College Tour: Charlottesville & UVA, Virginia

• More about your Oliver Guide: Courtney Leary
• Trip type: Adult, Family, Group getaway, Solo
• Activity level: easy
• Ideal length of trip: Two to four days.

to & from

Charlottesville is not easy to get to — from most places you will need to take a connecting flight or drive from Richmond or Dulles. Richmond is about 1 hr 20 minutes and Dulles is 2 to 3 hours depending on traffic.

Where to Stay

• The Forum Hotel by Kimpton on campus is our favorite hotel so far for visiting UVA. It’s a newer hotel with great beds, a bar, two restaurants and is right on campus. It is about 1.5 miles from central campus but within walking distance to John Paul Jones Arena and a majority of the athletic facilities as well as the business and law schools. We have stayed twice and are very impressed with the service and the morning coffee bar!
• The Draftsman  is closer to restaurants, bars and the lively side of campus but rooms and amenities are not quite as nice (or new) as the Kimpton. If location and walking are important, this is your best bet.
• Keswick Hall is beautiful and full of amenities but far from campus (at least 20min), would consider for an extended stay.
• The Boars Head Resort has amazing amenities, the bar and restaurant look great (we only had drinks here) and it is only about 8 minutes from campus– so a happy medium if you are looking for a resort experience but still want to be close to the action. We have not heard great things about the rooms though.