The best kept travel secret on the East Coast

Staunton? Where's that? And how did they get the world's only re-creation of Shakespeare's indoor theatre, the Blackfriars Playhouse, acclaimed by scholars, architects, actors and theatregoers worldwide?

Come to Staunton to see for yourself. We think it will be worth your while.

Big City Enticements with Small Town Pleasures

Come for the Shakespeare. Stay for everything else that our hometown has to offer:

• Stay to explore a mecca for historic preservation, with more than a thousand significant buildings in several historic districts. Walk our cobblestone streets and discover antique shops, coffeehouses, yoga studios, and dining that will remind you of Dupont Circle or Washington Square but won't break your budget.
• Stay for one of the most beautiful places in America to hike, backpack and bike, according to the 2007 book 101 Best Outdoor Towns: Unspoiled Places to Visit, Live & Play by Sarah Tuff and Greg Melville.
• Stay to experience a lively scene in the performing and fine arts, with year-round community theatre, a cinema showing independent films on two screens and more than a dozen art galleries.

We're only two-and-a-half hours from Washington, DC and eight hours from New York City. Yet, we're a world away from big city traffic, sprawl and bustle.

What makes Staunton so special? Consider what Southern Living Magazine said in 2003:

Staunton, Virginia (pronounced STAN-ton), is luckier than many small towns...Indeed, Staunton is lovely. It shadows the contours of the Shenandoah like a blanket. When viewed from the town's high points, the hilly terrain and church steeples lend a European feel. Fine shops, a coffeehouse, and antiques stores crowd Beverley Street and the wharf district.

And the National Trust for Historic Preservation has declared Staunton a Distinctive Destination:

A cultural center in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Staunton, Virginia, (population 24,461) is delightfully situated between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains. Because the town was unscathed in the Civil War, its 18th and 19th century buildings survived and have been beautifully restored and preserved in this "Queen City."

Your friends may not yet have discovered Staunton. Come discover us for yourself before they do!