Virginia

Ten Best Virginia Hikes

These Virginia views are worth the hike. The stunning natural beauty of Virginia was one of the great charms to the early settlers, so much so that places like Natural Bridge were seen as New World wonders. To photographer and hiker John Henley, they still are. Henley, a commercial photographer with studios […]

by Staff

Lauren Groff Interview

Six questions for this award-winning author. The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff. Riverhead Books. pp. 272. $28. Three-time National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Lauren Groff returns with a novel set in Jamestown during a period known as “The Starving Time” (1609-10). It follows a young girl in flight from the […]

by Konstantin Rega

Hikes for Beginners

The best trails for maximum views and minimum experience. Shutterstock A hiker takes in the view of the Virginian Blue Ridge Mountains from the summit of The Priest along the Appalachian Trail. You don’t have to be an expert mountain climber to enjoy the natural beauty of Virginia’s best hikes for beginners: […]

by Staff

Fishers Hill

Three female artists are being rediscovered. Fisher’s Hill sits in the northern section of the Shenandoah region, near Strasbourg. And though it might be best known for the Civil War battle which occurred in September of 1864, there’s more to this location than meets the eye. Landscape painter Bertha […]

by Staff

K9 to 5: Meet six working dog super heros

The term “man’s best friend” has endured since the 1700s, when Frederick the Great of Prussia coined it. At home, dogs are family members and loyal companions. And at work, they’re valued team members who take their jobs seriously. Meet canine celebrities Nadine, Bluto, Bruno, Sky, Irene, and Forest. From farm shepherds and truffle […]

by Madeline Mayhood

Embracing Taiwanese Cuisine

In a new cookbook, Virginia-born chef Trigg Brown shares recipes from Win Son in Brooklyn. Trigg Brown was a UVA student working in Keswick Hall’s kitchen when chef Pei Jen Chang introduced him to the sweet, subtle flavors and cultural nuances of Taiwanese cuisine. Brown, who grew up in […]

by Konstantin Rega

A Million Lives Saved and Counting

For each organ transplanted in the U.S., Richmond’s UNOS makes it possible. Kyle LaFerriere Heather James spent much of her young life fighting to breathe. Born with cystic fibrosis, she was losing that fight by the time she’d reached 19. In November of that year, with her lung function at barely 15 […]

by caroline kettlewell

Roanoke’s Vibrant Energy

Roanoke beckons with biking trails and more. For most of my life, Roanoke has been a bit of a mystery. Growing up at the opposite end of the state, I knew it only vaguely, as a railroad town on the edge of Appalachia, easy to zoom by on I-81 without blinking. (Photo by […]

by Staff

Ann Beattie Interview

Five questions for this American master of the short story. Onlookers by Ann Beattie. Scribner. pp. 288. $28. Konstantin Rega: Where did these stories originate from? Ann Beattie: When I started writing these stories, I had the idea that they would be based in Virginia. But at that point, I’d only […]

by Konstantin Rega

Pandemonium

Demand is high for Blanc Creatives’ next-gen cookware. (Photo by Adam Ewing) By 2019, Corry Blanc had been pounding out one-of-a-kind, hand-forged carbon steel pans for five years. A meticulous blacksmith, he was constantly improving his design, from the slope of the sidewall to the hammer marks. So later that year, he […]

by Jill Devine

To the Moon

Virginia’s Space History. When Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969, he credited NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton. Langley’s engineers designed and tested the Apollo 11 spacecraft and built the space program’s first simulators, where Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin practiced complex landing maneuvers and trained […]

by Konstantin Rega

Taste the Wild

Fresh mountain trout from Smoke in Chimneys has chefs and fine purveyors hooked. (Photo by Fred + Elliott) In the hills and hollers of the Alleghenies, water flows underground as it has for centuries. Within millions of miles of limestone, the water courses, finding an outlet through the cold-water springs that dot […]

by Stephanie Ganz

Virginia Living Weddings 2024

Our submissions are now closed. Were you married on or after August 1, 2022? We invite you to share your wedding day with our editors. Select couples will be featured in the January 2024 issue of Virginia Living. Click here to access the official submission form. Share your wedding […]

by Staff

Virginia’s Flower Farms

Local flowers are closer than you think. Here’s a sampling of farms statewide. Kate Thompson Flowers are a blooming business here in Virginia, where local flower farms have proliferated by 80 percent over the past 20 years. Some call this bloom-boom the “slow flower” movement—a play on “slow food’s” know-your-farmer approach to eating. Others use the […]

