Richmond: What to do in a weekend

Richmond may have it all- craft beer, award-winning restaurants, public art, walkable neighborhoods, trails, and more. Under a two-hour drive or a short Amtrak ride away from Washington, D.C., it’s one of our go-to weekend vacations. Before you visit, it’s important to know Richmond’s history.

Originally a village within the Powhatan Confederacy before the English invaded, present-day Richmond was founded in 1737 and survived the Revolutionary War. Home to one of the country’s largest slave markets before the war, Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War. The city crumbled when the Union Army moved in. Decades later, Richmond became an economic powerhouse. The country’s first electrically powered trolley system launched in Richmond.

Today, it’s a city with deep community. Neighbors often know each other. Justice initiatives across the city fight for equity for all of Richmond’s citizens.

If you visit, here are a few recommendations.

Eat:

• Bagels from Nate’s Bagels, a corner bagel shop that sells twelve kinds of kettle-boiled, stone-baked bagels Wednesday through Sunday.
• Birria at Abuelita’s, a popular family-owned Mexican restaurant with a salsa bar.
• Biscuits from The Fancy Biscuit, a Southern restaurant with 12 biscuit sandwiches. Another popular biscuit restaurant is Early Bird Biscuit Company.
• Brisket from ZZQ Texas Craft Barbeque, a popular Texas-style BBQ restaurant with lines out the door.
• Croissants from Sub Rosa Bakery, a popular bakery from a brother-sister team who mills their own flour. (Sub Rosa is temporarily closed after a fire.) Eat your warm pastries at nearby Patrick Henry Park, a small park near the church where Patrick Henry gave his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech.
• Chicken shawarma sandwich at Scott’s Shawarma, a family-owned restaurant that creates food that’s “half Palestinian and half New York City.”
• Dessert from Shyndigz, a bakery that sells cakes, cookies, and more, including gluten-free options.
• “Devil’s Mess” omelet at Millie’s Diner, a popular breakfast place since 1989.
• Eggs Benedict from Lunch. Supper!, a modern bistro in Scott’s Addition.
• Green curry with chicken from The Patio Thai, a restaurant serving dishes inspired by Thai street food.
• Pizza from 8 1/2, an Italian takeout spot with pizza, pasta, and more.
• Roasted beets at Stella’s, a Greek restaurant named after its chef, who sadly passed away in 2024.

Drink:

• Coffee from Ironclad Coffee Roasters, Richmond’s famous coffee shop inside a historic building that sells unique pastries like raspberry and brie croissants.
• Cortado from Roastology, a micro-roastery inside an old warehouse space.
• Cider from The Answer Brewpub, a brewery with over 35 drafts on tap. Another spot that makes their own local hard cider is Blue Bee Cider.
• IPA from Ardent Craft Ales, a family-friendly brewery with a taproom and beer garden.
• Latte from Paix Coffee, a coffee shop with church-themed decorations and an attached clothing store with additional seating. Riverbend Roastery also makes a smooth latte.
• Sour ale from Strangeways Brewing RVA-Scott’s Addition, a local brewery that sells beers on draft, including flights. Nearby Väsen Brewing Company also brews noteworthy sour ales.
• Vanilla latte from The Lab by Alchemy Coffee, a top-rated coffee shop along West Broad Street.

Do:

• Browse fresh produce and other goods at the South of the James Market, a large, year-round farmers market Sundays from 10am to 1pm in Forest Hills Park.
• Buy toys from World of Mirth, a toy and gift shop in Carytown.
• Challenge a friend to Jenga at Basic City Beer, a brewery with a game room on the Southside.
• Grab lunch at Union Market, a neighborhood market with a restaurant and bar inside.
• Hike on Belle Island, a pedestrian-only island in the James River with Civil War ties, trails, dirt biking, bird watching, and more. One way to get there is via the Belle Isle Suspension Bridge, a pedestrian-only bridge under a car bridge.
• Honor Black heroes at Evergreen Cemetery, a 19th century Black cemetery that’s being restored.
• Learn about U.S. history at The American Civil War Museum, a museum that teaches about the Civil War from three perspectives- the North, the South, and the African American experience.
• Play mini golf at The Park RVA, a massive center with duck pin, mini golf, other games, bars, and many food options.
• Rock climb at the RVA Rock Climbing Wall on the ruins of a 19th century bridge burned during the Civil War.
• Shop in Carytown, a neighborhood with hundreds of shops and restaurants, a historic theater, and the city’s first strip mall.
• Stroll across the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge, a pedestrian-only bridge across the James River with signs that talk about the city’s history.
• Take your kids to The Robins Nature Center at Maymont, a nature center with fish, turtles, and a climbing structure. On the same campus is an area with farm animals, bison, a 19th-century mansion, gardens, and trails.
• Teach your kids at the Science Museum of Virginia, a hands-on museum inside a historic train station. Next door is the Children’s Museum of Richmond, a museum with a carousal, kid-sizes spaces like a hospital, diner, and news studio, and a large art room for all ages to create.
• Visit the tasting room at Reservoir Distillery, a small-batch distillery inside an old Ginger Ale and Schweppes bottling facility that’s the third distillery outside of Kentucky to distill and release bourbon following Prohibition.
• Walk the Richmond Slave Trail, an almost three-mile trail starting at Manchester Docks that chronicles the history of a horrific trade that enslaved thousands of Africans.
• Wander Shockoe Bottom, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods and the former site of the country’s second-largest slave trading post, a clear reminder how systemic racism still exists and our need to fight it.

See:

• 19th-century houses throughout The Fan, a historic neighborhood perfect for wandering.
• Art Deco architecture at the East End Theater, a 1938 theater that’s now apartments, a restaurant, and a bar.
• Arthur Ashe Memorial Tunnel, a colorful pedestrian tunnel honoring a Black tennis legend from Richmond.
• Burial site of two U.S. Presidents at Hollywood Cemetery, 135-acres along the James River established in 1847.
• Hippodrome Theater, a 1914 theater for the Black community during segregation in Jackson Ward, a historically Black neighborhood known as “Harlem of the South.”
• Lobby at the Quirk Hotel, a hotel inside a 1916 dry goods building with an art gallery, restaurant, and bar.
• Main Street Station, a Beaux Arts train station built in 1901.
• Mini Statue of Liberty at Richmond National Battlefield Park, the site of a Civil War hospital.
• Modern art at the Institute for Contemporary Art, a design-forward museum on VCU’s campus.
• Movies at Byrd Theatre, a movie theater since 1928 that shows second-run movies.
• Murals, among the best in the country, throughout the city. There are several maps, but this one includes most of RVA’s murals.
• Old Town Manchester, once its own town before merging with Richmond.
• Oldest surviving building in Richmond that now houses The Poe Museum honoring Richmond’s most famous poet.
• Sculptures at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, one of the country’s top art museums with free admission and an outdoor sculpture garden.
• View of the city from Jefferson Park, a neighborhood park in Church Hill.