerous stages.
Kendrick Lamar, Paul McCartney, Eminem, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Outkast have all played here.
Rolling Stone magazine named this Dover attraction one of the Top Five U.S. Music Festivals.
After several “Monster Makeovers”, Dover Motor Speedway reached a grandstand capacity of 100,000. It has since been reduced to more than 50,000.
The giant monster sculpture is the landmark, and it is called “Miles the Monster”. Monster Miles looks like it came up through the track, and it now turns up on the trophies and the tickets.
Put this one on the list. It is the international attraction Dover, Delaware is known for.
Address: 1131 N Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901, United States
First State Heritage Park
Dover’s historic district holds Delaware’s first urban park, taking in nearly 12 cultural and natural sites.
First State Heritage Park invites you to “find your adventure” “without boundaries”, through thematic walking tours and events. It works as a way into Dover, opening onto the historical attractions and the exhibits between them.
Interpreters in 18th-century outfits walk with you on Dover’s historic Green. What you get is life in Dover across three centuries, and Delaware’s role as the First State.
The tour takes in Legislative Hall, the Old State House, and more historic houses and museums along the way.
There are engaging programs alongside the Colonial American history. First Saturday in the First State runs every month with something different on it.
The major attractions are open all week. The calendar of special events is the part worth planning around.
First State Heritage Park runs the Lantern Tour on select Thursday and Friday nights in every season except winter. You get true Dover stories from past generations, with only your lantern to see by.
Every November the park holds the 18th Century Market Fair, which reconstructs what life in Dover actually involved. Brewers, seamstresses, weavers, soapmakers and woodworkers gather at The Green and demonstrate the work.
For a first visit to Dover, this is the best introduction to the city’s cultural history you will get.
Address: 43 The Green, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Give Dover a long weekend. The first day belongs to the Green: the Old State House, Legislative Hall, First State Heritage Park and a walking tour with interpreters in 18th-century dress. The second goes to the museums, and the Biggs and the Johnson Victrola are the two to prioritise. Keep the last one for the drive out, to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge or Harvest Ridge Winery.
Fordham & Dominion Brewing Co.
Dover has been brewing true American craft beer since 1995, and this is where you taste it.
Take a flight at the Fordham Brewing Co. Taproom, or grab a beer to go if Dover, Delaware is only a stop on the way somewhere.
Fordham & Dominion is an independent brewery running seasonal ales, craft soda, beer flights and full pints. Your new favorite craft beer is somewhere on that list. The specialty sodas are worth knowing about too: Ginger Ale, Root Beer, Orange Cream and Black Cherry.
The 30-minute site tour covers Fordham & Dominion’s history and the brewing process end to end. The menu on draft stays true to the “roots, recipes, and Annapolis heritage” they claim.
The year-round and seasonal products are consistent, which is the thing that matters in a brewery. The location is tucked behind the main roads and the room is casual and takes families.
When the weather holds, take a glass out to the picnic tables in the parking area. Otherwise stay in the shop and drink a “Mid-Atlantic tradition” where it is made.
If you cannot get to Dover, several grocery and retail stores carry them.
Address: 1284 McD Dr, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Harvest Ridge Winery and Rebel Seed Cidery
Rebel Seed is the First State’s first cidery, and it grew out of a passion for winemaking. The owners established Harvest Ridge Winery in 2011 and moved into hard cider afterwards. Delaware’s orchards made that possible.
The family-farm winery is a 20-minute drive from Dover. The side trip into the Delaware countryside is the “rural relaxation” the state advertises, and this is one of its better wineries.
Harvest Ridge runs its full production facility on the same site, alongside a Tasting Room and a banquet space for events. Tastings and tours cover the 6000-plus square-foot area.
There is plenty of outdoor seating and food trucks turn up regularly, which makes a weekend here work for a family rather than only for a couple.
Work through the flavors from vine to glass. The range runs Sangria and Red Wines through to White and Sweet Wines, so there is somewhere to start whatever you normally drink.
The cider and wine flights come with a cheese platter. The canned ciders are the ones to try: the First Anthem and Colonial Jack.
Harvest Ridge also runs a Funky Music Bingo night, which is exactly as silly as it sounds. The vineyard works for a large group or for two people.
Address: 447 Westville Rd Marydel, DE 19964, United States
John Dickinson Plantation
This is the home of one of the United States’ founding fathers, known as the “Penman of the Revolution”.
John Dickinson played a significant part in the nation’s liberty, and this Delaware plantation sets out his story. It was also home to tenant farmers, Black slaves and servants. The plantation and the mansion were restored together as a living museum, and the site does not separate the two histories.
The tour covers John Dickinson’s early childhood home and his work. It also covers the people who worked the land over the years.
The plantation holds farm buildings, log cabins and John’s original 1740 brick home. The agricultural land runs down to the banks of the St. Jones River.
The John Dickinson Plantation Visitation Center holds the exhibits and the history of John’s life and of the property itself.
The interpreters wear 18th Century period dress and walk you through the property. What they tell you is the history rather than an entertainment.
The tour opens with a short film and a passport stamp. You are given a Junior Booklet guide before moving on to Poplar Hall for the rest. The guides know the material and will take questions.
A tour of the John Dickinson Plantation is a serious visit rather than a walk around a garden.
Address: 340 Kitts Hummock Rd, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Johnson Victrola Museum
The Johnson Victrola Museum exists for Eldridge Reeves Johnson, a Delaware native who founded the recording industry.
The museum holds a substantial collection of Victrolas and the artifacts around them, including early talking machines and recordings. These are the objects the recording industry in this country actually began with.
