My husband and I are planning a romantic weekend getaway to VA next month. We live in central NC. Some possibilities we have considered - winery tours, Smith Mountain Lake, Monticello. We are also open to suggestions. We have not spent any time in Virginia so the amount of possible things to do is overwhelming.

We are in our mid 40's and enjoy beautiful scenery. Photography is a hobby, so opportunities to take interesting pictures is a plus.

A stay at a romantic bed and breakfast would be nice. Our budget for a hotel room would be in the $150 range.

Any suggestions, thoughts, ideas?

L'Auberge Provencal is in White Post, VA. The website says it's one hour from DC. I haven't been there yet, but it looks beautiful. Check out the website: www.laubergeprovencale.com

Check out the accomodations at the Barboursville Vineyard in Charlottesville. I haven't stayed there, but toured the winery and thought I'd like to go back at stay there sometime. I really like Charlottesville. Monticello is nice to see, and if you like wineries, there are a number of good ones in the area.

Charlottesville is a great little city with the opportunity for lots of nearby side trips. I also like Wintergreen, though I don't know about prices this time of year. Also, Lexington is a nice little town not too far from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Go to Shenandoah National Park, it is very scenic and I love it. Good place for photography. You might should consider going in fall like October or so. But, even when the leaves are not changing it is still pretty. Hike to a waterfall like the short Dark Hollow Falls trail or the much longer White Oak Canyon Trail that has many waterfalls, I think like eight. You can also consider staying at one of the lodges in the park like Skyland and the Big Meadows Lodge. If you live in central North Carolina however, the Great Smokey Mountains are even a better choice. That is some of the best scenery in the eastern united states other than maybe new england. Plus, it is closer than Shenandoah. Shenandoah is just so close to my house because I am in Maryland. The Smokeys from my house, however is quite a distance, about an 8-9 hour drive non-stop. Cosider just taking a trip to Western North Carolina and maybe driving the Blue Ridge Parkway into Virginia. North Carolina is a big state. Are you taking a long weekend?

Thanks for the replies! I will check out the places mentioned.

We really want to go to Virginia. We have spent much time in Western NC - we have family there.

Yes, this will be a long weekend. We are taking advantage of daughter going to the beach with relatives. Either Friday and Saturday night or Saturday and Sunday night depending on what's available.

October would be wonderful, but we already have a beach trip in the works to take advantage of son's fall break from college.

Has anyone been to Smith Mountain Lake? I think that is only a 2 hour drive for us. Any nice places to stay there?

Inn at Sleepy Hollow is lovely and close to Charlottesville. We have stayed at L'Auberge Provencal is in White Post, VA, which was lovely, but the areas of C'ville has more to offer.

Virginia can be a very scenic place too. Drive some of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Depending on if you are in Southern NC or Northern NC, Shenandoah can be quite a distance or not too far. It is a very big park, stretching from Northern Virginia to Southern Virginia. But maybe you could visit the southern section of the park. Skyline Drive, the road that runs the length of the park and that connects to the Blue Ridge Parkway is over 100 miles long. Where is Smith Mountain Lake?

Thanks everyone!

L'Auberge Provencal and Barboursville Vineyard look like wonderful accommodations, but out of my price range. Sleepy Hollow is a possibility. I will check to see how far a drive that would be.

We live Burlington area of NC. This is in the middle of the state. Smith Mountain Lake is near Roanoke, VA. About 2 hours from us. I have looked at this B&B - http://www.lovestoneinn.com/ - Lovestone Inn. It has availability and is in our price range. Is anyone familiar with this bed and breakfast?

I would have trouble selling Skyline Drive as romantic but good luck-it may be the only was to get in under $150. 10+ years ago, we splurged on the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville. It had great access to Shenandoah Natl. Park, UVA and Monticello. May be worth looking for a promo before school starts around 3rd week of August.Enjoy

Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville. They have several restaurants, a spa, golf, etc. Charlottesville has a number of nice restaurants, the university, Monticello, wineries nearby, etc.

I would recommend Chateau Morrisette which is on the Blue Ridge Parkway close to Roanoke, VA. It is an amazing winery which has a wonderful restaurant - I adore the wines and food there. They also have deals which includes dinner there and then an overnight at nearby B&B's - my parents did that once and loved it.

Their website is:

http://www.chateaumorrisette.com/

Also, I don't know when you plan to go - but on July 23d and August 27th - they are having their "Our Dog Blues" = Festival which is GREAT music which you can enjoy with wine and food - you can bring your own food or buy it there - it's a lot of fun! There are also other music events on most weekends.

I would also suggest Charlottesville, particularly if you are into wine. That being said, the afore-mentioned Barboursville & Chateau Morrissette have wines that are (in my opinion) in the bottom third of what Virginia wines have to offer. Villa Appalachia (down & across the road from C-M) deals in Italian varietals & all of their wines are very good. Others I would recommend are Horton, Rebec, Prince Michel & Oakencroft. For places to stay...Smith Mt. Lake (in my experience) is more of a boaters lake than anything else. I would suggest The Silver Thatch Inn which also has a great restaurant. Try www.bbonline.com for a plethora of lodging choices. For winery info, go to www.virginiawines.org.

Hi there--
There's a cute B&B in Charlottesville within walking distance to the university and the downtown mall. It's called South Street Inn- www.southstreetinn.com.

I also toured the Barboursville Winery and had dinner at their restaurant. I remember it being very good but expensive if you are on a budget. It is an easy drive from Charlottesville.
Wintergreen does run some specials-- especially during the summer. I'm not sure how romantic it is though. There's certainly a lot of "nature".
It might be worthwhile to look into smaller areas too near Charlottesville, like Stanton for bed and breakfast type places.

If you're still thinking of something farther afield along the parkway, it wouldn't hurt to check out the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia's web site out: http://www.innvirginia.com/

If you do make it to Charlottesville.. do take your hubby to the UVA lawn at night to sit on the rotunda steps.

More great responses! Thanks!

We had considered Chateau Morrisette, as some of our friends belong to their wine club. But all of their wines I have tasted seem to be sweet. We prefer more dryer wines.

I will look into everyone's suggestions. Thanks again.

oops...I made a mistake--it was the Inn at Sugar Hollow. Sorry.