Libby Hill Park

A small terraced park on the bluff at the eastern end of Church Hill, and the reason the city is called Richmond: the bend of the James River seen from here reminded William Byrd II of the view over the Thames from Richmond upon Thames, and he borrowed the name in 1737.

The overlook is still the classic Richmond panorama — the river curving below, the downtown towers on the left, warehouses and the flood wall in between. A Confederate soldiers' monument stands at the centre of the terrace. Grass, benches, cobbled streets and 19th-century townhouses on three sides.

Sunset is the moment; it is a five-minute stop on the way in or out of the city on East Broad Street, with street parking only.