The reason to come to Fayetteville is the New River Gorge — the deepest river canyon in the eastern United States and a national park since 2020. Everything in town orbits around the gorge: outfitters running whitewater trips and climbing tours, breakfast joints feeding rafters at 6am, and shops selling carabiners and dry bags. The Bridge itself is visible from town and stands as one of the longest single-span steel arch bridges in the world.
Outside the outdoor recreation, the small historic district around the Fayette County Courthouse has a couple of good museums and a former coal town's worth of restored Civil War-era buildings.