Hello, my name is Gwen, and here is my Virginia travel guide for over 40 solo travel, including budget, safety/female and eco-travel tips, photographs and interesting posts for your Virginia travel planning.
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Virginia – home to Jamestown, the first English settlement in the U.S.; the largest Naval base in the U.S.; the birthplace of 8 U.S. presidents; Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech; the Pentagon (the largest office building in the world); and tobacco and peanuts.
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In addition to U.S. holidays, Virginia may observe additional state or local holidays. It may be a good idea to check what state or local holidays they celebrate to see if there are any public service, school, or other closures as this may impact your tourist itinerary, ability to obtain travel or other services, or it could mean more tourists and/or higher prices in your Virginia destination! Take a few moments to see if there are any holidays specific to Virginia to better help you plan your trip.
Traveling in a new country is easier when you know the country’s tipping etiquette in advance as each country has its own rules. That said, for Virginia, please see tipping guidelines in my USA Travel Guide.
Please see my U.S. travel tips. In addition, if you are planning on going hiking, backpacking or doing any other activity that will take you into remote places, please ensure you research the local travel and weather advisories in advance and respect warnings not to travel; let people know where are you going and provide them your itinerary; and, ensure you have safety and emergency measures provided for in your travel belongings.
Virginia is blessed with four, full seasons. June to early September has the hottest and most humid weather and winter can be downright cold December to early March, making winter the cheapest time to visit Virginia, with the exception of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The autumn (mid-September to November) and spring (mid-March to May) provide the best weather and still decent prices to visit. It would be within these months I recommend visiting Virginia in order to avoid tourist crowds and higher prices, yet have nice weather to enjoy the outdoors.
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It is very easy to do your part for the planet and implement environmental sustainability into your travel. If you would like to learn more about how you can implement environmentally sustainable, or eco-friendly, travel measures into your travel, please see my 10 Easy Eco-Travel Tips and suggested Eco Travel Resources.
Additionally, if you are flying to, or within, the Virginia consider purchasing carbon offsets through your airline or through a third party, like MyClimate.org, Carbonfund.org, or terrapass. Carbon offsetting allows you to buy a certificate to reduce carbon emissions, a major contributor to climate change, which in turn contribute community projects across countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There are several ways to go about this to help reduce your impact to climate change through your travel. Check it out!
I’ve lived in Virginia on and off for about half of my life. Although I’m a West-Coaster, I have grown to really appreciate Virginia and all it has to offer. Autumns are my favorite season, as I’m sure you can understand with the beautiful foliage color changes. Virginia is diverse, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Virginia Beach to the D.C. area. If you have not been to Virginia, I encourage you to visit and try to hit the triangle of areas I’ve listed – they are amazingly different from each other yet each is beautiful, fun, and educational.
If you like to explore the outdoors with amazing trails, wildlife and scenic views, you need to make hiking Southwest Virginia your next vacation. My 3 day hiking in Southwest Virginia itinerary can get you planning.
