24 Hours in Richmond

Richmond is a great city to visit, whether for 24 hours or a full weekend. Recently, I spent exactly 24 hours in Richmond as I drove down from DC for one of my husband’s tennis tournaments. I had enjoyed a fantastic girls’ weekend there some years before (pre-blogging) and was mostly interested in revisiting some cute areas and having a chill weekend.

If you’re visiting Richmond, either for a work trip or while passing through on your way somewhere else north or south of the city, this guide will help you hit some unique highlights of the city.

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Where to Stay in Richmond

For your 24 Hours in Richmond, I suggest the cute Quirk Hotel downtown. The vibe is crisp and clean, yet funky, with pink-themed decor and sketches throughout the walls and elevators.

I also considered the Linden Row Inn, which is a historic hotel in the area, or The Graduate. All the hotels were around $300/night.

24-Hours in Richmond

Lunch

For lunch, head to The Mantu for unique Afghani dumplings, with vegetarian, vegan, and meat options available. This is something unique and quite hard to find, so I suggest you grab some food here. Here are some other lunch spots I considered. Service was simple and fast. We also got a veg curry, but I think the main star is the Mantu dumplings.

Agecroft Hall

Our main activity upon arrival in Richmond, after getting lunch, was visiting Agecroft Hall. This site is home to an English house that was dismantled and brought over from England to Richmond in the 1900s. It’s absolutely incredible.

You can buy a ticket for just the garden or for both the garden and the inside of Agecroft Hall. I recommend doing this for $12. It’s interesting, and the guides are very helpful and eager to share unique parts of the house’s history with you. The visit took just about an hour.

The sunken garden was my favorite part of the tour.

A little history about Agecroft Hall

What is Agecroft: You’ll learn more about the house on the tour, but for a brief overview: Agecroft Hall was originally built in the 15th century near the River Irwell in Lancashire, England. It was a Tudor-style estate owned by the Langley family.

Over centuries, it underwent various renovations but fell into disrepair by the early 20th century due to industrialization. In 1925, Thomas C. Williams Jr., a wealthy Richmond businessman, purchased the estate at auction. He had it dismantled, shipped across the Atlantic, and reassembled in Richmond, under the supervision of architect Henry G. Morse.

Morse adapted the design to suit American living standards while preserving its Tudor character. The house was completed in 1928 and served as the Williams family home until his death in 1939. The property was then donated to the Virginia House Foundation and opened as a museum in 1969.

Virginia House

As a bonus, Agecroft is next to the Virigina House, another old Tudor-style manor that looks so dreamy. It’s now an event space (I wish it was a museum!). Although their website says the galleries, stores, and cafe are open daily, when we visited, the gates were closed… Maybe there was an event. Perhaps call ahead if you’re set on visiting.

Alternative: Maymont

We were originally planning to visit the Maymont Historic House, with its gardens and aquatic zoo. However, when I checked the site for timings and tickets, I realized there was a Jazz Festival happening there at the time. The tickets were $300, so we decided not to go. Instead, we chose the nearest historic house, which was Agecroft Hall.

Check-in at The Quirk

After lunch, we checked in at The Quirk, which has a late check-in time at 4:00 PM, but that was fine by us. There’s free parking around the area on Sundays and starting at 6:00 or 7:00 PM on Saturdays, so that’s an option if you have your car (which you likely will). I opted to use the valet service, which was $30 a night, and it was very convenient. Breakfast is not included.

Rooftop Bar

After settling into our room and freshening up, we went to The Quirk’s Rooftop Bar, which is a popular spot in town, for a drink. They had a really good pineapple mocktail and a spicy drink as well!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t very shaded, and we were feeling the heat of the day, so we opted for a short visit. However, I could tell it was getting much more popular as the evening went on.

We took a little walk around the area.

Dinner at Restaurant Adarra

Restaurant Adarra in Richmond is an intimate, family-owned spot known for its Basque-inspired cuisine. The ambiance is cozy and inviting, with a warm, rustic-chic interior and only a few tables. Make a reservation in advance.

The food was absolutely incredible and incredibly unique—definitely a top thing to do when you have 24 Hours in Richmond. We were able to walk from the Quirk to the restaurant, which was convenient. The menu features a diverse range of items, including tinned foods like sardines, clams, squid, and octopus, as well as main dishes. There were also two lamb specials of the day.

We got three of the special canned dishes to eat with fresh bread, and they were absolutely incredible. The only other experience I’ve had like this was in Portugal at a restaurant that served canned sardines in a unique and edgy setting. I’d never had razor clams before, so that was really fun to try. We also had the mackerel, which was just so unique. For our mains, we opted for the prawns from Australia, which were succulent and delicious, and a white anchovy dish finely served with fennel, which I loved since it wasn’t fishy. For our final dish, we tried the gnocchi, but I would skip it if you go; it was filling, and we were already stuffed by the end of the meal. Instead, consider ordering another canned dish, as that was more interesting.

For 2 drinks and 6 dishes, we paid $172 with tip which I thought was a steal for the unique dishes.

Restaurant Adarra is worth it, even if you’re just passing through Richmond. We were tempted by dessert but literally had no space left in our stomachs.

If feeling like getting another drink, check out one of the bars after dinner in Craytown.

Breakfast

The next day, we had breakfast at Buna. However, compared to Washington DC’s amazing range of Ethiopian cafes and restaurants, it wasn’t as exciting. We thought it would be fun to try it in Richmond, but instead, I’d suggest going to Perly’s, a Jewish deli that offers unique eats.

If you have time, check out the Virginia Museum of Art (free but you need to pay for parking) or the Civil War Museum before you leave Richmond. We didn’t get to do that because of the tennis tournament, but there’s still so much more to see. This is a great quick guide to the city.

Other places to Eat in Richmond

I also looked up the following places for lunch: Lolita’s for tacos, Sen Organic (which we’ve been to before while driving through Richmond) for Vietnamese, and Ipanema Café for pure veg cuisine.

For dinner, we also considered Uliveto for the best vongole pasta according to a friend, Bar Solita for Mediterranean fare, Parterre Restaurant for American fare at the Linden Row Inn, and The Tobacco Company Restaurant.

To get some casual unique eats, besides going to The Mantu (if you didn’t go for lunch), you could go to Curry’s Caribbean Restaurant & Bar.

For coffee and bakery goods, next time I want to visit Ironclad Coffee Roasters & Baking Co. and Sub Rosa Bakery