136 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Virginia - Atlas Obscura

Unusual
Attractions
in Virginia

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Abandoned Virginia Renaissance Faire

The remains of a failed attempt at medieval nerdery are hidden deep in the woods of Virginia.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Natural Bridge, Virginia

The Natural Bridge

A sacred site for Native Americans surveyed by George Washington and owned by both King George III and Thomas Jefferson.

Williamsburg, Virginia

President Heads

43 giant busts of U.S. presidents are sitting in a field in Virginia.

Hannah Frishberg

Added by Hannah Frishberg

Duffield, Virginia

Virginia's Natural Tunnel

A 300-yard long natural tunnel runs through a ridge deep in the Appalachian Mountains.

White Post, Virginia

Dinosaurland

Outsider art meets paleontology at this roadside reptile repository.

Added by brf2001

Luray, Virginia

The Great Stalacpipe Organ

An organ located deep within a cave, whose "pipes" are the geological features of the cave itself.

Charlottesville, Virginia

The Raven Room

Edgar Allan Poe's old dorm is now a shrine to the author's legacy.

Added by bondsarah007

McLean, Virginia

CIA Museum

This collection of artifacts from the history of the CIA is as secretive as the organization itself.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

See All 136 Things to Do in Virginia See All 136 Places

Unique
Food & Drink
in Virginia

Peanut Pie

Gastro Obscura

Peanut Pie

The Virginia treat can “make even your deepest-dyed Yankee start complimenting you with a southern accent.”

Gastro Obscura

rachelrummel

Added by rachelrummel

George Washington’s Whiskey

Gastro Obscura

George Washington’s Whiskey

Taste the white whiskey that America's first president once distilled and enjoyed.

Gastro Obscura

Matt Blitz

Added by Matt Blitz

Southern Butter Rolls

Gastro Obscura

Southern Butter Rolls

The sweet, spiraled pastries were once a staple on cold days in the American South.

Gastro Obscura

Added by jcmbgarrison

Sugar Toad

Gastro Obscura

Sugar Toad

Chefs carefully detoxify this East Coast pufferfish to create sweet, fried “chicken wings of the sea.”

Gastro Obscura

Leigh ChavezBush

Added by Leigh ChavezBush

See all 5 things to try in Virginia See all 5 things to try in Virginia

Explore Virginia

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Stories
About Virginia

Unlike its ancient predecessor, this one is made of foam. And you can visit it in Northern Virginia.

Virginia Has Its Own Stonehenge, But It's Made Out of Foam

It even works like its predecessor.

by Matthew Blitz

October 29, 2018

The Avoca Museum in Altavista, Virginia.

The Hidden History of African-American Burial Sites in the Antebellum South

Enslaved people used codes to mark graves on plantation grounds.

by Evan Nicole Brown

October 25, 2018

George Adams draws on his thousands of steins to tell stories about beer and drinking.

Drink Up at the Home-Museum Displaying Over 10,000 Beer Steins

Tours start at the kegerator.

by Eric J. Wallace

August 06, 2018

In Early Maps of Virginia, West Was at the Top

Mark Cline.

Inside the World of Virginia’s Roadside Attraction King

For more than 30 years, Mark Cline has been keeping the state weird.

by Eric J. Wallace

Gianni Zonin, Count Cicogna, and Gabriele Rausse in 1978 making plans for Barboursville’s Vineyard.

How Two Italians Achieved a 200-Year-Old Dream of Virginian Wine

Since Thomas Jefferson first tried, growing European vines had always failed.

by Eric J. Wallace

The recently described species <em>Apheloria whiteheadi</em>.

Up Close With the First and Only Millipede Lab in the United States

They got legs, and they know how to use them.

by Vittoria Traverso

January 31, 2018

Two views of colorful but lethal: <em>Apheloria polychroma</em>.

Found: A Millipede With 6 Colorways and a Cyanide Coating

A bright, shining example of "predator education."

by Vittoria Traverso

December 05, 2017