In Virginia’s capital, accessible adventures await for families and people with mobility impairments.
Talking with family in Roanoke, VA, while our family of four planned things to do in Richmond’s urban outdoors with kids, and a mama with a disability, we heard it over and over.
“Richmond? Gosh, I haven’t been there in years.”
Have you been wondering why you might want to visit Richmond, especially as a family or if you have a mobility condition or disability? From our experience, here’s what we have to tell you about putting this CNN Travel America's Best Town to Visit in 2024 on your any-season travel list: if you have not considered a visit to Richmond, you are missing out.
We want to thank Visit Richmond VA/Richmond Region Tourism for sponsoring our visit. However, this article reflects our own personal opinions and experiences.
Family and accessible travel: A quick note about our little family.
Anthony, Jodie, Connor, and Aster St. Clair: We are the Learners and Makers, and we empower families and the mobility disability community to travel confidently, their way. Our kids are 12 and 9. Jodie is an above-knee amputee. Anthony grew up in Virginia but only visited Richmond during school trips.
Good cities need good nature
Richmond has always been central to American history and industry. In Shockoe Bottom, elevated rail trestles once hummed with trains carrying materials or goods for vibrant industries. Today, glass, steel, and stone towers house regional hubs for biolife sciences, tech, financial services, aerospace, and more.
Richmond also understands that good cities need good nature.
As the sun set on our first evening, we parked in the free public lot for the Virginia Capital Trail’s Richmond Trailhead at Great Shiplock Park. A short walk, plus up and down a couple of metal stairs for crossing the bridge over the Richmond City Canal, took us to the natural paths on Chapel Island. Among lush green trees, the kids made mud pies and threw sticks into the water.
Sunset, sunrise, or any ole time can be ideal to drive steep streets through old neighborhoods, to Libby Hill Park. In addition to hilltop views of the city, the river, and the surrounding green countryside, we appreciated the paved paths that made it easy to get around this community green space.
A vibrant and welcoming downtown
Downtown Richmond abounds with classic and contemporary hotels, including 18 properties offering accessible options for guests who have disabilities. With our car tucked into a secure valet garage at the Graduate Richmond Hotel (and available within minutes via a link from our phones), we hustled to keep up with Connor and Aster. They dashed to the elevator, ready to dive into the bunkbeds in our family suite.
Richmond’s downtown reflects a city that accepts the complexity of history as part of working toward a better future. From fresh paint to container gardens, new vibrancy shone in classic communities. Aspiring students toured the tree-lined Virginia Commonwealth University campus. Award-winning murals honed in our attention, and our hearts, to social issues, historical figures, and images inspiring and thought-provoking.
While the overall metro area’s population has surpassed 1.3 million, the core city remains less than a quarter million. Richmond has that sweet spot: enough people to support a diverse and growing array of local businesses and activities, but not so big that you feel overwhelmed.
Welcoming, affordable, and delicious family dining
Dining in town can be challenging for a family. Will there be something the kids like? Can we find a place that’s nice but not stuffy? Above all nowadays, will the meal be affordable?
Richmond answered all three questions with a resounding “yes.”
From Cary Street to Shockoe Bottom, Richmond’s dining scene hummed with welcoming, local eateries, such as:
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Bottoms Up Pizza (the focaccia-like crust alone has us ready to come back)
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Galaxy Diner (classic diner theme and a tasty-for-all menu)
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Capitol Waffle Shop (the half-moon size was just-right for us)
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Fat Dragon Chinese Kitchen (yes, we’ll have more noodles please)
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Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams (traditional and innovative flavors)
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Fancy Biscuit Company (now that’s chicken with a biscuit!)
Maymont and our summer day shady hiding spot
The 100-acre park and historic estate Maymont (nickname: “Richmond’s Central Park”) is only 10 minutes from downtown hotels and VCU. Yet it feels like a world away in a time apart, far from the city.
Mobility and accessibility considerations
On a bright summer morning, we took to the paved paths that run throughout the grounds. That said, there are some mobility considerations, such as for wheelchair or stroller use:
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Paved trails aid getting around, enjoying the landscape, and getting up close with the exteriors of historic buildings such as the Manor House and Carriage House.
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Robins Nature Center is wheelchair accessible.
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Maymont Mansion, Italian Garden, and Japanese Garden require stairs, navigating hillsides, and narrower or uneven paths.
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Staircases are a natural stone style. Surfaces, textures, depths, and heights vary.
Our Maymont highlights (and next time must-do’s)
We could have spent an entire day at Maymont, plus another day for some of the other farm and nature center activities, such as:
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Italian Garden: Vibrant flowers, trees, and shrubs flow along stonework. The Betsy Adams Thompson Pergola makes a great family selfie spot.
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Japanese Garden: Just downhill from the Italian Garden, we wandered the serene path around a central pond. Aster made a game of counting stone lanterns, while Connor found a calm spot to sit and relax.
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Specialty gardens abound, including an aromatic herb garden and a serene grotto, both just off the main path that runs to the Manor House.
