A 90-minute drive from Richmond but a world away in atmosphere, Fort Monroe National Monument occupies a strategic spit of land called Old Point Comfort at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, just outside Hampton, Virginia. Built after the War of 1812 to guard the Hampton Roads waterway, it's the largest stone fort ever constructed in the United States — and it comes with a ghost story or fifty.

The star attraction is the fort itself: granite walls 10 feet thick, running a full 1.3 miles around, ringed by a moat. Set into those walls are vaulted casemates, originally built to shelter soldiers and cannon. Today they hold the Casemates Museum, which covers the fort's military history and includes the cell where Confederate president Jefferson Davis was imprisoned for two years after the Civil War.

A walking loop of the site takes roughly an hour and strings together the Flagstaff Bastion with its views over Hampton Roads, the Lincoln Gun, the Parade Ground, and Quarters No. 1 — the fort's oldest surviving building, a handsome slice of 19th-century architecture that once hosted Abraham Lincoln. The guest list over the years reads like a history exam: Lincoln, Jefferson Davis (twice, in very different circumstances), Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, Edgar Allan Poe, and a young Robert E. Lee, whose youngest son was born here. For something quieter but genuinely odd, seek out the pet cemetery on top of the walls, where more than 400 animals are buried.

Then there's the spooky side. Ghost lore here is layered and specific: Davis is said to pace the battlements after dark while his wife rattles a window; Lincoln reportedly drifts through Quarters No. 1; Poe's phantom hangs around the nearby Chamberlin Hotel. Less famous apparitions include a Lady in White on the boardwalk and a little girl calling for her cat, plus a rotating cast of Civil War soldiers. Even for sceptics, the atmosphere after dark — odd noises, strange lights, all that granite — does a lot of the work for you. The easiest way in is one of the ghost walk tours that run at night at various points during the year.

Practically speaking, the monument is easy to reach by car but has no public transport. It's about 10 minutes from Hampton, 20 from Newport News, and 30 from Norfolk. The closest airport is Norfolk International (ORF), roughly 25 minutes away, with domestic routes across the US and a seasonal connection to Mexico.

This one suits travellers who like their sightseeing with a chill factor: history buffs get 200 years of American military and political drama, dark-tourism fans get ghost walks and a genuinely moody setting, and families get moats, cannons and a pet cemetery. It pairs naturally with a Norfolk or Virginia Beach trip, so you can do beaches by day and battlements by dusk. Check the National Park Service site for current hours and ghost tour dates before you go — casemate museums and after-dark walks don't always run daily.