The historic downtown is entirely walkable. Caroline Street and the cluster of colonial museums are compact enough to cover on foot in a few hours. The Fredericksburg battlefield is about a 30-minute walk south from downtown along Lafayette Boulevard, or a short drive.
A car is useful for the outlying sites: Ferry Farm and Chatham Manor are across the river, Gari Melchers Home is 8 kilometers north, and the Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania battlefields are 10 to 25 kilometers west. Rideshare apps work in Fredericksburg. The city's local bus service (FRED Transit) covers the main corridors but is primarily oriented toward commuters rather than tourists.