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Independent city in Virginia, United States
Photo: Alma mater, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Harrisonburg is a city of 52,000 people (2020) in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The city is a major financial and retail center for eight counties in Virginia, and even draws people from parts of neighboring West Virginia. There is a traditionally strong agricultural base, but there has been tremendous growth in retail and industry sectors.
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A great place to start any visit to Harrisonburg, especially the downtown area. This place functions as an information center for tourists and visitors, and has a very nice gift shop and a museum area. The website is full of information for anyone planning a visit to the area.
Great place to take your kids! Super-fun hands-on exhibits for a variety of ages.
James Madison University's sports teams are the city's best-known institutions on the national scene. The Dukes made the jump from the second level of college football, Division I FCS, to FBS in 2022, joining the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). Almost all of the Dukes' venues are on campus, with the most notable being the football team's Bridgeforth Stadium and the basketball teams' home of Atlantic Union Bank Center, which also houses the central ticket office for JMU sports.
The Virginia Quilt Museum cultivates and preserves the quilting arts in Virginia as the state's Official Quilt Museum. The museum promotes a unique blend of art and cultural heritage, with three floors of gallery space and exhibitions that change at least three times a year.
A cute, counterculture restaurant in Harrisonburg. Started by JMU students, the restaurant is owned as a collective and serves cheap, unique dishes.
A surprisingly good Thai restaurant.
With 3 locations around town, Mr. J's is a local favorite that is often packed on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The bagels are delicious.
Serving wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta, fresh bread, and delicious desserts, made with locally-sourced ingredients. Great selection of regional beers on tap and a well-chosen wine list.
Delicious Cuban food.
Breakfast and lunch modern diner and bakery housed in a renovated 1940s tire repair shop. Breakfast served all day and popular weekend brunch.
A nice, colorful restaurant and bar that features live music and has a lovely outdoor patio.
Very small, but extremely popular, this place often has a line out the door. Great selection of craft beers, delicious burgers, and don't miss the fried oreo for dessert! They do have outdoor seating nearly year-round.
Pale Fire is a microbrewery with a popular outdoor patio, where people can order delivery from a variety of local restaurants.
Warm and welcoming cidery in downtown. Great cider, friendly atmosphere. Outskirts Food Truck provides eats. Trivia on Thursdays, Karaoke on Fridays.
Four main house suites and three private cottages. Fireside whirlpool spa tubs in some rooms. Pets welcome.
Arts and crafts supplies/maker space. Provides an opportunity to lighten one's environmental footprint by donating (and utilizing) creative materials that might otherwise end up in the landfill.
There are buses that run in Harrisonburg, and downtown Harrisonburg is compact and walkable. To explore the city, however, you will likely want to have a car.
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