Fairfax County

Fairfax County has a total of 406 square miles which lies in the Piedmont region, with rolling hills and deep stream valleys, including Difficult Run and its tributaries. To the north and southeast of the county flows the Potomac River. Across the river to the northeast is Washington, DC, and across the river to the north is Montgomery County, Maryland. Beyond the Potomac to the southeast are Prince George’s County and Charles County—both in Maryland. Major cities like Alexandria and Falls Church are close by, while the area is bounded to the west by Loudoun County and to the south by Prince William County.

Fairfax County is consistently ranked very high on lists of the best places to live in the country. A strong public schooling system and a high median salary are just some examples for the area’s popularity. The diverse housing stock is one of Fairfax’s main attractions. Here, homebuyers can find apartments, condos, single-family homes and townhouses. Fairfax offers both urban and suburban lifestyles, providing a perfect balance for an already friendly county.

 

Pickett Shopping Center is a large shopping mall featuring a large assortment of stores, restaurants and more. Some stores found here include DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ross and Best Buy. There is also a Chuck E. Cheese’s and a Cinema Arts Theatres for entertainment and fun. Tyson’s Corner Mall in Tyson’s is one of the standout shopping venues in the county. This luxurious mall has hundreds of upscale stores, eateries, plus a cinema and an elevated outdoor plaza.

 

Another notable venue is Epicure Cafe. This creative cafe offers a cool roof deck and Mediterranean-style eats, beer, wine and live acoustic music. A popular live music venue can be found in Vienna at the Barns at Wolf Trap—an intimate, high-caliber performance theatre in a charming space with great acoustics. 29 Diner is one of the most visited restaurants in the county. This old-school 1940s-era diner serves up typical comfort food faves like cheeseburgers, 24/7. Bollywood Bistro is chic Indian restaurant situated in downtown Fairfax. Traditional Bollywood music plays while vintage eats and drinks are served among photos of Indian movie stars.

Fall Festival is held in historic downtown Fairfax on the second Saturday in October. The event includes more than 500 crafts, arts and food vendors while attracting over 35,000 attendees year-round. Other festivals include Chocolate Lovers Festival, Irish Festival, The Holiday Craft Show and Fall for the Book Festival. Fairfax County also boasts many protected areas and a total of 390 county parks, including the Mason Neck State Park, the George Washington Memorial Park and the Elizabeth Hartwell National Wildlife Refuge.

 

The intersection of Route 50 and Route 29 is located in Fairfax City. In addition, there are several other major highways running through Fairfax County including the Capitol Beltway, I-95, I-395 and I-66. The latter runs from east-west and provides direct access to major destinations like Arlington, Centreville and Washington, DC. Dulles International Airport is just to the west of Reston and can be reached via Route 267. Reagan National Airport is located in Arlington and can be accessed via I-66 or by Metro. The county has multiple Metro stations including stops on the Washington Metro’s Orange, Blue, Yellow and Silver lines.