Charlottesville

Welcome to the Meeting and Event Planning Guide to Charlottesville, a city guide for meeting professionals. Nestled near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlottesville is a wonderfully historic, yet vibrant city that infuses a warm hospitality in its variety of attractions, entertainment options and venues. Carrying on the precedent of bold innovation set by its most famous son, Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville provides a unique meeting destination experience in a picturesque, convenient setting. What's more, Charlottesville is an enclave of academia, as it is home to the University of Virginia, a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the country's top public universities. The university's 20,000 students create an air of energy and new ideas in a city whose residents cherish its storied past.
Situated 100 miles south of Washington, DC, Charlottesville sits mere hours away from major metropolitan areas of the Eastern Seaboard and offers easy access by air, rail and bus.
Charlottesville Albemarle Airport, located eight miles from downtown Charlottesville, has 50 daily nonstop flights to and from Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York, Dulles, Atlanta and Chicago. Richmond International Airport, located 80 miles from Charlottesville, operates approximately 200 daily flights to such destinations as Boston, Houston and Chicago. Once in Charlottesville, meeting participants can utilize the Charlottesville Area Transit bus system, which also provides a Free Trolley line that serves the city's major attraction areas, historic downtown, Downtown Mall and its Amtrak and Greyhound stations. In addition, many of Charlottesville's hotels and resorts, including The Boar's Head, operate shuttles to and from Charlottesville Albemarle Airport.
The Boar's Head is a sprawling, 573-acre, 175-room resort with 22,000 square feet of meeting and event space, as well as luxury dining, a state-of-the-art sports club, a championship golf course and a relaxing spa. The Boar's Head features 20 event rooms and a 9,000-square-foot Pavilion, which includes a 5,600-square-foot ballroom–the largest ballroom in Charlottesville–as well as pre-function space and a full-service business center. Meeting participants can utilize the resort's audio-visual and culinary services, as well as join team-building activities ranging from cooking classes to kayaking.
Beyond The Boar's Head, Charlottesville is home to a variety of special venues and meeting spaces ranging from presidential estates and luxury hotels to sports arenas and performing arts theaters. The city's unique venues allow delegates to take part in productive meetings, as well as immerse themselves in the area's history, natural beauty and world-class culture. One of Charlottesville's most famous attractions and unique venues, Thomas Jefferson's 5,000-acre Monticello, is the only presidential home in the U.S. to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Groups can tour the home, gardens and grounds, examine exhibits in the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center or hold an event in a variety of spaces, ranging from an 11,000-square-foot home overlooking the Monticello grounds to a 42,000-square-foot, LEED Gold-certified visitor and education center. In addition to Monticello, Charlottesville is home to Ash Lawn-Highland, the residence of President James Monroe. The 550-acre Ash Lawn-Highland estate recreates the atmosphere of a working farm through its house and garden tours, as well as its decorative arts and crafts demonstrations and workshops. Groups can gather in a number of indoor and outdoor spaces, including the 60-person Conference Room, 400-person Garden Pavilion and the Peacock Yard, which is shaded by 100-year-old white ash trees.
Additional Charlottesville venues include the historic Jefferson Theater, a premier live-music venue that sits in the hustle and bustle of the city's Downtown Mall and offers event space and facility rentals. Also on the Downtown Mall, Main Street Arena is an indoor ice and sports complex that welcomes private events on its arena floor and 3,000-square-foot Water Street Terrace. Host to the University of Virginia Cavaliers men's and women's basketball teams, concerts and community events, John Paul Jones Arena also welcomes event-day and non-event-day rentals of its 27,000-square-foot floor, luxury suites and other spaces.