Downtown Charlottesville: A dynamic place where history is intertwined with a thriving city center. This vibrant hitoric district is replete with live theater, music and cinema. Enjoy the limitless dining choices and specialty shops for every taste, all located along seven blocks on brick- and tree-lined streets once walked on by Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. http://www.downtowncharlottesville.net/

Barboursville Vineyards: One of only 3 residences that Thomas Jefferson designed for his friends and now a best in class East Coast vineyard  http://barboursvillewine.net/b/

University of Virginia Historic District: the original UVA academical village which is a World Heritage Site and also links to other local historical sites -free tours or simply walk the "grounds" as the main campus is known. You can see Edgar Allen Poe's room when he was a student here among other spaces of interest.
http://www.hallowedground.org/component/option,com_jthg/theme,region/task,view/county,Albemarle/Itemid,1/id,152/

Montpelier: James and Dolly Madison's home and burial site is here- in Orange and within a 40 minute drive of Cville- a great tour for those who love or want to know more about the history of the Constitution, the War of 1812, and Dolly and James Madison. http://www.montpelier.org/ 

The Kluge-Ruhe Aborigine Art Museum: one of the best collections of early and more modern Aborigine art in one collection and located just 3 miles from the center of Charlottesville. http://www.virginia.edu/kluge-ruhe/ 

Frommer's Guide to Charlottesville Frommer's ranked Charlottesville the #1 Small City in the U.S. in 2004. Forbes' ranked Charlottesville #9 in best places to raise a family in 2008. It is #2 on Kiplinger's Personal Finance list of Healthiest Places to live in America, rated by Reader's Digest as on of the top ten places in the country to raise children, and by Outside magazine as "One of seven dream towns that have it all." The University of Virginia was recently ranked the #2 best public university in the U.S.  http://www.frommers.com/destinations/charlottesville/3057010001.html