by Staff

Virginia’s Best Sunflower Festivals

The flowers are coming out for these beautiful festivals around the state. July is prime sunflower season at Sinkland Farms in Christiansburg. Over three weekends from July 14-30, enjoy their third annual Sunflower Festival where more than eight acres of sunflowers are in full bloom and perfect for picking. The festival also […]

by Konstantin Rega

Magical Manor Tour

In 1980, John & Yoko searched Virginia for a grand estate. John Lennon was on the road to Upper Shirley, seated in the back of a limousine wearing blue jeans and a work shirt. Next to him, Jimmie Carter, a 28-year-old Gloucester real estate agent, had mentioned that the estate’s owner, Em […]

by Don Harrison

Jeannette Walls

In her new novel, the Glass Castle author explores home and history: “With Virginia, it’s a love affair.” In the movie version of her 2005 memoir, The Glass Castle, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts play her nomadic parents while Brie Larson stars as Walls herself. The theater run spurred the book to an […]

by Constance Costas

Virginia’s Famous Firsts

29 curious, remarkable, & extraordinary things that all started in Virginia. As any fourth-grader can tell you, without Virginia, there’d be no United States. Starting with the hardy band who settled Jamestown, our colonists begat the patriots who trounced the British at Yorktown, winning our independence in 1781. You’re welcome, America. […]

by George Tisdale

Blue Zone Living

Could Virginia be the world’s next healthiest place? Skylar Arias Adventures Hawksbill Mountain Flourishing is a hot topic among scientists studying human health these days. Sure, we’d all like to live longer. But the question on researchers’ minds goes more like this: how can we live longer while also avoiding disease and […]

by Staff

Pages: 123456

Events

September 12, 2025

An Artist’s Journey: The Bay School’s Annual Student Art Show

Bay School Community Arts Center/Art Speaks Gallery

September 12, 2025

Mathews ArtFest

Bay School Community Arts Center/Art Speaks Gallery

September 12, 2025

Local Scenes Exhibition at The Bay School’s Art Speaks Gallery

Bay School Community Arts Center/Art Speaks Gallery

Submissions are open for Virginia Living's Top Wedding Vendor 2026 List!

Virginia’s Best Small-Batch Ice Cream Shops

Move over, chocolate and strawberry. It’s not that you’re boring, it’s just that Virginia’s small batch scoopers are churning out so many flavors that it makes plain old vanilla seem, well, vanilla. In the Old Dominion, we found that Scoop in Richmond’s Fan District is out of this world, with flavor bombs like Tahini & […]

by Madeline Mayhood

Top 10 Fall Festivals in Virginia 2025

Alexandria – 23rd Annual Alexandria Art Festival Sept. 13–14: Stroll Old Town’s John Carlyle Square Park as it’s transformed into an outdoor art gallery for this fall festival. Admire the work from more than 200 juried artisans from around the globe. VisitAlexandria.com Virginia Beach – VIRGINIA BEACH NEPTUNE FESTIVAL Sept. 26–28: The 51st anniversary of […]

by Madeline Mayhood

Why Virginia Is Becoming a Major Tech Hub

Everyone knows tech geniuses are around every corner in Silicon Valley or Seattle. But don’t underestimate Virginia. The Commonwealth is becoming an increasingly major player in the tech industry, appearing on top techy lists worldwide. Hyperscale Hub From projected fusion plants to 3D-printed houses, it’s never a slow news day in the Old Dominion’s tech […]

by Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves

Virginia

Ten Best Virginia Hikes

Current Issue

Events

An Artist’s Journey: The Bay School’s Annual Student Art Show

Mathews ArtFest

Local Scenes Exhibition at The Bay School’s Art Speaks Gallery

Most Popular

Virginia’s Best Small-Batch Ice Cream Shops

Top 10 Fall Festivals in Virginia 2025

Why Virginia Is Becoming a Major Tech Hub

Virginia

Ten Best Virginia Hikes

Current Issue

Events

An Artist’s Journey: The Bay School’s Annual Student Art Show

Mathews ArtFest

Local Scenes Exhibition at The Bay School’s Art Speaks Gallery

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Most Popular

Virginia’s Best Small-Batch Ice Cream Shops

Top 10 Fall Festivals in Virginia 2025

Why Virginia Is Becoming a Major Tech Hub

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Get our most popular
weekly newsletter: VL Today

Get our most popular
weekly newsletter: VL Today