In case you don’t know, one of our best friends, Nicole, lives in Virginia Beach! Which is the perfect excuse for all of us to visit any time we want. But honestly Virginia Beach is the type of place I would vacation to even if she didn’t live there! I absolutely had so much fun and cannot wait to visit again!
Virginia Beach Boardwalk
First and foremost, the iconic Virginia Beach Boardwalk! Every single beach side town needs to take notes. This was one of my top favorite boardwalks I have ever been to! It was wide and clean for walkers and cyclists to have plenty of room! It was lined with restaurants and shops to stop at along the way and they all looked wonderful.
This boardwalk is also actually right on the beach! Sounds obvious, right?! As someone who lives in Florida I can tell you that sometimes the main drag is actually a block or two off the beach which can get annoying. So I love it when cities actually put the shops & restaurants beach front.
The beach itself is gorgeous and clean but was a little to cold to swim while we were there in November! But there was lots of cool sculptures, wall murals, and more to keep us entertained while we walked around!
USS Wisconsin
We really lucked out visiting while the USS Wisconsin was completely decorated in Christmas lights for the holidays! But year round you can tour this Naval Ship to see what it is like to live here if you were in the service! It is fascinating to see how small the bunkers are and learn about what they eat!
If you happen to go during the holidays you will be more than pleased with lights, drinks, and a live band! But you should really check out this landmark any time of year and learn about our Navy men & women and the ships they live on!
Norfolk Botanical Gardens
I’ve talked about a lot of botanical gardens on this blog because we absolutely love visiting them! This one was definitely in my top 5 favorites! I loved the way it was laid out and it was so huge! There was so much to see and do that we could have spent a whole day here.
We got some super cute pictures here and I would highly recommend botanical gardens in general for anyone looking for a cute place to do senior portraits or even engagement photos! But that is besides the point. If you are in the Virginia Beach area I definitely recommend visiting these gardens and being impressed by all of the plant life!
Mount Trashmore Park (&More!)
When my friends told me they wanted to go walk around Mount Trashmore I was like, “Excuse me, what did you just say?” Turns out it is a real thing and a really awesome park! We walked around playing PokemonGo and had a blast getting our steps in for the day!
It even has some super cute painted steps and an awesome playground for kids. The reason I say this park and more is because as we walked and drove around the city of Virginia Beach I saw so many awesome parks so I am sure whichever one you choose will be awesome! Take advantage of the parks in this city and get some running or walking in while you are here.
Norfolk Premium Outlets
I don’t normally include malls and shopping centers in my travel lists but this one was too perfect not to include! I love premium outlets in general. We always visit them in Vegas and Orlando. But this one was so nice, pretty, and clean! It was right along a small lake with benches and water features. They had a giant Christmas Tree up for the holidays, and I was overall just so impressed!
It has all the important stores an outlet should have like Old Navy, Nike, and H&M. But it was the design that made this outlet jump onto this list. And to be honest I am a big shopper on vacation! I can’t justify spending a couple hundred dollars on clothes at home but on vacation? Load me up! I don’t know why I am the way that I am but here we are lol.
Have you ever been to Virginia Beach?! What was your favorite place you visited while there?
