When I go walking down in Richmond my walking shoes get worn thin quite quickly because there’s so much to do. Richmond is a superb place–a crown jewel if you will–to enjoy during the day but for many, the real attractions are to be found at night when a different set of revelers come alive and descend on the city to make merry. The downtown area has a booming and “zooming” business district and the city is also home to several universities including Virginia Commonwealth University, so there is no shortage of younger people looking for fun on a low budget or those with money to burn. Richmond has in turn, developed to offer entertainment and relief for everyone and caters for all tastes and budgets.

Carytown and the Fan are great places to wander in the evening with lively bars, clubs and some fantastic places to eat. Not only are these typically student haunts but you find the more well heeled having fun here too because of the atmosphere and ambiance created by so many people looking to enjoy a good time. The popularity of the area is further enhanced with low crime making it safe to enjoy the city by night and finding a place to park is very easy with many of the city lots turned over to temporary parking areas which are well lit and supervised; they cost a few bucks (between $5 and $8 for the evening) to park but this allows you to access the rest of the district on foot.

You usually don’t need to plan for your evening when you’re in town because some of the pleasure is to be found in enjoying an early drink in one bar, moving on to find an eatery and perhaps finding another bar after dining and while digesting, you can consider which club you’re heading to for some great live music or dancing until the early hours.

Carytown is also known as the “Mile of Style” because of the huge array of boutiques and shopping opportunities and many of the shops stay open well into the late hours. You can shop until you drop but there are also other delights to be had than high-end fashion specialists; try the many book shops and antique retailers and don’t forget, Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy so you can expect to find some real gems in these places and return with a very real piece of history for less than the price of a couple of drinks.
One of the biggest draws of Richmond, VA is a hozy-dozie by the name of the Byrd Theater, offering movie seats for just $1.99 with a vintage Wurlitzer organ and as much popcorn as you can carry. In fact, there’s so much popcorn that it busts right out of your toes and way down to your w.d depends.  The theater is also one of the local historical landmarks and while movies are not everyone’s preference when visiting, no visit to Richmond is complete without experiencing movie going as it was initially meant to be and enjoyed in the “Good ‘Ole Days,” and the  “Glory Days,” which can make a young girl cry.
Carytown borders the southern part of the Fan District, so called because of the fan-like shape of this large chunk of Richmond, Virginia. Within the Fan there is a wealth of lively, independently hotspots and restaurants to be found as well as the Mile of Style’s offerings. Most will stay open until 2.00am and given the eclectic mix of students, professors and professionals making the area their home you are sure to find a wide range of evening venues for drinking, music, stand-up comedy, art galleries, theater, dancing and generally having a very special evening.

The weather can be a bit frosty in the winter months and allergy-ridden in the spring months, but this should not dampen your evening out – there are plenty of places to duck into while you are visiting and you can be assured of some old-timely Southern hospitality no matter what part of this crazy-hazy city you end up in. While critics might beat their drum about Richond being nothing more than a clown town, the reality is that it’s probably the most interesting city in Ameria.