Start from 20 curated places around Dover, DE, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Grey Fox Grille and Public House
The standout dinner destination in downtown Dover occupies a restored Victorian building from 1881, where exposed brick and warm lighting frame a menu of New American dishes that changes with the season. The kitchen works with fresh local ingredients to produce plates that go well beyond what you'd expect from a capital-city pub — the Bloody Mary at brunch is a reliable entry point. It draws a mix of legislators, locals, and visitors who found it on a list and stayed for the atmosphere.
Chaiyo Sushi and Thai Cuisine
The most consistently praised restaurant in Dover for Japanese and Thai cuisine, Chaiyo serves an extensive menu of specialty sushi rolls alongside pad Thai, drunken noodles, and Thai curries in a clean, comfortable space on Forrest Avenue. The combination of reliable sushi and well-executed Thai cooking makes it a strong default for a weeknight dinner or group outing where tastes diverge.
Trails & outdoors
Silver Lake Trail
A short, easy loop around Silver Lake in the middle of Dover — a pleasant respite from the city street grid that takes less than an hour to complete and offers surprisingly good birding. Waterfowl are a constant presence on the lake, and the path is flat enough to work for all fitness levels. The park benches along the lake face east and make a good early-morning coffee spot.
John Dickinson Plantation Grounds Trail
The grounds of the John Dickinson Plantation south of Dover include a short self-guided trail through the historic farm landscape along the St. Jones River. The plantation belonged to the 'Penman of the Revolution,' and the 18th-century plantation house and outbuildings provide authentic context for colonial Delaware farm life. The river views from the grounds are peaceful and the site is free to visit.
Things to do
Firefly Music Festival (The Woodlands)
Held annually at the Dover International Speedway grounds, Firefly is Delaware's flagship music festival and draws headliners across rock, pop, and electronic genres across four days each summer. The wooded infield camping area gives the festival its name and its distinctive aesthetic — festivalgoers set up in the trees and the whole thing becomes a small temporary city. Single-day tickets are available but the full four-day experience is how regulars do it.
Dover Air Force Base Open House
Held periodically, the Dover AFB air show is one of the premier military aviation events on the East Coast and typically draws the USAF Thunderbirds or Blue Angels alongside vintage aircraft demos and static displays of military transport planes. The scale of the aircraft and the precision of the aerial demonstrations make it genuinely spectacular even for people who are not military aviation enthusiasts.
Landmarks & sights
Air Mobility Command Museum
Located at Dover Air Force Base, this free museum houses an extraordinary collection of Cold War-era transport and tanker aircraft displayed both indoors and on an outdoor flight line. The scale of the planes is impressive in person — you can walk under C-5 Galaxies and Cold War-era transports that were the workhorses of global logistics for decades. Flight simulators and knowledgeable docents round out a genuinely compelling military aviation experience.
First State Heritage Park
Delaware's first urban park links eight historic sites across downtown Dover into a walkable network anchored by The Green — the colonial commons where Delaware ratified the Constitution in 1787. The Old State House, Johnson Victrola Museum, and Delaware Public Archives all fall within the park's footprint. Free ranger-led programs explore the history of the first state to ratify the Constitution.