I'm thinking of going to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, this summer. Has anyone been there? Is it worth the trip (I live in NY)? What is there to do? Looking for hiking trails, festivals, and other things to do. Also any good Bed and Breakfasts, and resturants? THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSES!

Krista,

We are also from NY and we were traveled through the area last July in route to pick up my daughter who was helping to repair homes for the poor in Appalachia.

We were lucking enough to have a day to spend in the area and we loved it. It was a very pleasant drive in terms of road conditions and scenery. The vistas on the mountain drive were beatiful and it is clearly an outdoorsman paradise. We visited the Luray Caverns which is definitely worth seeing if you have any interest in such things.

I am sure you will get far more detailed responses than this, but as a fellow New Yorker I just wanted to chime in.

Have fun!!

I would love to hear the answers to this question, too! I posted recently about driving from NYC to Asheville, N.C. and I thought of taking the Blue Ridge Parkway. Any recommendations for stops along the way-- special sights or good B&B's-- would also be appreciated by me!

my husband and I have taken a few trips to Virginia. One trip was on our 25th anniversary. We stayed at a excellent b&b at Front Royal which is the beginning of Skyline Drive. The blue room has its own jacuzzi and veranda. The Langs are excellent hosts. They made a small Irish pub in one section with all the Irish beer and wine you could want and its free!!! They also serve teas and drinks also. very nice and we have been there several times. It is called Killahevan and they have there own website. Also Skyland Lodge is right on Skyline Drive at the highest point. More rustic but an excellent view . There are several caverns to see of course Luray is the most famous. There are several falls and hiking trails. If you like wineries there are several of them with nice views and a nice place to relax on there decks. Jefferson Monticello is in Charlottesville or close by and well worth the trip.Well hope this helps you some . Hope you have a nice trip.

There is a continuous mountain drive along the crest of the Blue Ridge, the Black Mountains in NC and finally the Balsams all the way to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The distance is well over 500 miles from near Front Royal Va to the Smokies. In the northern section the road is often called the Skyline Drive. Near Charlottesville Va the Blue Ridge Parkway starts and continues over 450 miles to the Smokies. The attractions along the route are far too numerous to describe here. But there is a National Park Serice web site that will give many of the details. Also, many books have been written on the subject. Just off of the parkway tourists can find many, many attractions. My favorite section of the parkway is in North Carolina - north and south of Asheville. But there is one spot on the parkway in Virginia known as Mabry Mill. It is a restored old grist mill powered by a water wheel.
The whole area is attractive and worth a two hour or so stop. But the parkway is so long that everyone who travels any distance on it is going to have a favorite spot or two, or more. I could go on for pages.

We frequent the area as our son goes to school at Randolph Macon Academy in Front Royal. Last weekend we were up for parents' weekend. Saturday afternoon after we checked our our son, we all drove down to one of our favorite wineries, Barboursville, near Orange, VA. We've spend some time in that area -- which is a stones throw from Charlottesville -- and there are a host of excellent B&B's and restaurants in that area (we've stayed at "The Shadows" in Orange, and eaten several times at The Bavarian Inn). Saturday night we had dinner in Middleburg at the Red Fox Inn, while our son attended a dance at Foxcroft (girls) school. Wow. What a beautiful school THAT is! Middleburg is tres chic, while Front Royal is a simple small town. Closer to Front Royal, our restaurant of choice is the Flint Hill Public House in Flint Hill, VA, also very near the Shenandoah Parkway. They have rooms as well, and are in an exquisite setting. (While the Red Fox Inn is better known to Washingtonians, we decided that Flint Hill has a much more interesting menu, and is really quite a find.) The Parkway is part of the National Park System, and if you have a Golden Eagle Pass ($20 per year) you can use it for access, as well as all the other National Parks. Otherwise the fee is $10. The road is lovely, very windy, with plentiful pull-offs for spectacular views. We sat and read our Sunday paper on the patio at Skyland. There is a nice restaurant with the can't miss views, and I'd think staying in one of the cabins/rooms there would be terrific. Many trails for hiking. While we only saw deer and birds (this is a good place for birding) last week, we have seen bears, on other trips. Several years before we drove the lower portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway into North Carolina. Friends of ours have travelled the whole length and camped. It is a beautiful place for a trip.

Just found a website with many area links-- www.barboursvillewine.com (Even if you're not interested in wine, there are some very good links to restaurants, B&Bs, festivals, etc.)
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention another favorite winery in the area, Linden (just up Rt 66 from Front Royal). You could easily spend a good week exploring the area between Front Royal and Charlottesville, with events, sites, and activities to suit just about anyone's interests. And then there is that beautiful geography!