East Coast Adventure You Can’t Miss in Virginia
{Repost from 2023} My boyfriend and I recently took a weekend road trip to Warm Springs, Virginia in the beginning of April. This place is a great location for a quick weekend getaway, with options for hiking, relaxing, eating and more! Warm Springs is a perfect weekend road trip in Virginia near Baltimore and DC.
In this blog, I'll be talking about getting there, what to do, where to stay and how much we spent for a one nights stay.
We drove about 4 hours from Baltimore on a Friday morning. Fridays are usually the days we adventure, but this can easily be a Friday night-Sunday itinerary or even a Saturday-Sunday trip.
Our Itinerary
We typically don't work Friday afternoons so we try to book our Fridays as an adventure day because places are usually less crowded. Since this trip was last minute, we only decided on one night, but if you are planning a bit of a longer weekend trip, try to book a bit in advance as accommodation can book out pretty quickly, especially as it gets warmer out.
We booked the Warm Spring Pools for Friday at 1PM, which I will get to the details about booking the pool in that section later. But, since it was a bit later and we couldn't check in to our stay until 3PM, we left around 7AM to leave room for plenty of rest stops and midday Friday traffic (especially if you are going through D.C.) Keep in mind it was about 4 hours to get there from where we live in Baltimore.
We actually ended up getting there right on time, maybe with 15-20 minutes to spare. So make sure you leave room for traffic or stops!
After the pools, we headed about 10 minutes South to the town of Hot Springs. We planned to get some food and coffee and walk around the Omni Homestead. We penciled in a hike but it ended up having a chance of rain and we spent more time at the homestead than planned. Around 4PM we headed back to check-in, got settled and got some drinks at the bar at The Inn at Warm Springs.
It was actually funny because I have a tendency to just book accommodations under pressure and not really know the location, and I have in the past booked places pretty far away from the town of interest. BUT, to my surprise, the Inn was right across the street from the Jefferson Pools. It was perfect, and it was such a cute, quaint stay. It used to be a courthouse & jail, renovated into a Bed & Breakfast type of place. They have a restaurant, bar, coffee shop and outdoor games with a fireplace.
Even if you aren't staying there, you can visit for dinner or a drink.
That afternoon, we went to the local supermarket to get dinner, and stopped at a nearby overlook that we also planned for a sunrise session. Sunrise ended up being way too foggy the next morning, so we got coffee, relaxed on the porch then headed back.
Okay that's all for the general outline of the trip. Let's get into the specifics!
The Jefferson Pools AKA Warm Spring Pools
You might have actually seen these pools recently on the internet, because that's how I heard about them! It was actually the first spa in America, and once used by Jefferson himself.
They finished renovation recently in December of 2022, and it is owned by Omni Homestead. The cost is $25 per soak/person, for a 50 minute reservation.
The swim times are:
Family soaking time: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (swimsuits required and children under the age of 18 may come with a parent; Ladies' Bathhouse)
Adult co-ed soaking time: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (ages 16+; swimsuits required; Gentlemen's Bathhouse from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)
Adult soaking: 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (by gender, ages 18+; swimsuits optional)
We chose 1PM on the Friday we arrived as this seemed like it would be the best option for less people and no kids. But, alas, it was pretty crowded. While there was a lot of people, we did have a nice corner to ourselves and it ended up being very relaxing. They let you know that it was once used for mediation so to be respectful and no talking or whisper only, which was really nice. I ended up booking the reservation the week of and it was available so no problems there, but if it was a weekend it might be a bit different.
To book, you must call 540-839-3860. They are open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-6pm.
