[2024] Is Charleston WV Worth Visiting? Surprisingly, Yes! (2024)

Category: West Virginia

West Virginia was the 17th state on my journey.

In May 2024, I decided to come to West Virginia again. This time, I explored West Virginia's largest city-- Charleston, which is also the state's capitol.

Look, I'll be honest right off the bat: Charleston is far from the most exciting city and I don't blame American travelers for passing it up.

But... is Charleston WV worth visiting? Yes! More people should visit Charleston! I had a fun time and I'll give you a detailed list of the best things to do and see in West Virginia's capitol!

IN THIS ARTICLE...

• The West Virginia Capitol Building
• Downtown
• Haddad Riverfront Park

By coincidence, I've been to a few capitol cities throughout the U.S, like Richmond, and I have to give West Virginia credit for having the most appealing campus for its capitol!

The West Virginia Capitol Building is about a 5 minute drive or 35-40 minute walk from downtown.

The West Virginia Capitol Building had, by far, the most foot traffic of any place I checked out in Charleston.

I totally recommend you explore the inside of the capitol building. You can either book a tour or explore on our own (the latter which I personally recommend).

The building is free to enter on the west side or east side seven days a week. Seriously! I thought it'd be closed on Sundays!

Look how grand and majestic the interior is...

There was also a room inside the capitol building before you enter the west wing where if you made a noise, there'd be a slapback delay. Entertaining acoustics!

Also, while you're on the campus, check out the West Virginia State Museum. Admission to the museum is free.

I didn't expect to find much art throughout Charleston. While I wouldn't say there is an abundance of it, there was enough throughout the city that I felt justified writing a section about it!

Both East End and downtown had some cool murals in their quarters. First, I'll show East End...

The mural above, which you'll find in East End at the intersection of Elizabeth St and Washington St E, was my favorite. Sure, red is my favorite color, but what I appreciate more is how well the mural complements the brick building and its pink doors.

You'll find these next two murals near the same intersection...

If you advance down Elizabeth Street toward the UC Stadium, you'll come across a building painted with a mural on all sides. This was the lead image for this section.

Here is a zoomed up portion of this mural...

Mural artists will write their names usually in a corner. For 'Power', the artists' names were somewhat blocked out by a gutter. However, after a brief Google search, I found their names: Rebecca Rocco and Isaac Emrick.

Next, let me show you a couple murals in downtown.

Capitol Street is the primary street in downtown Charleston.

When I visited downtown, cars were blocked off for a few blocks on Capitol Street. More downtowns of major American cities seriously need to do this!

You won't find skyscrapers or underground subways in Charleston. It looks and feels more like a modest college town like Grand Rapids or Oxford.

For a downtown of the state's largest city, there weren't a lot of people out and about on a Saturday afternoon. At least it made taking pictures really easy, since people rarely walked into my shots!

Some places and streets to check out in downtown would be the independent bookstore Taylor's Books, the Kanawha County Public Library skywalk, Quarrier St, and Court St.

This last thing to do deserves its own mention! On Capitol Street, there is a tiny sculpture called 'Mortar Man'.

Mortar Man is surprisingly pretty difficult to find and many people walk past it.

When I was searching for it, a local man could tell I was like looking for the sculpture, and he was like, "You're looking for it, aren't ya?"

Me: "Oh, Mortar Man?? Yeah!"

The kind local proceeded to point to where Mortar Man is! You will find it between 110 and 112 Capitol Street, across the street from a West Virginia State University building. Mortar Man is hiding at the top of a brick pillar!

Even when these directions, trust me, Mortar Man is not easy to spot! I even spent like two minutes showing another visitor where he is!

Here are two pictures of Mortar Man:

One more thing I want to mention before I transition to the last section in this article is there are so many law firms in downtown Charleston! Kind of funny.

Anyway, the last thing to see when you visit Charleston is...

Go for a walk (or drive) on Kanawha Street.

The street runs parallel to the Kanawha River, providing Charleston a gorgeous riverwalk. There is a section along the riverwalk called Haddad Riverfront Park, which features a large stage for live performances in the warmer months.

I'm not sure how long the riverwalk stretches. I'd guess a couple miles. You'll get your steps in for the day if you tried to walk the whole thing!

The last little thing I want to recommend is going for a drive on Bridge Road. To start, you'll want to get on Dickinson St and cross the bridge.

While the winding drive up is very scenic and tranquil, it is more difficult to get pictures because of the narrowness of the roads. If you stop, you'd impede traffic, as the roads are two small lanes going in opposite directions.

For instance, I saw some glorious elevated views of downtown Charleston but since I was in my SUV, I was unable to capture any shots.

Maybe next time!

Is Charleston WV worth visiting? Yes-- it makes for a fun weekend trip!

You don't have to be a history buff or into politics to enjoy the West Virginia State Capitol. Downtown and East End have enough to do and see. Driving and/or walking down Kanawha Street is lovely.

Let me know if you ever end up checking out Charleston!

Thank you for reading! Like... seriously. So many people just skim sh*t and don't read anything past the headline. You're one of the good ones!

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