They say Virginia is for lovers, so we spent our New Years’ Eve weekend exploring its offerings. Luray Caverns and Monticello were highlights for day one. Read our next post about day two in Richmond, which impressed us more than we expected!

Virginia Weekend Highlights over New Years’ Eve Weekend 2017

• Luray Caverns (near Shenandoah National Park)
• Staunton (5 Historic Districts, Reunion Bakery & Espresso)
• Charlottesville (Monticello, The Pie Chest, Pedestrian Mall)
• Richmond (GardenFest Illumination at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden)

We left our place early on Saturday (December 30, 2017) in the morning to drive out toward Shenandoah National Park. We had our National Park pass ready, so we thought after seeing Luray Caverns, it would be nice to enjoy the drive south along Skyline Drive.

Unfortunately, due to snow, we learned that many parts of Shenandoah were closed. We went ahead and drove directly to Luray Caverns and bought our ticket for the next tour. At this point in time, we had been to a few other caves (Cave of the Winds in Colorado, Wind Cave in South Dakota and Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota) and had enjoyed each experience as every cave seems to have something unique about them.

Make sure to read the rules online about your boots before heading out to a cave (hint: it has to do with bats and the spread of white-nose syndrome). Luray Cavern has many “must sees” including the reflecting pond, the stalacpipe organ and fried eggs. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you know how to use your phone camera or regular camera in lower light settings.

Your ticket also gets you admission into a few of the nearby buildings, so if you’re into old cars it’s worth taking a walk through the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum or if you’re into old toys you may want to pop through Toy Town Junction which are both in the same parking lot.

We headed south from Luray to a small historic town called Staunton. Staunton is made up of five historic districts (Newtown; Wharf Area; Beverley; Gospel Hill; Stuart Addition). Staunton is home to Mary Baldwin University, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and the American Shakespeare Center. We parked near both between the Beverly District and Gospel Hill and enjoyed a walk downtown along S New St. This street has a historic store front called Cranberry’s Grocery and Eatery and a nice coffee shop called Reunion Bakery & Espresso. It’s also a short walk to the train tracks and the Wharf District, which has a cool bridge and the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church is worth a peek. Staunton also hosts a Harry Potter-esque world of wizardry weekend every September.

For 2018, it’s called “Queen City Mischief and Magic”. While we haven’t been, I have read the city is transformed for this particular weekend. Plus, you’d be close enough to Shenandoah to potentially see the leaves change color! If you love Instagram like me (I hope you’ll follow me @TeamTravelsBlog), tag your Staunton pics with #LOVEStaunton #QueenCity and @visitstaunton .

From here, we continued eastward about 40 minutes to Charlottesville and specifically to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. We made it in time for the last regular tour of the day. This home should not be missed. We took the free shuttle to the house, then walked by the grave site and took a trail back to where the museums, gift shop and ticket counter were located. The tour guides are passionate about his life and sharing information about the house. The views also happen to be incredible!

From here, we went to downtown Charlottesville, where the University of Virginia is located. There’s a “pedestrian mall” which is essentially a car free street with a variety of stores, restaurants and bars. Similar concept to the 16^th Street Mall you’d find in Denver, Colorado, just on a smaller scale. On one of the side streets, I saw a pie place called “The Pie Chest”.

O.m.g. this place is amazing!! I could literally make a trip here just for the pie.

As if we hadn’t fit enough into our day, we drove about another hour to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden outside of Richmond. We wanted to see the beautiful winter lights display here called GardenFest Illumination. For many years we’ve gone to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to take in the free display of holiday lights, which are definitely a must see. But as we were looking for something different to do, this was great! There were a variety of indoor and outdoor displays, animals, storybook characters in lights (see the Giving Tree below), moving lights and changing colors.

Yep, we were exhausted by this point. I found a cheap, last minute deal using Booking.com (use my code and we each get $20) for a place under $60. We crashed and knew we’d have a chance to sleep in and then explore Richmond in the morning. If we took a similar trip, any must-see places you would recommend? Read all about our day in Richmond here!

Other nearby ideas if you’re planning a similar trip:

• Shenandoah National Park
• Staunton (Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, American Shakespeare Center)
• Charlottesville (Ash-Highland Estate)
• Orange (Montpellier)