Albemarle County surrounds the City of Charlottesville in Central Virginia. The area is approximately 2 hours from D.C. and its geography ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains on its western side, to the rolling hills of the Piedmont as it becomes more level on the Eastern side. In fact Albemarle County has 2 sets of official mountains, because there’s a smaller range called the Southwest Mountains that runs along its eastern edge.
Charlottesville is the hub of the county, and depending on traffic it will take you about 20-25 minutes from Charlottesville to reach the next county in any direction. (And yes, the locals refer to the town as “C’ville”, if you’re the sort who wants to blend right in with the natives.)
A site from our local library has links to all sorts of activities, shopping; the events and festivals are in THIS LINK. You’ll probably be wondering about hotels or other places to stay, in THIS LINK. Many of the eateries are located near C’ville but don’t pass up the chance to explore other wonderful restaurants in Albemarle County like Duner’s which is west of town (in previous link).
Towns that you’ll want to explore include the quaint town of Crozet which is just past the town of Ivy in western Albemarle County… where Old Trail Village is a popular golf course in the area. Near the southernmost portion of Albemarle is the town of Scottsville which at one time was the county seat. Scottsville is located on the James River where you can find water sports and activities.
For my own clients I recommend that if time permits, a true experience of Albemarle County should include a drive through the horse farms and estates of areas like Keswick and Free Union. Of course you won’t want to miss our most popular tourist attraction: Thomas Jefferson’s home of Monticello.
Pam Dent