Lynchburg to Charlottesville
Drive Time: 60 miles or about an hour
Most people look forward to the end of the work day when they get to leave their desks, hop in their car, and go home to their family. The drive itself to get home isn’t always the best part of that sequence. However, if you happen to work in Lynchburg but live in Charlottesville or vice versa, your drive home might just be the best part of each day.
The section of Route 29 between Lynchburg and Charlottesville is one of the most scenic drives you will ever take. Driving north from Lynchburg, you cross the Monacan Bridge into Amherst County, Virginia. It’s here that you know something special is about to happen. As you progress slowly north through Amherst County and closer to the visible mountain ranges, the hills become higher and road undulates more aggressively. The stretch of road between Lynchburg and Amherst is the fairly typical “stretch of highway”. As soon as you pass Amherst, Virginia, you can see Virginia explode into a paradise.
Consistent ups and downs greet you. Curves become more swooping to avoid hills, mountain homes, and shops. The landscape offers you all the beauty it can muster. The tops of the hills offer fantastic mountain views, and the valleys bring you to rivers and creeks that cut through the country side like a knife through a soft ice cream cake.
Lovingston, Virginia marks the halfway point between Lynchburg and Charlottesville and is about half an hour’s drive from both. Really the only town recognizable as such on Route 29 (you don’t really drive through Amherst, but rather around it), it is the pretty typical small rural town. Containing one traffic light and the grocery store in a small plaza, it represents “home” for many typical Americans who didn’t grow up in the city.
Virginia continues to display its beauty as you drive still farther northward. Route 29 is a double lane highway with a median that houses micro-forests, brush, and flowering plants that one rarely sees in a median on a major highway. When the sun shines through the trees, it casts shadows on the highway reflective of the pictures you see on Google images when you search for “beautiful landscape”.
This drive is more about the natural scenery than anything else. There are not many attractions. Small gas stations can be found here and there. You are never really too far from anything, but you are also never really too close to anything either. Still, if you do want to stop and take part in any activities the local businesses have to offer, you may find them quite near.
The area is one of historical significance, and it is easy to find markers and sites which you can visit. Virginia’s wine country extends the entire length of your journey. Breweries and Cideries also abound just miles from your position at any given time. Bed and Breakfasts are available for those who want a peaceful retreat from the world and its distractions.
So, what are you waiting for? The drive is amazing, and an incredible experience awaits anyone willing to embrace it! Take a fantastic drive on Route 29 north from Lynchburg to Charlottesville. You will be glad that you did!
