Robert Russa Moton Museum is Farmville's marquee draw — a National Historic Landmark on the Longwood University campus that tells the story of the 1951 Barbara Johns-led student strike at Moton High School and its role in Brown v. Board of Education. Longwood University and Longwood Center for the Visual Arts anchor the college-town cultural scene, and Hampden-Sydney College (about 10 minutes south) is one of the oldest all-male colleges in the country.
Historic downtown Farmville is walkable for restaurants, boutiques, and the famous Green Front Furniture warehouses — a sprawling downtown furniture destination that fills nine former tobacco warehouses. High Bridge Trail State Park is a 31-mile rail-trail with the marquee High Bridge — a 2,400-foot railroad bridge 125 feet above the Appomattox River (open to walkers and bikers).
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (about 25 minutes south) is where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865, ending the Civil War. Sailor's Creek Battlefield State Park (about 30 minutes east) preserves the last major Civil War battle before Appomattox, and Twin Lakes State Park offers two lakes with swim beaches for a summer day.
There is more within easy reach: Robert Russa Moton Museum (Civil Rights history); High Bridge Trail State Park (2,400-ft bridge); Green Front Furniture warehouses in downtown; Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (~25 min south); Twin Lakes State Park swim beaches. Seasonal highlights: spring dogwoods and Moton Legacy Weekend, summer High Bridge biking and Twin Lakes swimming, fall Longwood football weekends and Rotary Antique Show, winter off-season college-town rates.