Smith College's campus spreads across the middle of Northampton, its Victorian Gothic buildings and the curving Paradise Pond giving the town much of its character. The campus is open to visitors and pleasant for walking: the greenhouse complex, the row of dormitories along Elm Street, and the view across the pond toward the hills are all worth finding.
Smith has produced an extraordinary number of notable alumnae — Gloria Steinem, Sylvia Plath, Betty Friedan, Julia Child — which says something about both the quality of the education and the kind of women it attracted. The campus is particularly beautiful in October when the maples turn.