Start from 32 curated places around Roanoke, VA, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
The River and Rail
Roanoke's most acclaimed restaurant — a Southern bistro in a converted South Roanoke neighborhood space led by Chef Tyler Thomas, with a daily-changing menu built entirely on what's local and seasonal in the Virginia and North Carolina mountains. More awards than any restaurant in the region, fully earned.
Texas Tavern
A 10-stool lunch counter on Church Avenue since 1930 — the most beloved institution in Roanoke, serving the Cheesy Western (hamburger with a fried egg and mustard) and world-famous chili at prices that haven't caught up with the century. Open 24 hours, seven days a week, since it opened.
Trails & outdoors
McAfee Knob via Appalachian Trail
The most-photographed spot on the entire 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail — a 3,197-foot quartzite ledge that juts out like a diving board over the Catawba Valley, 1,600 feet below. The 7.8-mile round-trip hike from the Catawba trailhead is moderately challenging and one of Virginia's iconic full-day hikes.
Dragon's Tooth
A 4.5-mile round-trip to a series of Tuscarora quartzite spires erupting 35 feet from the spine of Cove Mountain — the most technically challenging of Roanoke's Triple Crown hikes, with steep rock steps and iron rungs for the final scramble. The summit views and the rock formations justify every step.
Things to do
Elmwood Park Amphitheater
Downtown Roanoke's main outdoor concert and festival venue — a professional amphitheater in a landscaped city park with an interactive fountain plaza. The summer concert series, the Roanoke GO Outside Festival, and Dickens of a Christmas in December bring regular large-scale events to this central park.
Mill Mountain Theatre
Southwest Virginia's professional equity theater in the Market Building complex — a 40-year-old institution producing a full season of musicals, plays, and holiday productions in two performance spaces. The intimate venues (250 and 100 seats) make it one of the more personal professional theater experiences in Virginia.
Landmarks & sights
Historic Roanoke City Market
Virginia's oldest surviving farmers' market in continuous operation since 1882 — a century-old brick market building in the heart of downtown surrounded by restaurants, galleries, and the Taubman Museum. On Saturdays the outdoor stalls fill the market square with local produce, plants, and crafts; on weekdays the indoor market building runs a quieter daily rhythm.
Taubman Museum of Art
The largest art museum in Southwestern Virginia — 2,200+ works in a landmark facility designed by architect Randall Stout, with a collection that runs from Thomas Eakins and John Singer Sargent through Romare Bearden and Sally Mann. Free general admission makes it an easy afternoon anchor downtown.