Davidson College is the reason the town exists, and walking through its campus is the main thing to do here. The original red-brick buildings around the central quad date from the 1840s and 50s; later additions have been built mostly in sympathy with the original Federal-era brick aesthetic, with sleek modern interventions tucked in.
The campus is open to the public — visitors are welcome at the chapel, the arboretum, the Belk Visual Arts Center (with rotating exhibitions), and almost all the academic buildings. The college also runs an unusually rich public programme of lectures, concerts and theatre productions, much of it free.