Arriving at Lynchburg Regional Airport in Lynchburg places you among it all, with the Blue Ridge, the James River, and a string of small Virginia towns an easy drive away. Lynchburg climbs up seven hills from the river, which is why locals call it the Hill City. Old tobacco warehouses downtown have become restaurants and lofts, long staircases connect the streets, and the mountains are always in view to the west.

A few favorites in Lynchburg: - Walk the Bluffwalk and climb the Monument Terrace steps from the river to Court Street - Bike or stroll the Blackwater Creek Trail and cross to Percival's Island on the James - Visit the Anne Spencer House, home and garden of the Harlem Renaissance poet - Tour Thomas Jefferson's octagonal retreat at Poplar Forest, just outside town in Forest - Wander the Old City Cemetery, a garden cemetery with a pest house museum - Catch a concert or play at the restored Academy Center of the Arts - Take the kids to Amazement Square, a hands-on children's museum in an old warehouse - Ski or snowboard year-round on the synthetic slope at Liberty Mountain Snowflex

Appomattox Court House, where the Civil War effectively ended, is about half an hour east of Lynchburg. Bedford and the National D-Day Memorial are 30 minutes west, with the Peaks of Otter and the Blue Ridge Parkway just beyond. Smith Mountain Lake is under an hour, Roanoke is about an hour, and Charlottesville and Lexington are each about 75 minutes. Every June the James River Batteau Festival launches replica flat-bottomed cargo boats from downtown for a week-long float to Richmond. Come in spring for dogwoods or in fall when the hills turn.