Blacksburg is a lively college town in the mountains of southwest Virginia, about 30 miles west of Roanoke. It is best known as the home of Virginia Tech, and the university gives the town its scale, its football weekends, and much of its energy.
The campus is the centre of gravity. Hokie Stone buildings line the Drillfield, students fill the cafes and bars around College Avenue, and the arts calendar is much stronger than you would expect in a town this size. A good day here mixes a walk through campus, the Hahn Horticulture Garden, and a show or film at the old Lyric Theatre.
Blacksburg also works because it is not only a university stop. The town sits close to the Blue Ridge, the Appalachian Trail, Pandapas Pond, and the New River, so it makes an easy base for hiking, biking, tubing, and long drives through the high country. It is not a substitute for the bigger mountain scenery around Roanoke, but it is a smart, good-humoured base if you want a college-town evening after a day outside.