My apologies for the delay in responding to you. I started a response on Sunday, but decided to hold off on posting it, as I was exhausted from the travel and events of Blue-White weekend. I thought I saved a draft of the post, but when I returned to it on Monday or Tuesday, I discovered the draft wasn't saved. I had a lot of info in the draft post, so I was pretty ticked.
As others have indicated, avoid visiting Williamsburg in the summer. I've been there multiple times, with two of those visits being during the summer when it was 100+ degrees. There isn't a lot of shade in large swath's of Colonial Williamsburg. If you must visit, do so in a season other than the summer.
What was done at Colonial Williamsburg was somewhat popular at its time (1920s and 1930s), but is now very unpopular with historians. 500 buildings were reconstructed or restored, and many of the restorations used the footprint of a demolished building, and some of the old foundations, and labeled those efforts as original restorations. That's a very generous designation. The current approach would be to simply expose the foundations, and in some cases erect a metal outline of the original building to give a visual perspective of its size. Reconstructions are frowned upon by historians.
However, most of the people that visit Colonial Williamsburg don't seem to be too bothered that most of the buildings are reconstructions. They want the visual experience, and to see people in appropriate clothes for the period, working with tools from the era to complete the tasks the way they were done in the 1700s.
Another popular attraction are people that act as famous people from the era. You may see a George Washington re-enactor giving a speech on the back porch of an inn, or a Thomas Jefferson re-enactor, etc. I'm not a big fan of re-enactors, in part because the last time I was at Williamsburg, the Washington re-enactor made several statements that I knew to be factually incorrect. I am a stickler for accuracy, and know more about the Rev War era than most tourists, so I'm not sure if my concerns in this area are all that significant to most tourists at Williamsburg.
The Capitol, where the House of Burgesses met, is probably my favorite part of Colonial Williamsburg. It's a reconstruction that is not very accurate to what was built in 1740 (to replace the previous Capital that burnt down). Several important events took place in the real building (not the reconstruction that exists), and there is shade around the building, so I kind of forget about the architectural inaccuracies, and image Patrick Henry, George Washington, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, and many other Virginia leaders from the Rev War era, and the actions they took/speeches they made, at that location.
If you're not all that knowledgeable about the Rev War era, and don't mind reconstructed buildings, you might have a great time at Colonial Williamsburg. That said, if you wanted to travel to that area, I'd offer these alternative suggestions of places to visit:
Yorktown Battlefield
- there is a visitors center that's interesting, and I'd advise that you go to any ranger guided events that are scheduled, and also take the audio car tour. The coordination of the French fleet sailing from the Caribbean (and then defeating in naval battle a British fleet that was racing to protect Yorktown), and Washington and Rochembeau moving their respective troops from north of NYC to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown is taken for granted today, but it was a massive operation, and succeeded better than its planners could have hoped. The Treaty of Paris would not be signed for 2 more years, but Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown effectively ended the Rev War.
American Revolution Museum at Yorktown
- it's a wonderful museum. In addition, it has a Revolution-era farm, which in some ways displays several of the things you would see at Colonial Williamsburg
Jamestown Settlement
- it can be kind of hot if you visit this in the summer. However, it was the 1st permanent English settlement in America, which makes it pretty important. There is a visitors center with a gallery and a film about the settlement and the Native Americans they encountered. (If I recall correctly, you can buy a combined ticket for the American Revolution Museum and Jamestown Settlement at a discounted price.)
Yorktown (the town)
- there are several historic buildings in Yorktown which you can tour
There's also a Virginia State Park in the area that I haven't visited in @ 20 years, and whose name I forget, but it was a hidden gem for Rev War displays and information
That's my overview on visiting Colonial Williamsburg. To your specific questions:
In your opinion, how close is it to the way it actually was in the 18th century?
that's tough to answer. Some parts of Colonial Williamsburg are buildings that existed in 1776, and were saved as part of the efforts of Colonial Williamsburg. Many other buildings are recreations. The actors and the recreated buildings give an impression of how things were in the 18th century that is somewhat accurate
Also, if I go, how many days does it take to get a real feel for the place?
If you're just visiting Colonial Williamsburg, I think 1 day would be plenty. If it's really hot, or if you have any type of mobility issues (you do walk a lot if you tour all of it), then 2 days would be needed. If you expand your visit to take in the places I recommended above, as well as Colonial Williamsburg, I think you'd need 3 - 5 days to do them justice.
I hope that helps.
