Railroad and Razorbacks in Fayetteville
Fayetteville is the state’s third-largest city, but it’s most famous as a college town. More than 25,000 University of Arkansas students call the city home, and thousands more people visit for Razorback football games and other sporting events. Groups can explore the hilltop campus and stroll among its trees, historic buildings and outdoor artwork. Completed in 1875, Old Main is both the campus centerpiece and the university’s oldest building still standing.
Visitors can sample Fayetteville’s flavors on the Fayetteville Ale Trail, which includes 11 craft breweries and one cidery, according to Hazel Hernandez, director of marketing and communications for Experience Fayetteville.
Along with sampling flights of craft beer, groups can take brewery tours and get behind-the-scenes looks at the brewing process. For more local flavor, visitors shouldn’t skip Catfish Hole, a local favorite and a group standby since 1994 and famous for its hush puppies.
The Arkansas and Missouri Railroad is one of the nation’s few remaining commercial lines with both freight and passenger service. During three different scenic excursions through the Ozark Boston Mountains, passengers ride in refurbished antique passenger or parlor cars that pass through the quarter-mile Winslow Tunnel and travel over trestle bridges 125 above the ground.
The Walton Arts Center is a performing-arts venue that features live theater and concerts, including Broadway shows such as “School of Rock,” “Jersey Boys” and “Les Misérables,” and is home to the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Discount tickets are available for groups of 10 or more.
www.experiencefayetteville.com
Eureka Springs’ Hillside Victorian Charm
Eureka Springs is a preserved, Victorian-era gem, and the entire city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Century-old stone buildings line steep downtown streets, and elegant Victorian homes climb the hillsides.
Groups can explore the historic city during a Eureka Springs Tram Tour that showcases the historic downtown business district dotted with natural springs as well as the adjacent neighborhoods, where many of the gingerbread homes are now bed-and-breakfasts. Many of the city’s 64 springs can be found bubbling up in downtown, including one of the most prominent springs at Basin Spring Park, a popular spot for free concerts, art festivals and craft fairs.
During a Downtown Underground Tour, groups can see what used to be the street level of downtown Eureka Springs; it went underground when the city raised Main Street — nicknamed “Mud Street” for how often it flooded — an entire building story. At the Mud Street Café, a window in the floor shows the spring beneath the 1888 building that contributed to the flooding.
In addition to its Victorian vibe, the mountain town is renowned for its arts community. The Eureka Springs School of the Arts has seven studios and offers “build your own workshop” options for groups that want to customize their experience. With enough advance notice, the school will find an instructor to teach workshops in jewelry-making, painting, woodworking — basically any medium a group wants to explore.
During its season, which runs March through October, the school also offers weekly studio strolls, during which guests can explore the campus and watch demonstrations from that week’s instructors.
