The Best Sight in Hartford and the Connecticut River Valley, Connecticut

Background Illustration for Sights

We've compiled the best of the best in Hartford and the Connecticut River Valley - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.

Wesleyan University

Founded in 1831, Wesleyan University is one of the oldest Methodist institutions of higher education in the country. The roughly 2,800 undergraduates give Middletown a contemporary, college-town feel. Note the massive, fluted Corinthian columns of the 1828 Greek Revival Russell House at the corner of Washington Street, across from the pink Mediterranean-style Davison Art Center built 15 years later. Farther along, you'll find gingerbreads, towering brownstones, Tudors, and Queen Annes. A few hundred yards up on Church Street, which intersects High Street, is the Olin Library. This 1928 structure was designed by Henry Bacon, architect of the Lincoln Memorial.