From the swim beach at Kiptopeke you can see a line of sunken WWII concrete ships in the Chesapeake, with the fishing pier aimed at them. Dune boardwalks cut from the south beach back into the upland forest. You sleep in the trees behind the dunes.
Cape Charles is the town you roll through on US-13 after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. That crossing is how you get from Norfolk onto the Eastern Shore. Kiptopeke is west of US-13.
The park is on a migratory bird flyway, and hiking and biking trails run more than 5 miles through the woods between the campground and the dunes. A boat launch is on the water. A day here is the bay, then those woods, without leaving the point.
The campground has electric and water hookups, with sewer on select sites, and it stays open spring through late fall. The swim beach itself is Memorial Day through Labor Day. Electric, water, and sewer sites take RVs up to 40 feet as of September 2026, so if you need more length or sleeping space, look at RV rentals in Norfolk.
Northwest River Park in Chesapeake
Cypress lines the Northwest River in Chesapeake, and the park around it is disc golf, quiet water, and a campground in the woods. You can spend a day on the river and the disc golf without driving out.
Electric sites, a dump station, and fresh water cover the night, and pull-throughs are reserved for longer trailers. The campground runs April through November as of September 2026, and stays are capped at 14 nights in a 30-day period.
The Great Dismal Swamp in Suffolk is a trail day. Boardwalks cross blackwater swamp for miles, and the Lake Drummond Wildlife Drive ends at the lake, with piers on the water.
The Battleship Wisconsin's gray hull and gun turrets fill the downtown waterfront promenade next to Nauticus. That is a parked day while you are in town.
Chincoteague and Assateague Island
The town of Chincoteague is how you reach Assateague's Virginia side and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Assateague also has a Maryland side, and that split is the thing to get straight before you point the van at the island. Between the town and the beach, salt marsh and wild ponies take over the refuge loop, with Assateague Lighthouse in the pines. Hiking trails, the beach, and the wildlife drive fill the day on the Virginia side.
There is no campground on the Virginia side. Camping on Assateague is the Maryland district as of September 2026, a Maryland campervan night.
First Landing State Park is the Virginia Beach campground. The Outer Banks continue the coast in North Carolina.