Chantilly may not look very exciting from the highway. Strip malls, office parks, the usual suburban DC sprawl. But spend a weekend around and you will find aviation history a few miles from a working vineyard, and a farm with real animals a short drive from a golf course that is older than most people’s grandparents. Here is our rundown of 15 spots worth your time, plus a couple that are technically in the next town over but close enough to count.
Quick List: Things to Do in Chantilly VA
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
- Sully Historic Site
- Ellanor C. Lawrence Park
- Cub Run Rec Center
- Clay Cafe
- Ono Brewing Company
- Pleasant Valley Golf Club
- Dulles Expo Center events
- Chantilly Regional Library
- The Winery at Bull Run
- Cox Farms
- Frying Pan Farm Park
- Outdoor escape games in Leesburg
- Indoor escape rooms in Leesburg
- Chantilly National Golf & Country Club
1. Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
This is the one everyone plans around, and honestly, it earns that spot. Two hangars, absolutely packed with aviation and space history: the Space Shuttle Discovery is in there, so is an SR-71 Blackbird. Getting in is free. Parking will cost you $15 if you show up before 4 p.m. It is open daily, 10 to 5:30. Two hours gets you through both hangars at a reasonable clip, but if anyone in your group is genuinely into planes, just block off the whole afternoon. You will need it.
2. Sully Historic Site
Skip the museum crowd for a day and go here instead. It is a farmhouse from 1794, and the guided tour walks you through the main house plus the kitchen, laundry, and a handful of outbuildings that give you a sense of what daily life actually looked like back then. Walking the property costs nothing. The tour itself is a separate ticket. Good pick if your crew leans more toward “old houses” than “old airplanes.”
3. Ellanor C. Lawrence Park
The first thing to know about this park is its size: 650 acres of forest, meadow, and trails. The trails wind through forest and meadow, past a pond, out to the Walney Visitor Center, and Cabell’s Mill sits tucked in there too, doing its own quiet history thing. Wear shoes you don’t care about. Some of the trails get dusty or muddy depending on the week. An hour will get you a taste; two hours lets you actually explore.
4. Cub Run Rec Center
Schedule it for the inevitable rainy afternoon. There is an indoor water park here that runs all year, with a zero-depth entry section for little kids and a bigger water playground for everyone else. Older kids get a lazy river and slides, though a few of the taller slides have height cutoffs, so check that before you promise anyone a big ride. Hours move around more than you would expect. It is worth visiting before you drive over.
5. Clay Cafe
Not every outing needs to be high-energy. Sometimes a creative project is all you need. That is basically the whole concept here: blank pottery, paint, your call on the design. They also run classes and birthday parties if that is what interests you more. Works fine as a family thing, a friends thing, or honestly a pretty low-pressure first date. Plan for an hour, maybe two if you are a perfectionist about it.
6. Ono Brewing Company
This one is for the grown-ups. Ono is on Daly Drive, and beyond the regular tasting hours they tend to have something going on. Check their calendar before you go, because a trivia night or live music can completely change what kind of visit you are walking into. It is not really a kid-friendly stop, and that is fine.
7. Pleasant Valley Golf Club
Eighteen holes, rolling terrain, hardwood trees, and the kind of native grass meadows that look nice until your ball lands in one. Book tee times online, and check pricing first since it shifts by day. A full round takes a real chunk of your day, so this is more the anchor of your plans than a quick stop-in.
8. Dulles Expo Center
There’s no single “thing” here. It is whatever happens to be booked that week. Home shows, conventions, markets, you name it. It is worth checking their calendar if something specific is happening while you are in town. If you’re just looking for a spontaneous outing, this probably isn’t it.
9. Chantilly Regional Library
Not glamorous, but genuinely useful, especially with kids. There’s programming for every age group such as preschoolers, school-age kids, teens, plus meeting rooms and computers if you need them. Free. Low stakes. Check the events calendar if you want to time a visit around something specific.
10. The Winery at Bull Run
Technically over the line in Centreville, but close enough that nobody’s going to argue with you about it. Virginia wine, on a property with actual Civil War history attached. Tastings cost extra and you will want a reservation. This is a slow-afternoon kind of place, not a quick stop.
11. Cox Farms
Also in Centreville, also worth the short drive. Come fall, this place turns into a full-on destination. The 2026 season runs September 19 through November 8. Everything here is calendar-dependent, so double check dates and tickets before you show up expecting hayrides.
12. Frying Pan Farm Park
A real, working farm that Fairfax County keeps running as living history. Kidwell Farm is the main attraction, and it’s a genuinely good pick if you have got younger kids who want to see actual animals up close, not behind glass. Hours shift with the season. It is worth a check before you go.
13. Outdoor Escape Games in Leesburg
If a museum walkthrough sounds too passive, this is the opposite. Outdoor escape games in Leesburg send you around downtown Leesburg chasing clues instead of sitting inside a room. Escape Room LoCo currently has three: Operation Mindfall, Blackout, and The Magic Portal, each running $35 a person. The details differ mission to mission, so read up on whichever one you pick before you book it.
14. Indoor Escape Rooms in Leesburg
And for when the weather doesn’t cooperate, use the same company in a different format. Escape Room LoCo runs four indoor themes: Dreams Factory, Refuge, Totally 90s Mall Escape, and Alien Agents. Each one is about an hour, built for groups of two to eight. $35 a person if your group is five or more. You don’t need any prior escape room experience, which honestly, most first-timers worry about for no reason.
15. Chantilly National Golf & Country Club
Don’t let the name fool you. It is actually in Centreville. Private club, 18 holes, the amenities you would expect, and history going back to the late 1950s. Members and their guests only, so this one takes some planning if you are not already connected to someone who’s a member.
How to Plan Your Chantilly Day
If you have kids, start at Udvar-Hazy or Cub Run and tack on Ellanor C. Lawrence Park if the weather is decent. If it is just adults, Ono Brewing, Pleasant Valley, or the winery all make for a better pace. And if everyone is a little bored of the usual, the drive to Leesburg for an escape game is worth it. It is different enough to feel like an actual change of scenery.
The whole trick is not overpacking the day. Pick one bigger thing, add something smaller next to it, and leave room to just get lunch somewhere decent in between.
