Virginia is for All Lovers: Guide to LGBTQ+ Travel in Virginia

Virginia is for Lovers. This includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer families, couples, and friends on getaway weekends, leisure vacations, and business trips.

Use this blog and our online guide make it easier for those of us in the LGBTQ+ community – and anyone wanting a welcoming, safe and inclusive Virginia experience – to find the perfect host who wants us the most!

LGBT travelers can now discover lodging, dining, shopping, events, outdoors and attractions that have designated themselves as LGBT-friendly and welcoming. You’ll also find breathtaking and memorable proposal locations, and one-of-a-kind wedding and honeymoon venues. Don’t miss our family-friendly trip ideas and travel packages, easy to find and refer to so you can click and GO! And check our out statewide LGBT-friendly events. We’ll hope you enjoy them, find them helpful, and come back again and again. Virginia is truly for All Lovers!

Share the LOVE by wearing your favorite VIFL Pride hats, t-shirts, and more from our Virginia is for Lovers Shop and share them on social media. 

Beaches & Bays

If salty air and warm breezes are calling your name, visit one of our iconic Virginia beaches.

The ever-popular Virginia Beach Boardwalk is better than ever. Local seafood and farm-to-table restaurant are plentiful, like the Surf Club Ocean Grille, Blue Seafood and Spirits, and Ashley's Bistro and Lounge.  

Take a selfie at the Cape Charles LOVEwork and visit the Cape Charles Lemon Tree Gallery and Studio, or dine on delicious seafood at The Island House Restaurant in Wachapreague.

Enjoy Northern Neck experiences tucked between the broad waters of the Chesapeake Bay Beaches and the great Atlantic Ocean. Lunch at Denson's Grocery and R&B Oyster Bar in Colonial Beach, or check out the Middle Peninsula’s Caret Cellars winery.

Oyster Regions

Oysters are a Virginia notable and mainstay. Virginia’s native oysters were close to extinction until a handful of oystermen began harvesting oysters with sustainability in mind. Virginia now has 8 thriving oyster regions, each with its own regional flavor and distinct texture and salinity where one can enjoy miles of shoreline to enjoy local seafood, boating, outdoor activities, quaint shore towns, vineyards, and much more. Stay at the iconic Tides Inn for a coastal getaway, or the

The Oyster Farm at Kings Creek, Cape Charles, a great spot for family reunions and meetings. Another favorite is Denson’s Grocery and R&B Oyster House off the Potomac River offering sweet water oysters with a light cream taste. Appomattox Oyster & Seafood Festival at Clover Hill Village with Virginia breweries & wineries. And Belle Isle State Park’s 7 miles of shoreline on the Northern Neck’s Rappahannock River allows easy access to Mulberry and Deep creeks.

Foodies

If your stomach is your travel guide, get your BBQ and Beer on at Blacksburg’s Bull & Bones Brewhaus Grill or savor Taste of Smithfield’s authentic Virginia cuisine in the downtown historic district. Farm-to-table restaurants, intimate fine dining and waterside restaurants to local dive bars, BBQ joints, and even food trucks are all serving up memorable Virginia meals.  

Find where to eat at James Beard-recognized restaurants around the state. Palette 22 in Arlington is a unique dining experience bringing a creative intersection between artful food and art itself to the table.

Still hungry? Check out our local dining guides for cities and regions around Virginia. 

Music & Festivals

If you are a Front Row Fanatic, we’ve got you covered with music festivals bringing world-renowned musicians and artists year after year – many happening from June to September! Head southwest to FloydFest, a 5-day celebration of music and art nestled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. If you want something a bit on the smoother side, don’t miss the Hampton Jazz & Music Festival. 

Statewide, there's music all summer long. Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island is another reason why Richmond is a trip to add to your list.

Explore more music festivals in Virginia. 

Craft Breweries & Virginia Spirits

We all know a relaxing stay wouldn’t be nearly as possible without an ice-cold craft brew. Our capital of Richmond has been brewing up something special over past few years and now boasts several award-winning breweries. RVA’s Hardywood beer, band, and food truck nights are a local staple.

Norfolk is taking its craft beer scene to the next level too! Grain at The Main Norfolk Hilton is serving up some of Virginia’s best brews and rooftop views.

Copper Fox Distillery in Northern Virginia is filling every bottle with whiskey made from locally grown grains. Check out its new second location in an old Williamsburg motel! If you love cider and yoga, Bold Rock Cider has you covered with this perfect pair as the sun begins to set over beautiful Rockfish Valley.

Fine more craft breweries and local distilleries, or explore rooftop bars around Virginia. 

Wineries & Vineyards

Pair just about any adventure with a glass of Virginia vino. Virginia’s wine industry has been over 400 years in the making since some of the first colonists attempted cultivating vines. Today, one can enjoy hundreds of wineries around Virginia Wine Country, plus unique experiences like vineyard massages and touring the vines on horseback. 

Get all the need-to-know info with our complete guide to Virginia wineries. 

History

Virginia’s history is top-of-mind for many who visit. It can also be uniquely told as the birthplace of American cuisine, wine, spirits.

Martinsville’s Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Alexandria Archaeology Museum cover our earliest years. Experience early Virginia life at The Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail, explore the Civil Rights stories that can be found at the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, and discover unusual architecture at national shrine and landmark Historic St Luke's Church Museum.

Small towns can have the most interesting stories, like the Isle of Wight Museum and the First Peanut Museum in U.S.A. And of course, our world-renowned Colonial Williamsburg experience is unparalleled in early American history.

Find more history hotspots in Virginia.  

Outdoors & Mountains

If the call of nature fits you and your family best, we’ve got you covered by land, sea, and air. Answer that call with Appalachian Horse Adventures in Montebello, or take to the river with Smith River Outfitters in Bassett. If the sky is unlimited for you, biplane rides at Virginia Beach’s Open Cockpit Biplanes Rides may fit the bill.

For high-adventure enthusiasts, Virginia is home to more miles of the Appalachian Trail than any other state. Just off the AT is Virginia’s highest peak, Mount Rogers, at 5,729 feet. Reaching the summit is surely not the only rewarding part of the hike, because the majestic, untouched views and wild ponies you’ll encounter along the way are something out of a story-book. Discover hiking trails, cabins, scenic overlooks, and more reasons to love Virginia Mountains.

Keep exploring Virginia's Great Outdoors. 

Posh Hotels, Boutique B&Bs & Cozy Campgrounds

When in Richmond, get pampered at The Jefferson Hotel, built by famous Richmonder Lewis Ginter and his partner John Pope. Or one of RVA’s newest boutique experience of the Quirk Hotel. 

For a full-on outdoors experience, stay in one of Virginia’s State Campgrounds, or check out our favorite luxury glamping opportunities for a more elevated nature trip. 

Museums

If your brain is a little ‘right-sided,’ it will be satisfied by a walk through the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke. For Museum of the Shenandoah Valley made possible by benefactor Julian Wood Glass Jr. and his partner R. Lee Taylor, turned the original house into a showplace and surrounded it with six acres of formal gardens. And the collections at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk will give collections of European and American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts. Visit the Gadsby's Tavern Museum, the setting for dancing assemblies, theatrical and musical performances, and meetings.

There are so many Virginia experiences, we definitely can’t mention them all here. New listings are being added every day, so please return often to find the most authentic, safe and welcoming Virginia experiences for your family and friends. We hope you’ll discover for yourself why Virginia is for Lovers.