What travel advice would you give to someone visiting our part of Virginia?

A few weeks ago, a writer for Axios Richmond made a dismissive reference to “whatever the hell is west of Roanoke.”

I wrote a column in defense of “whatever the hell is west of Roanoke” that lit up our traffic board and also brought me some speaking invitations.

I also got a lot of fan mail (I think the Axios writer got mail, too, but perhaps of a different nature).

Not all of that fan mail came from west of Roanoke.

I also heard from a reader in Arlington who confessed he’d never been west of Roanoke and would like to come visit to see this part of the state for himself: “I’m a road-tripper who likes to leisurely drive on non-Interstate highways and stop in small town cafes, listen to what local folks are saying, etc.,” he wrote, “so I’m planning a road trip all the way to Bristol and beyond to the Cumberland Gap for later this spring.”

I thought about offering this reader some suggestions on what to see and do but then I had a better idea: Why not ask you?

So here goes!

What would you suggest our Arlington visitor — who’d prefer not to to be named — see and do on this side of the state?

We’ve set up a form for you to fill out to share your travel advice, which we’ll use in a future column.

Don’t limit yourself simply to travel advice about west of Roanoke, either. Unless they’re flying in, in-state visitors to Southwest Virginia will have to travel through either the Shenandoah Valley and the Roanoke Valley (if they’re coming down Interstate 81 or U.S. 11) or through Southside and Lynchburg (if they’re coming on U.S. 460) — so consider this a general invitation to share travel advice from throughout Cardinal’s coverage area.

If you have photos of your favorite travel spot that you have taken to show off, please share those at news@cardinalnews.org — please include your name and location, and put “travel” in the subject line. We’ll be sure to give you credit if we use any.

Here’s my modest contribution. If you’re coming down the Shenandoah Valley, I suggest a stop in the town of Buchanan to see that town’s famous swinging bridge over the James River (see photo above). If you’re brave, you can even walk across to the other side.

That’s some of the travel advice I’ve got. What do y’all have?

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