Fairfax: History, Museums and Walking Trails

Fairfax brings together historic homes, a museum in a former school, walking trails and the Chocolate Lovers Festival. Its attractions range from graffiti on interior walls to a self-guided tour of Historic Old Town Fairfax. If you’re looking for a hotel in Fairfax, you can plan your trip around what interests you most: local history, trails for walking and cycling, or the festival and its chocolate offerings. The places and activities below each offer a different perspective.

Historic Homes and Museum

The Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House is the oldest residence in Fairfax City. At Historic Blenheim House, Union soldiers left graffiti on interior walls in 1862–63. Historic Blenheim is also a site on the Civil War Trails and the Northern Virginia Graffiti Trail. In Fairfax, you can encounter both the history of a residence and tangible traces of the Civil War.

The Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center is a Virginia-certified tourist information center. It is located in the former Fairfax Elementary School, built in 1873. The school was the first two-story brick school in Fairfax County; the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The exhibition The Fairfax Story traces Fairfax’s history from Indigenous cultures to a local astronaut who orbited Earth on three Space Shuttle missions. The museum site thus connects the history of the school building with an exhibition whose subject matter reaches well beyond local school history.

The Kitty Pozer Garden offers a different focus: carefully selected plantings, winding paths and benches beneath a dense canopy of trees shape its design. Here, the garden paths and carefully curated plantings take center stage.

Tours and Trails

Historic Old Town Fairfax offers a self-guided walking tour that passes buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its focus is on architectural history and the buildings along the route.

For more options, the City of Fairfax Trails Map shows all major hiking trails and paths throughout the city. Daniels Run Park has detailed routes for hiking and cycling. The options vary in subject and scope: the Old Town tour passes historic buildings, the map provides an overview of major trails throughout the city, and detailed hiking and cycling routes are available at Daniels Run Park. This lets you choose between a tour focused on history and options for hiking or cycling.

Chocolate Lovers Festival

Since its first edition in February 1993, the Chocolate Lovers Festival has become a tradition. In 2026, the Taste of Chocolate will feature gourmet chocolate fudge, baked goods, truffles and candy; the offerings may change from year to year.

In 2026, the Chocolate Stroll will include eleven participating locations and a passport promotion in which visitors collect stamps. The number of participating locations may vary from year to year. If you’re including the festival in your travel plans, check the dates and program details for that year’s edition.

For the broader travel overview: Fairfax City.