Travel Diary: Eureka Springs, Arkansas

The season that occurs between summer and winter, which some would call fall, doesn’t exist in Texas! How is it possible a woman in her late twenties has never seen fall colors before? I haven’t any idea, but I left the green trees in Dallas in search of fall foliage and I have zero regrets!

See

I’ll start by stating the obvious – the colors this time of year are beautiful. I guess it’s no secret that the best time to visit for fall foliage is the last week of October and first week of November. The city was bustling considering the population of 2,100.

Basin Spring Park: Grab a snack and take up a bench here. People watch if you have the time and take in the season! This park is well kept and often has live music too.

Hike: Arkansas is nicknamed The Natural State, so you can just imagine how much activity there is to do outdoors. These hikes looked like they would offer great scenic views and I would have definitely hiked myself if I had more time

Thorncrown Chapel: A glass chapel in the woods. It was such a sight! Unfortunately (for me) there was a wedding going on at the time that I visited so I wasn’t able to get too close to the structure. I hope you can make it closer than I did!

SkyBar: The view from SkyBar at the Crescent Hotel is spectacular! The hotel sits on a hill nestled by trees all around and is a view that can’t be beat! Grab a drink and and take it all in.

Ghost Tour: The historic Crescent Hotel is said to be haunted. Tickets for the tour were sold out by the time I arrived, but this is something I would’ve been all in for!

Downtown: This is where all the action was. There are so many shops to browse through downtown, I could have stayed here all day! If I were to visit again, I would spend more time walking around and enjoying the day around here.

Stay

Farm House Cottage: The girls and I were a group of 5 and were able to spread out nicely in this Airbnb between three beds. The decor was cute and definitely felt very cottage-like, perfect for us girls! We shared one bathroom and that was a struggle, I recommend this place for a group of no more than 4. Location was great and walking distance to downtown.

Crescent Hotel: I only had a chance to visit the SkyBar here, but the hotel grounds are lovely. I can only imagine how vibrant the hotel is during the summertime by the pool!

Eureka Springs has so many Bed and Breakfasts to choose from. Just driving around the neighborhood I saw at least 5 on the same block. If I were to return, I would look into B&B’s independent of Airbnb. They all looked so charming and worth looking into.

Dine

Mud St. Cafe Annex: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and these people know it. The food hit the spot to get the weekend started! We got lucky with no wait on Friday morning but tried to go back Saturday morning and there was already a line by 8:15am. Get in line early or expect to wait a while.

Eureka Springs Brewery: The girls loved the beer brewed here. The brewery’s garden is a large open space surrounded by trees and a perfect spot for drinks before dinner like we did. Food is not available to order, but is welcome from other restaurants.

Local Flavor Cafe: Hands down my favorite meal of the trip was here! Our group should have made a reservation before hand, but we waited with about 15 people ahead of us and I would have done it again if I needed to. Service was great and the experience at this restaurant was a wonderful one. I highly recommend dinner at Local Flavor!

Oscar’s Cafe: Dining was set up to be outdoors due to COVID-19. I appreciate the effort, but would have preferred indoor seating. It was a quick bite and had no wait!

The Grotto Wood Fired Grill & Bar: Service was the worst I’ve ever experienced with over an hour wait after our reservation time. Our group was pushed from room to room thinking we would be seated. When we were finally seated, our group of 5 was sat at a table for 3. It was awful! Also, limited menu for fellow vegetarians.

I’m always impressed by what’s just a few hours away from Dallas. The drive was a beautiful one through the Ozark Mountains, and a comfortable one in my Nissan Pathfinder from Trophy Nissan.

Overall my weekend trip was great. I was in good company and I got to see fall foliage for my first time ever. It’ll be something I remember for years to come!

I hope you found a gem in this guide of Eureka Springs. Safe travels!

XO, Vivian

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