24 hrs in Richmond - what to do?

5 friends %26amp; I got $10 tickets on Skybus and will be flying into Richmond on Feb 23 and flying back to Ohio on Feb 24. any thoughts on what to do for our 2 day girl%26#39;s outing? we%26#39;re all in our early 30%26#39;s. thanks for any help/insight you have!

24 hrs in Richmond - what to do?

What do you like to do? The art museum is good. Maymont is an old estate that is interesting.

24 hrs in Richmond - what to do?

we%26#39;ve got a good combination of interests. we%26#39;ve got a few who are really into history (which i know is plentiful there!) but the other 3 would likely kill us if all we do is historical things! :) so i would say something historical, homes/architecture would be another area of interest. and of course good restaurants and shopping are always our style. thanks for your help!

For unique shops and cafes go to The Fan, Shockoe, and Carytown areas...nightlife in these places also. Edgar Allen Poe Museum is a favorite of mine. The Holocaust Museum is excellent if you are interested. Check out the things to do section for more ideas. If you have a car, drive east 1 hr to Williamsburg, have lunch or dinner in one of the Taverns and look around the town, very interesting historically and lots of great shopping and food. Enjoy your trip.

Where are you staying?

not sure where we%26#39;re staying yet b/c we%26#39;re literally there from 7am Saturday to 7am Sunday (that%26#39;s what happens when 1 of my friends decides to be spontaneous and buy all 6 of us $10 tickets on Skybus!) so some of the girls think we should just stay up %26amp; out all night. i think that sounds great until about 2am. then what? so we%26#39;re pretty open to suggestions on where to stay (if we get a hotel) and what to do. the more i try to figure out what to do, the more ridiculous this trip seems! :)

Here%26#39;s a link to an article in this weekend%26#39;s Washington Post about an area of Richmond which is supposed to be fun and funky. From this site, you can click on a map and a box with more detailed info on shops and restaurants.

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/…

If any of you enjoy art, don%26#39;t miss the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Among other things, they have the largest collection of Russian Imperial Easter Eggs (Faberge) in the U.S.

Richmond shuts down around Midnight. You can%26#39;t really stay out all night here unless you literally want to sit in a park all night (not recommended).

You need a hotel but most hotels in Richmond are on a strip (West Broad Street) near nothing in particular.

If you don%26#39;t have a car, the only hotels to stay in these: Berkeley, Omni, Jefferson, Doubletree, or Radisson.

None of them are cheap but there are 6 of you. Tell the hotel there are just 4 of you, split the room 6 ways, and at least have a place to crash.

Given your time frame, there is just one area to focus on: Shockoe Bottom, the oldest part of Richmond, but also the part with the most bars and restaurants.

If any place in Richmond is going to be open after Midnight, it%26#39;s in Shockoe Bottom.

The Omni and the Berkeley are right in Shockoe Bottom; the other hotels I mentioned are within walking or easy cab distance.

Someone here mentioned you should visit Carytown. Carytown is a quasi-suburban 1 mile long

strip that isn%26#39;t nearly as interesting as people who live here think. It%26#39;s like 10 boutiques and 4 restaurants.

You can get a shuttle from a hotel to Carytown if, for some reason, you feel you can%26#39;t live without seeing it. Two good restaurants there: 1 North Belmont (expensive French, sorta stuffy) and Can Can (less expensive French, with a hot bar scene).

Get a cab from the airport to your hotel. Leave your bags. Walk around Shockoe Bottom. Have lunch. Take a nap in your room. Go to dinner in Shockoe Bottom (too many restaurants to name). Have a few cocktails. Crash. Get a cab to the airport.

Done.

I should say: Richmond is a lovely city. Dull but pretty. Nothing doing here that isn%26#39;t doing in, say, Columbus or Albany. It%26#39;s not very ';Southern'; except for all the Confederate monuments. Prepared to be amused that the South spent so much money on statues of the losers.

My daughter went to college in Richmond, and still lives there so we visit fairly often for weekends. The Maymont Park is very nice - house tour, small zoo and farm area, beautiful gardens and grounds, small but very nice exhibition building - but in February, unless it is a really nice day, it may be too cold to really enjoy it. Same with Lewis Ginter Gardens. The State Capitol does a very good tour of the Capitol Building, and the Confederate White House is a nice tour. We try to go most often in spring so we can walk along the riverfront where they have a very nice walking area and activities often in spring. There is also a museum right there. Shockoe bottom area is probably your best bet for restaurants and bars - I know my daughter is out there every Friday and Saturday night (past midnight, also!) Without a car I think that should be where you plan to spend your time.

Check out Carytown. Some people compare it to Georgetown, but other than having a bunch of stores on a road, there is much similarity. Carytown has some good clothing stores and novelty boutiques, but there are also a number of furniture and interior design/furnishing stops. Worth the trip, take a cab to the top, walk down and get another at the end. By the way, if you want ice cream, go to Bev%26#39;s not Ben and Jerry%26#39;s.

Other than that you%26#39;ll probably stick Downtown. There are some cool places there, Main Street Station, Poe Museum, Capital, and others.

I would think about renting a car for the day as cabs aren%26#39;t an easy way to travel and our bus system is pretty miserable.

Also, skip Maymont, Lewis Ginter Gardens and the like, not going to be anything special that time of year.