Frommer's Best Places to Go 2016: Charlottesville, Virginia

The October 2015 discovery of the remains of a Jefferson-era chemisty lab in the walls of the University of Virginia's ancient Rotunda Building reminded us of Charlottesville in general: There's always something interesting to discover, if only more people would look. Sure, there's Thomas Jefferson's bespoke mansion Monticello (pictured), a bucket-list U.S. heritage site if ever there was one. But in these rolling green hills there's also a thriving student scene, a music scene that consistently surprises, and even a wine trail of some 30 wineries. There's the Kluge-Ruge, the only museum in America dedicated to the dense messaging of Aboriginal Australian Art. In 2016, UVA's Fralin Museum of Art mounts a retrospectives of both Navajo weaving and artist Jacob Lawrence. Even the sites in the area cover history from every angle: Patrick Henry's farm and grave, the farm where Booker T. Washington was a slave and formed into a great man, and Appomattox, the fateful surrender spot of the Civil War, are all within easy driving distance. Make a special detour for one of the city's most unusual attractions: a burgeoning subculture of gas stations that have been converted to truly recommendable eateries, from the fried chicken at the Exxon Mobil's The Chicken Coop on Route 29 in Lovington to the Preston Avenue Shell's stewed apples. It's by virtue of being immensely diverse, unexpectedly delicious, and a delight hidden in plain sight that we choose Charlottesville as a Best Place to Go for 2016.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshows/848069-the-frommer-s-best-places-to-go-list-for-2016#slide849918#ixzz3um6BUYbm

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