The displays cover phonographs, memorabilia, trademarks, paintings and the objects that tell the story of E.R. Johnson’s business. Johnson’s 1985 Grammy Award is here, along with the model of Nipper.
Nipper is a mixed breed of fox and bull terrier, and he stood for The Victor Talking Machine Company’s standards.
The hall now holds a specific piece of Delaware’s history for a generation that has never seen any of it working. The building in Dover is small, and what it tells you about vinyl, recordings and players is substantial.
Before iPods, smartphones and Airpods, there were phonographs, vinyl, Victrolas, horns and a long list of other music machines. This is where they are.
Address: 375 S New St, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Legislative Hall
The state capitol building is the one historically significant stop most visitors miss.
Dover’s Legislative Hall is the political heart of Delaware, inside the Capital Square Complex. It was designed in Georgian Revival colonial architecture, in 18th Century brick, and the interior follows.
Legislative Hall holds the chambers and offices of the Delaware General Assembly. For a building with a serious political facade, it is a pleasant and inviting place to be inside.
It was built between 1931 and 1933 and it resembles the Old Colony House in Newport, Rhode Island. New wings were added later as the state government took up more of it.
Walk in and find the “Hall of Governors”, hung with portraits of Delaware’s past governors. There are also portraits of military groups, notable Delawareans and important moments in the state’s history.
The first level holds the House and Senate chambers and the offices. The second has the balconies looking down into the chambers. The architectural style runs the same throughout, and the two chambers are genuinely difficult to tell apart.
The center staircase is one of the building’s defining features and the way up to the second floor.
A tour of the Legislative Hall is free and available except on weekends. It is a straightforwardly good hour whenever you are in Dover, Delaware.
Address: 411 Legislative Ave, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Old State House
Before Legislative Hall, the old State House was Delaware’s capitol building through the earlier years of the United States. It served as the state capitol in Dover until 1933.
As the first permanent capitol building, the Old State House is central to Delaware’s history. It stands on Dover’s historic Green and it is the best single place to learn how the state began.
The building holds an 18th-Century-style courtroom on the first floor and the former state chambers on the second. The portraits of First State figures include Thomas Macdonough and Thomas Sully.
The Senate chamber holds an imposing painting of George Washington, the first U.S. President.
The tour covers the building’s history, the various Delaware Constitutions and the territorial changes that followed. There are films alongside the guides, and the guides will take almost any question about the Old State House.
This building has been the focal point of civic life in Dover for centuries, and it still is.
Address: 25 The Green, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Schwartz Center for the Arts
The Schwartz Center for the Arts is what remains of Delaware’s historic theater in Kent County, and it is still working.
It runs first-class entertainment for Dover and the communities around it, across plays, dramas, comedy and film.
Dover and Wilmington are the only cities in Delaware with an Opera House given over entirely to performing arts. This one was the Dover Opera House, running live theater for a short period until George Schwartz bought it.
When it was first built it served several purposes at once, including vaudeville, photoplays and magic lantern shows. Motion pictures came later, and Dover residents and visitors took to them immediately.
The theater has had good years and bad ones, and the bad ones included closing for a while.
What stands now is a new facade, over 500 seats and an Art Deco-style interior.
The Schwartz Center takes concerts, dance, music and variety shows, and the evenings there are consistently good. The room is a rare thing inside and out, with acoustics and lighting done properly.
The staff are helpful and accommodating in a way that changes the evening. The Schwartz Center programme brings in old and new acts and it works for any audience.
The restoration returned the Schwartz Center to what it was and added modern comfort and proper facilities on top.
Prices vary by show, and patrons say they stay reasonable. Book before it sells out.
Address: 226 S State St, Dover, DE 19901, United States
Spence’s Bazaar
Spence’s Bazaar has served Dover, Delaware for nearly 86 years. It is still the city’s favorite flea and Amish market, and still the place for food, shops and Delaware treasures.
Go on a Tuesday, Friday or Saturday, when it runs as part flea market and part farmer’s market. It is the weekly event locals turn out for, and the artisan and homemade goods change constantly.
You can eat while you buy groceries, fresh produce and household goods, which saves both time and money. Spence’s Bazaar covers bakeries, meat and produce corners, pastry shops and collectible aisles in one building.
Dover’s flea market has the best of the antique and vintage stock: clothes, furniture, decor, books and purses worth carrying home.
In keeping with Delaware tradition, the market runs an outdoor auction with rare and genuinely odd items in it. What turns up there is one-of-a-kind and you will not see it twice.
And then there is the Amish food, which is the reason many people come at all. The baker’s fryer donuts and cinnamon buns are the ones to get, and the lunch options are worth sitting down for.
The market opens early in the morning and runs until late afternoon, on the days already mentioned.
Address: 550 S New St, Dover, DE 19904, United States
Frequently asked questions about Dover, Delaware
Is the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover free?
Yes. It is the best value in the city, and the collection runs over 30 aircraft dating back to World War II, housed in Hangar 1301, with veteran volunteers doing the explaining. Allow longer than you planned for the outdoor planes.
How large is Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Dover?
Over 16,200 acres, running along Delaware Bay for a good stretch. There is a 12-mile wildlife drive you can do without leaving the car. Five walking trails and an observation tower cover the rest. Migrating ducks, geese and neotropical songbirds are the reason birders plan trips around it.
Which building was Delaware’s capitol before Legislative Hall in Dover?
The Old State House on the Green. It served as the state capitol until 1933, and it still holds an 18th-century-style courtroom on the first floor with the former state chambers above it. Legislative Hall took over the job.
