Top 10 favorite things to do in Fairfax, Virginia

Fairfax, the independent city in Northern Virginia is rich in natural beauty and has a number of unique places to check out. The city has a great history and is full of museums and beautiful parks. It is the ultimate hiker’s haven. The city lies just 27 km west of Washington, DC and is connected to Washington via the orange line metro. Fairfax is surrounded by the Fairfax County and is also sometimes referred to as Downtown Fairfax and Central Fairfax. The largest public institution in Virginia, the George Mason University (GMU) and the Virginia International University lie just outside of the main city. Fairfax offers a multitude of recreation sites, historic sites, restaurants, special events and more. Listed below are the 10 best things to do in Fairfax.

A visit to the NRA National Firearms Museums

The National Firearms Museum has a great collection of firearms, hunting artifacts and beautiful works of art with amazing displays. The museum also has a space dedicated to some of the major battles, namely Vietnam War, WW1, WW2, Civil War and the Revolutionary War and a different section dedicated to the evolution of firearms. The museum provides easy parking facilities and friendly staff.

Eaglebank Arena

The Eaglebank Arena is generally used by the GMU basketball teams, but it is also used for other events like circus and music festivals. The arena offers a great court view and provides easy parking facilities. It is the perfect place to spend time with family or friends over a basketball match. The arena comes with friendly staff and excellent crowd control. It offers a better ticket value as compared to most other arenas.

Fairfax Museum

This museum, located in the heart of Fairfax city is mainly dedicated to Fairfax History and also holds lectures and special programs on certain days of the week. You can keep a check of these events to make your visit worthwhile. It is a free entry museum with a parking lot right across the road. The ground floor has a rotating display and the entire of the first floor is dedicated to the history of Fairfax, dating back to the revolutionary days. The staff is very friendly, enthusiastic to show around. The museum also hands over tourist guides to the Fairfax city, recommending the best places to visit.

Children’s Science Center Lab

This science museum ranks among the best. Apart from exhibiting interesting displays, the facility also allows impressive and unique lab experiments for kids. The museum allows membership and reentries, which is not offered in most other museums. This museum is the perfect way to entertain your kids. What more? The staff members ensure that each and every visitor gets the required attention and even the tickets are very reasonable.

Ratcliffe-Allison House and Pozer Garden

This is a very old house situated in the heart of Fairfax, right across the city library. It is surrounded by a lush green garden and offers a very serene environment to gather and relax. A visit to the well furnished house will give an insight to the early 1800s. Although the house is open only on special occasions, the garden remains open throughout the year. This is a great spot to hang out, relax and have a read. There is also enough open space for kids to play in.

Community Farmer’s Market

The Community Farmer’s Market may be one of the best things about Fairfax. Not every city can boast of such a privilege. The market remains every Saturday and Sunday. Here, you can get hold of the freshest organic fruits and vegetables grown by the local farmers.

Daniels Run Park

This is a beautiful park with gravel travels and enough greenery. There are different trails leading to different parts of the city. The park has open spaces to lie down, little lakes and bridges. You can even fish for sunfish. This park is a heaven for runners and bikers. The trail that surrounds the park is well over 1 mile.

Malee Thai Massage and Bodywork

There are a number of spas and massage parlors in Fairfax, and Malee Thai is just one of them. The spa is very clean and they also provide great ginger tea to the guests. The place is worth the money. The Staff in Malee Thai is from Thailand itself and they know how to give the most relaxing and effective body massages. The spa offers a good many choice and are also great at discounts. Although there are other forms of massages, they provide relaxation only during and for a short while after the massage. On the contrary, the Thai massage can leave you refreshed for days.

NRA shooting range

One thing is certain, Fairfax has something for everyone. If you have a keen interest in shooting, you can visit the National Rifles Association shooting range. It allows memberships and is a great place to hang out with your scouts. The place offers in house shooting booths and extra precautions are taken regarding the safety and gun handling. The range officers keep a strict eye to ensure that there is no mishandling of the guns. Eyeglasses and ear blocks are handed over prior to shooting. The place also holds demonstrations every once in a while. There is so much you can do at the NRA shooting range.

Restaurants, bars and clubs

Fairfax is not short of the best restaurants to dine and drink. If a happening night life is what you want, you can have that too. In fact, Fairfax is packed with bars and clubs. Guapo’s Bar, John’s Place and Fast Eddie’s are just a few to name. At a budget of dollars per person, you can have a very good meal complete with tax and gratuity. Fairfax revels in culinary delicacies, you can expect to find some of the best tasting guacamole, barbecues, quesadilla and salsa in the city. You’ll have no reason not to like Fairfax.