If you’re ever wondering what makes trips to small towns some of the most charming, delightful, and memorable experiences, the answer is simple: the people.
When you visit a small town that welcomes you with open arms, enthusiasm, and a genuine smile, there is just something that makes you want to come back and even recommend it to others.
So, when a ranking reviewed the friendliest small towns around Virginia, it wasn’t a surprise to see a name we’ve experienced ourselves and can attest to: Luray, Virginia.
What makes Luray, VA, the friendliest small town in Virginia?
While the ranking didn’t highlight a methodology that used quantifiable metrics, it did highlight that, as a relatively modest and quiet Shenandoah Valley town, it was the quintessence of small-town charm.
The town has plenty of events throughout the year to both attract visitors and keep locals excited about upcoming celebrations, whether that be a Christmas parade in December, a trout fishing derby in the spring, or its famous Sunflower Festival in late summer.
When it came to the people themselves, the ranking mentions its particularly welcoming nature towards visitors, aside from having a successful local tourism industry, the people around town are happy to incorporate out-of-towners into their local experiences!
Why is Luray worth visiting?
Don’t think we forgot to highlight what we mentioned in the title.
Located in Luray, Virginia, is none other than the Luray Caverns, which just so happens to be the biggest cavern system on the East Coast!
Visitors to the caverns can go inside 365 days a year, although the caverns do close during inclement weather.
Once inside, you’ll find several incredible naturally formed halls filled with hundreds of incredible stalagmites and stalactites formed over the course of 4 million centuries!
There is even a naturally formed reflective lake deep in the caverns called Dream Lake, which offers a jaw-dropping mirror-like reflection of the cavern’s ceiling, creating an otherworldly optical illusion that seems to go on forever.
Also worth highlighting, built into the cavern itself is actually the world-famous “Great Stalacpipe Organ“, which you may not have heard about, but it is actually the world’s biggest instrument.
The instrument uses the incredible acoustic power of the caverns’ 3.5 acres of stalactites to deliver an incredibly unique sound that can’t be reproduced anywhere else in the world!