by Andrew Collins
SGN A&E Writer

The next time you find yourself in need of some R&R, and you haven't the time or money for a big, week-long adventure or the inclination to visit either a fast-paced big city or a wild Gay resort, consider heading to a smaller, perhaps less-visited, community that's anchored by a university or college. These kinds of towns typically possess many of the charms that appeal to Gay travelers: a progressive political climate, a lively performing- and visual-arts scene, scads of hip and affordable eateries and coffeehouses, and, in many cases, appealing natural scenery. Hotel rates, outside of major school-related weekends, are often reasonable, and many of these places are within easy driving distance of one or several major metro areas.
Here's a mix of mostly small cities or large towns whose personalities tie in closely with the presence of a notable academic institution.

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA
This hilly, green, and utterly enchanting city of about 70,000 is home to the main branch of Indiana University - it makes for an easy weekend trip from several major Midwest cities. Bloomington is the quintessential all-American college town, yet with some big-city cultural attributes, from well-endowed museums to very good restaurants. Tall, three-story turreted Victorians mingle with Craftsman and Colonial-style houses in several attractive residential neighborhoods near campus. Downtown is anchored by glorious Courthouse Square, from which streets lined with shops, cafes, music clubs, and lounges emanate. Straights and Gays mingle freely at many venues, and few people in Bloomington bat an eye at the sight of same-sex couples - after all, this is the home of the Kinsey Institute.

BURLINGTON, VERMONT
Rugged and open-minded Vermont has received considerable attention from Gays and Lesbians since it became the first state to legalize Gay civil unions in 2000. Burlington, home to the University of Vermont, has the state's most visible Queer scene, plus several Gay-owned businesses and an active women's community. It's just 90 minutes south of Montreal and enjoys a spectacular setting on Lake Champlain - several major ski resorts are nearby. This can be a rowdy college town, and the university scene is rather frat/sorority-oriented. Still, there's a longstanding Gay newspaper here, and blatant homophobia is rare. Visitors appreciate the vast opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, plus downtown's network of redbrick sidewalks, cozy coffeehouses, great music and bookstores, and cheap eateries.

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA
An idyllic, perhaps self-consciously quaint, university town prized for its delightfully pedestrian-friendly downtown, Chapel Hill - especially its lively West End - buzzes with great dining and shopping. The city has a population of 48,000, nearly half of whom are students at the prestigious University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is notable for its many historic buildings and its beautiful grounds. On campus you could spend a day touring several key attractions, including the Morehead Planetarium, the first-rate Ackland Art Museum, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden. There are several bars in nearby Durham and Raleigh, cities also noted for their university scenes, which revolve around Duke and North Carolina State universities.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
A regal, prosperous city that draws favorable comparisons to Chapel Hill, Charlottesville claims one of the leading academic institutions in the country, the University of Virginia (UVA), whose grounds and Classical Revival buildings were planned by Thomas Jefferson; his famous home, Monticello, lies a short drive from downtown (as do the magnificent estates of James Monroe and James Madison). In the city itself, you'll find both upscale and student-budget restaurants, a festive Gay bar, and terrific shopping along the downtown pedestrian mall.

EUGENE, OREGON
Eugene - home to the University of Oregon (U of O) - is a vibrant center for education, the arts, and outdoors activities. As for the Lesbian and Gay community, this city has the resources and networking of a place five times its size, with successful fundraising and community service groups. The Willamette River curves in a southeasterly direction through Eugene, lined by bike trails and walkways and traversed by a couple of pedestrian bridges. Beyond hiking and biking, favorite activities include cruising through the Saturday farmers market and taking in theater and music events at the impressive Hult Center for the Performing Arts.

LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA
This cultural and academic hub of southern Louisiana's Cajun Country is somewhat conservative compared with other regions mentioned here. That being said, the Cajun lure makes this a fascinating place, and the presence of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette helps account for the area's growing open-mindedness and arty vibe. On campus you'll find a very good art museum, and skirting it are a handful of lively eateries and coffeehouses. The city has two Gay bars, both of them in a downtown district that has enjoyed a notable renaissance in recent years, with the opening of new art galleries, museums, and restaurants. The city and several neighboring communities contain an engrossing array of museums and historic sites that document the rise and preservation of Louisiana's unique Cajun culture.

MADISON, WISCONSIN
With a population of 220,000, Madison is a fairly large city, but it retains the friendly demeanor and easy pace of a much smaller community. This is also one of the Gayest cities of its size as well as being the capital of Wisconsin and home of openly Lesbian U.S. congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. The city's good vibes have inspired Money magazine to name it the best place to live in America. Other notable rankings include its selection as one of Outside magazine's "Dream Towns," one of Bicycling magazine's "Best Bicycling Cities," and one of Cosmo's top cities for finding single men - straight and Gay. At the same time, Madison has a unified and highly visible feminist community. Much of the cultural and entertainment action here revolves around the University of Wisconsin, which lies along the beautiful shores of Lake Mendota.

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA
Santa Cruz, home to the left-leaning, counter-cultural University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), is remarkable for its great philosophical and spiritual diversity. The city is a hub of New Age and Eastern religious practice. For its size, it also has the most cohesive and dynamic feminist and Lesbian community in California. The city's main drag, Pacific Avenue, is a groovy strip of record shops, bookstores, coffeehouses, and other cerebral diversions. You'll discover a whole different Santa Cruz along the harbor, where seafood shanties and souvenir stands line the long Municipal Wharf and charmingly faded boardwalk. The campus of UCSC sprawls across the evergreen- and redwood-studded hills northwest of town. Established in 1965, this is the most unconventional institution in the state's university system; classes are not graded but critiqued, and every manner of social, labor, and political injustice is challenged both in and out of the classroom. There's a popular Gay beach several miles west of campus.

STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA
There's a joke about Pennsylvania in which the state is described as "Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and a whole lotta Alabama in between" - the point being that the middle of the state tends to be highly conservative, rural, and insular. State College, the aptly named home of Penn State, is all of these things to a certain degree, but the town definitely cultivates a substantial - and growing - Queer presence. Additionally, it occupies a lovely setting in the Allegheny Mountains, its downtown abutting Penn State's picture-perfect campus of stately shade trees and creeper-covered redbrick buildings. The city has a popular Gay nightclub, drawing both students and the handful of Queers living in rural communities throughout north-central Pennsylvania.

YELLOW SPRINGS, OHIO
Easily the smallest of the towns covered here, the southwestern Ohio town of Yellow Springs (population 4,000) is the home of Antioch College, which was founded in 1853 by forward-thinking educator Horace Mann, and has long cultivated a highly liberal and, in recent decades, Gay-visible student body. You probably won't find enough here to keep you busy for more than a leisurely afternoon, but that's part of the town's charm. Just stroll along Xenia Avenue, poking your head in and out of specialty shops selling everything from incense to peppermints. North of downtown, stop by Young's Jersey Dairy Farm for delicious fresh-made ice cream. Or take to the Little Miami Scenic Trail, a 70-mile paved bike-and-hike path that passes through some of Yellow Springs' prettiest scenery, right alongside the Little Miami River. Nearby Springfield has a Gay bar, and Dayton has nearly a dozen.
Other great, Gay-friendly university towns and cities worth exploring: the University of New Mexico neighborhood of Albuquerque; Amherst and Northampton, Mass.; Athens, Ga.; the University of Texas neighborhood of Austin; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Berkeley, Calif.; Boulder, Colo.; Cambridge, Mass.; the Ohio State University neighborhood of Columbus; Iowa City, Iowa; