To GVL & Beyond: Exploring Outside Furman’s Gates

Furman is incredibly easy to fall in love with– the people, campus, academics, the opportunities, and the incredible city of Greenville are all reasons I knew the moment I stepped on campus that I had found my home. Although I absolutely adore everything about Greenville such as brunch date with my besties, a stroll downtown, or even an early morning trip to see the sunrise at Bald Rock, I also am obsessed with the surrounding cities that are within driving distance from Furman. Here’s a couple of my favorites:

 Asheville, NC: 

I know that I can speak for many Furman students when I say this is one of my favorite day trip locations near GVL! The drive to Asheville is around an hour and there are so many different fun things to do there! Personally, I love going to the Biltmore around Christmas and seeing all of the beautiful lights. There’s also tons of hiking trails and other opportunities to experience North Carolina’s natural beauty if you’re into that! If you’re feeling more of a weekend getaway type thing, there are tons of affordable airbnbs nearby. Also, if you’re from out of state like me, you can fly out of the Asheville airport! It’s about 45 minutes from Furms and it takes literally 10 minutes from when you walk in the door to be seated comfortably at your gate aka, airport #goals.

Athens, GA:

Freshman year my besties and I took a trip to Athens to support my little sister and her high school in an acapella competition (literally Pitch Perfect, no joke) and we all fell in love with it! Downtown Athens has the cutest little boutiques, the best restaurants, and obviously the beautiful University of Georgia campus. My roomie is from Athens and suggests going to a UGA game during football season and checking out the Georgia Theatre for all of the concerts it has to offer! It definitely is 100% a college town, which was fun to experience for a weekend! I can’t say it’s necessarily the life for me all the time, but I really like how close it is for a spontaneous weekend getaway. I highly suggest taking a trip for the day to check out all Athens has to offer.

Charlotte, NC

Being only a two hour drive from Furms, Charlotte can make for either an awesome day trip or a weekend trip! One of my favorite things to do in Charlotte is taking a picnic to Freedom Park and setting up in my Eno for the day with my besties. I know a lot of Furman students also go to Carowinds, which for those of you who don’t know is a popular amusement park! Being from Orlando I will always be partial to Disney, but Carowinds is definitely a solid runner up 😉 

Atlanta, GA 

This just might be the most popular weekend destination among Furman students. My best friend at Furman is from Atlanta so I’ve been a few times, and I am so impressed with all there is to do there! Many students like to take trips to Atlanta for concerts and music festivals like Music Midtown. Because of the sheer size of the city, many bigger named artists tend to have their concerts there, but it’s only about 2 hours from Furman. I also adore Atlanta for the Ponce City Market, which is almost like an outdoor mall (for lack of better wording) with different stores, boutiques, restaurants, and a food hall! Super cute and aesthetic, 11/10 for VSCO purposes. 

At the end of the day you can’t go wrong with our sweet city of Greenville, but the nice thing about Furman’s location is you will most definitely have the opportunity to explore beyond our city. I highly suggest you take advantage of these unique and accessible places throughout your time here! If you ever need a brunch restaurant suggestion for these four cities I wrote about (or really, for anywhere lol) I will be more than happy to help! 

If you have any questions or concerns about Furman please reach out to me! My insta is @alexandra_rick ! And as always, Roll Dins!

Have a happy week!

Alex