This story, which ran in our December issue, is part of a series about great college towns to visit.
The Town: Richmond
The Schools: University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University
Drive Time from NoVA: 2 hours
What Makes it Great
Within a day’s drive of half of the U.S. population, Virginia’s capital city was also named one of The New York Times’ 52 Places to Go in 2020. The city flanks the James River, popular for water sports like whitewater rafting, stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking. If you’d rather stay on land, the Virginia Capital Trail is a paved pedestrian and bike trail running 51.7 miles from the current capital to the past capital (Jamestown); rent an electric bike from Kul Wheels to take in some of the state’s most beautiful sites on one of North America’s first inland routes. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (pictured above), located in the Museum District, is part of a thriving arts scene (and admission is free!) and has a selection of works from around the world, including a burgeoning collection by American artists and a new statue called Rumors of War constructed as a direct response to the city’s Confederate statues. The campus of the private, liberal arts-focused University of Richmond topped The Princeton Review’s 2021 list of Most Beautiful Campuses, while Virginia Commonwealth University is a renowned research university. With almost 40 breweries on the Richmond Beer Trail, like Strangeways Brewing and Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, a great pint of suds is never far away. And the culinary scene has exploded thanks to concepts like the ambitious tasting menu at Longoven, soul food at the family-owned Mama J’s in Jackson Ward and the seasonally evolving Saison. Notably, the newly formed BLK RVA initiative aims to increase African American tourism in Richmond by showcasing places and events in arts and entertainment, food and drink, community and history that highlight the Black experience.
Must-Do’s
• Embrace the moody and macabre at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, which displays furniture and personal items as well as first and early editions of his work, explores his mysterious death and hosts UnHappy Hours.
• Spot the murals around the city that are part of the Mending Walls project, a collaboration of artists from different backgrounds promoting shared connection as a society.
• Spend a few hours at the Richmond Night Market, which takes place every second Saturday from April to December.
• Get messy at Soul Taco at Kabana Rooftop, which blends Latin American flavors and Southern cuisine with handhelds like Mississippi pot roast tacos and crispy chicken skin and duck tacos.
Where to Stay
Graduate Richmond is part of a brand of boutique hotels in college towns themed after each location. Richmond’s is inspired by tennis as an homage to native-born Arthur Ashe, with preppy design elements mixed with midcentury minimalism and the athlete’s signature frames on display. Brookfield offers all-day dining and craft cocktails, and you can soak in 360-degree city views and nosh on Chesapeake oysters at the rooftop Byrd House. The historical Linden Row Inn was frequented by Edgar Allan Poe, and the gardens in which he used to play may be the ones he mentions in his poem “To Helen.”
This story originally appeared in the December issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly print magazine.
