My girlfriend will be with me over the summer and I'm hoping to plan some fun things to do on the weekends. Unfortunately, she will be working Sundays (at a local church) so any travel would have to be a day trip (or an overnight on Fridays). What are your "best bets" for things to do within a comfortable drive from the D.C. metro area (Fairfax County, to be more specific)? I don't have any specific types of activities in mind - we're both pretty flexible and open to anything!

As a start:

- Visit several of the many wineries in Virginia (some of which have overnight accommodation)

- Charlottesville/Monticello

- Skyline Drive

- Luray Caverns (and many other caverns, too)

- Williamsburg

- Virginia Beach

Travel Fan's list is very good. Monticello is a must for any American. I would add Antietam Battlefield, Manassas Battlefied, Annapolis and Harper's Ferry.

Outdoorsy:
Shenandoah National Park - go hiking. Have a turkey dinner at Big Meadows Lodge after a day of hiking.
Harper's Ferry - go rafting, change into dry clothes and explore the Historical Park.
C&O Canal - numerous access points - take bikes. Can do in conjunction w/Harper's Ferry. C&O Towpath is flat flat flat.
Mountain Biking - depends. Trails in Charlottesville, local trails in Fairfax County, DC and MD.
Scottville (20 min south of Charlottesville) tubing and canoeing on the James River.
Occoquan - quaint little town, can do as a day trip.
Markham VA - orchards. there you can pick peaches, cherries, apples depending on whats in season.
Stay in town for the fireworks in DC on July 4th - they are great.
Wineries are as close as Loudoun county
Assateague/Ocean City MD for the beaches.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg - ride the roller coasters
St. Michaels, MD, nice small town on the Bay for a romantic weekend

Close by Urban Destinations
Baltimore - tons of activities, inner harbor, Aquarium, hotels, restuarants, little Italy, Fells Point, Ft. McHenry, Walters Gallery.
Richmond-gardens, history, nightlife.
Annapolis

Museum/Culture/History
Most of the major museums in DC.
Staunton - take in a Shakespeare Play
Fredericksburg, Manassas, - Civil War battlefields

66 west on a Friday afternoon - expect heavy traffic
50 east on a Friday afternoon - expect heavy traffic
95 south on a Friday afternoon - expect heavy traffic

As someone who has to fight MD 50 East traffic before the Bay and Severn River Bridges on Fridays, Saturday mornings are usually worse than Fridays, especially when the weather is dry and a westbound lane is added for eastbound traffic. Rain screws everything up on Fridays, however.

Go to www.washingtonpost.com and click on "Arts and Living", then "Travel", then "Mid-Atlantic" and you will find links to MANY travel stories about places to visit within the area. There's even more if you check out "Sunday Source's Road Trips" (link is at the bottom of the Travel webpage). These stories tend to be about places you can visit in a day from D.C.

Thanks, everyone, for the quick replies! I'm all too well aware of the horrors of D.C. rush-hour traffic heading out of the city on 66, 495, 95, or 50. I'd consider leaving right after work on Friday and taking our time to get there so we don't have to leave too early Saturday morning. We're more likely to head west/south into Virginia (an overnight/Saturday at Williamsburg is definitely on the list, as is Monticello) than north/east into MD, and we've gone through the majority of the more notable DC sights already.

I-66 out to Front Royal and then rte 340 to Bentonville where you can rent a canoe. River is usually warm enough for swimming by Mothers Day.
The outfitter will shuttle you south for an 8, 12, or 16 mile return canoe trip on the south fork of the Shenandoah River. Beautiful scenery and a fun trip.

ronkala - can you suggest any rental places/outfitters or websites for places in Bentonville?

Hi PennStateMark,

In the interest of hopefully saving you from a horrible experience, please do not try to do a day trip to Williamsburg from DC!!! At one point it was possible to actually do the trip in 2.5 hours each way, but those days are long gone...unless you plan to travel between 9 pm and 7 am! If you really MUST do Williamsburg this way, then don't leave No. Va. until after 8:30 or 9 pm on Friday, and drive back home at around the same time or later on Saturday. But there is so much to do in Williamsburg that it would make more sense to save that trip for when both of you can take off a couple of days and do it properly.

Charlottesville.
Montpelier in Orange Co., VA.
Washington, VA and Sperryville,VA.

Another outdoorsy suggestion...go white water rafting in Harpers Ferry. Great (class I-III) rapids on the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers.

www.riverriders.com

I highly recommend an Orioles baseball game in Baltimore - Camden Yards is a great stadium.

PennStateMark,
There are four or five canoe outfitters in Bentonville area.
Google Bentonville VA canoe outfitters.

The first time we canoed the South Fork, we used Down River Canoe Co.
(540) 635-5526 with a group. We had such a great time we bought a canoe the following week.

We then met the owner of Massanutten Canoe Co (540) 635-5050 and started to use them to shuttle our canoe up river for us. We would do this every Sunday, and many times camp over Saturday night in their campground with friends who would rent canoes.

The river moves fast enough that you can go with the flow for the most part. There is one class 2/3 rapid that is easy to take, just stay to the right. The noise you hear approaching it is scarier than going through the rapids. There is also a class 2 called The Ledge that you take to the extreme left. Nothing to it, the water propels you right over the ledge. Once over the ledge beach the canoe on the right bank for lunch and a swim call.

If going on a Saturday or Sunday, I would suggest making a reservation.
Enjoy!!