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Next time: Hands-on animal encounters at Maymont Farm, and the Robins Nature Center, where play areas and immersive installations bring alive the ecology of the James River.
Shady hiding spot (and introvert recharge point) at Maymont
From the free parking area just off Pennsylvania and Hampton, enter the grounds on the paved path. A little ways down on the right, three cedars grow in a cluster. We ducked inside for a sun break, complete with two benches and a dry, quiet, shady space.
Museums, inside and outside
Quality museums large and small abound in Richmond. Some cover broad topics or interests, such as the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the American Civil War Museum, or the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Other museums on our next-time list hone in on a particular culture, person, or facet of history, such as the Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribe of Virginia and the Poe Museum.
Science Museum of Virginia
We knew the Science Museum of Virginia would be fun when just walking through the door meant seeing proof of Earth’s rotation. Suspended from the domed ceiling, a pendulum swung in a fixed arc. As the world turned, the pendulum knocked over a circle of pegs, one by one. (And yes, seeing a peg go down can bring on cheers.)
Throughout the museum, we found wonder and curiosity. The kids played air hockey against a robot, explored the science and fantasy underlying the steampunk genre, and examined the speeds of light and sound.
Henricus Historical Park
While nearby Jamestown gets a lot of attention for being the first English colony, its struggles made life there tenuous and the colony itself difficult to sustain. In 1611, four years after English settlers founded Jamestown, a group of settlers went upriver and founded the second, and much more successful colony, Henricus.
Today, the colony grounds live on as Henricus Historical Park. The kids marveled at the weight of armor and the heft of common tools and weapons, all made by a modern blacksmith who helped Aster try on a helmet and chestplate. We learned how English settlers cultivated (and profited from) tobacco. We also discussed the lives of the Arrohateck Indians who lived in the area, along with the innovations that helped them thrive, such as crafting arrows so they could easily swap out the arrowheads for tips best suited for hunting or combat.
Just as colonists would have viewed a visit to church as a break from the hot sun, we modern visitors had a sit-down where we learned about the church’s role in colonial life, though we got to do so in air conditioning.
Zipping through the zoo
The tricky thing about a wonderful destination, is that no matter how happy you are with the experiences you had, there are still so many places you didn’t make it to. For example, the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, complete with its 50 acres, domed conservatory, Cherry Tree Walk, and Children’s Garden, would be a lovely stroll—next time.
Instead, we settled for the kids zipping through the air and taking precarious steps between tree trunks.
Granted, we weren’t sure how Aster and Connor would react when we pulled up to the Treetop Zoofari zipline course at the Metro Richmond Zoo. Yet as each child put on their helmets and learned how to use the zipline safety systems, we parents stood back and gave each other a quiet fist bump. Plus, we could be on set paths in the woods, close to the kids, and Jodie could use her trusty trekking pole to help her navigate the uneven terrain.
With two courses available depending on age, size, and overall adventurousness, Treetop Zoofari got our kids moving. It challenged them physically and mentally, while taking care of safety needs. Both kids zipped out of their comfort zones but surprised themselves with the obstacles they could navigate.
Urban nature comes to life on the James River
Whitewater rafting with kids and a disability can seem daunting, especially the logistics. How far out of town do you have to go? Will the kids be okay in the raft? How well can your guide handle your disability?
As the James River neared the end of its 348-mile flow from southwest Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay, its broad waters tumbled through the heart of Richmond. With the Richmond skyline as a backdrop, herons stalked river grasses. Osprey swooped down for fish. They also made big nests on top of old brick bridge supports that date back to the 1800s.
And we took in all of it, right from the water, thanks to Beyond Boundaries and RVA Paddlesports.
Beyond Boundaries expands access to outdoor recreation for people with disabilities, as well as for veterans, underserved youth, and people in recovery programs. RVA Paddlesports got all four of us on the water, just minutes from their downtown headquarters.
For water sports, Jodie gets around on crutches instead of her prosthetic leg. Our guide talked with Jodie on how to best work with her mobility as an amputee, and she securely latched Jodie’s crutches to the raft while we paddled.
Enjoying the outdoors is for everyone. Even better? In Richmond, you can get on the river without even leaving town.
If Virginia is for lovers, Richmond is for everyone.
Things to do in Richmond, VA, with kids, and a disability? We wandered parks and rafted a river, all with the city nearby. Every local restaurant we entered, we felt welcomed—and soon felt sated, from delicious (and affordable) dishes.
Richmond is doing the work of making the city more physically and culturally welcoming to people with mobility conditions and disabilities. In parks such as Maymont, Libby Hill, and Great Shiplock, paved paths aided navigation, and organizations such as Beyond Boundaries help people access outdoor recreation.
It’s a work in progress, and progress is happening.
We found a state capital full of activities and energy, and we left with diverse history and hot biscuits, photos of our children rafting rapids, and the serenity that grows in calm gardens. Richmond abounded with heart and hope, enough for us to leave, as you will, with plenty of each as souvenirs.
About us: As Learners and Makers, our family of four slows down, connects, and enjoys the world and each other’s company. Traveling the world full time since 2022, we empower families and the mobility disability community to travel confidently, their way.
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