Location
Virginia Tech's 2,600-acre campus is located in Blacksburg, Virginia, a small town in the southwestern part of the state. It's nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which gives the campus beautiful natural scenery with rolling hills and outdoor recreational opportunities like hiking and biking.
Blacksburg is known for being a safe and friendly college town, and the university is a big part of the local community. Although it's not in a big city, Virginia Tech's campus is large and well-equipped, and nearby cities like Roanoke are about 45 minutes away, providing access to more urban amenities when needed.
Campus Facilities & Equipment
On the main campus, the Goodwin Hall is our state-of-the-art engineering building equipped with hundreds of sensors used to study vibrations, making it one of the most instrumented buildings of its kind in the world.
Another key facility is the Moss Arts Center, which brings in professional music, theater, and visual arts performances, offering cultural experiences for students and the community. Our campus also features The Cube, a high-tech, four-story theater and research space within the Moss Arts Center, designed for immersive audio-visual experiences and experimental media.
Facilities like McComas Hall and War Memorial Hall support student wellness with gyms, pools, and recreation areas.
Off-Campus Opportunities
Outside of academics, Virginia Tech students have plenty of fun and engaging things to do off-campus in and around Blacksburg. The town itself has a lively, student-friendly downtown area just steps from campus. Students often gather at local coffee shops, restaurants, and music venues. Popular spots include Mill Mountain Coffee, Cabo Fish Taco, and The Lyric Theatre, an old-school movie and live performance venue.
Nature lovers are in the perfect place. Virginia Tech is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering access to hiking, biking, camping, and kayaking. Students often take trips to Cascade Falls, the Huckleberry Trail, or even parts of the Appalachian Trail. The New River provides opportunities for tubing and kayaking, especially in the warmer months.
For those into fitness and sports, there are off-campus options like gyms, yoga studios, and rock-climbing gyms, along with local sports leagues and races. Beyond that, Blacksburg hosts events like the weekly farmers market, where students can enjoy local food, handmade crafts, and live music. The town also puts on seasonal festivals such as the Fork & Cork wine festival and the Steppin' Out arts and music fair.
Students also take advantage of their location by going on day trips or weekend getaways to nearby cities like Roanoke or Floyd, or even farther to Asheville, North Carolina. In the winter, some head to Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia for skiing and snowboarding. Altogether, the area offers a great mix of outdoor adventure, cultural events, and relaxing hangouts, making life outside the classroom just as exciting as life on campus.
Living "in the middle of nowhere" may seem like a recipe for boredom, but members of VT's Hokie Nation make the most of this "perfect college town." After all, when "there are 30,000 people around you that are the same age as you, you find stuff to do." When not consumed with Virginia Tech football-you'll see more maroon and orange in a single day here than most people will see in a lifetime-students here do, well, a little bit of everything. "School-related and Greek-life functions are the main sources of weekend activities," students say, but deceptively quiet Blacksburg and the surrounding area offer plenty of other options. On weekends, students "go out to parties or downtown with friends, we go out to eat, we play tennis, lay out on the Drillfield, play in the snow when we have some, go on hikes, and go to the river." That's just a start. Students find "there is always something fun going on to do with your friends," including "bowling, movies, club sports, video games," and more. If you can't find it in Blacksburg, it's ten minutes away in Christiansburg. Students enjoy relaxing, getting into discussions, or having outdoor adventures in a pastoral setting. When autumn arrives, "football games dominate the social scene."
