Places to Explore

• Abingdon

  Abingdon, near the Tennessee border, is a cultural crossroads in the wilderness: the town of nearly 7,000 draws tens of thousands of people each year because of a fine theater company and exuberant local... (more)

• Bath County

  Bath County, known as the Allegheny Highlands, is where Virginia's rugged outdoors and refined elegance intermingle most delightfully. Amid its steep ridges and dense forests is the Homestead, a historic... (more)

• Blacksburg and the New River Valley

  Despite its name, derived from being "new" to explorers when it was first discovered, the New River is actually one of the oldest rivers in the world: legend says only the Nile is older. The only river... (more)

• Blue Ridge Parkway

• Charlottesville

  Charlottesville is still Jefferson's city, focused on Monticello and the University of Virginia. The downtown pedestrian mall, a brick-paved street of restored buildings that stretches along six blocks... (more)

• Dayton

  Dayton is best known for its large Mennonite population, whose black horse-drawn buggies share the road with latter-day SUVs, and for its extensive farmer's market with handcrafted goods and foods from... (more)

• Harrisonburg

  Harrisonburg is a workaday market town surrounded by rich farmlands. Settled in 1739, it's a stronghold of Mennonites, who wear plain clothes and drive horse-drawn buggies. The city is also a center of... (more)

• Lexington

  Two deeply traditional Virginia colleges sit side by side in this town, each with a memorial to a soldier who was also a man of peace.... (more)

• Lynchburg

  Lynchburg was founded by John Lynch, a Quaker pacifist, but its most prominent landmark is Monument Terrace, a war memorial: at the foot and head of the 139 limestone and granite steps that ascend to the... (more)

• Middletown

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• New Market

• Orange

  Orange is a fertile agricultural area bearing reminders of the Civil War. Among the many estates dotting the countryside is the home of our nation's fourth president. A visit to Orange, the home of James... (more)

• Roanoke

  They once called this city "Big Lick." But today Roanoke, with a population of 95,000, is Virginia's largest city west of Richmond, the largest city on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and in many ways, the capital... (more)

• Shenandoah National Park

• Staunton

  Staunton (pronounced stan-ton) was once the seat of government of the vast Augusta County, which formed in 1738 and encompassed present-day West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and the Pittsburgh... (more)

• Washington

  Known as Little Washington to differentiate it from its big sister about 60 mi away, this tiny town packs in antiques shops, galleries, custom jewelry shops, and two theaters in roughly five blocks—perfect... (more)

• Winchester

  The historic town of Winchester is widely known as the birthplace of one of country music's most beloved stars, Patsy Cline. Cline hit it big when she won the Arthur Godfrey talent show, but died tragically... (more)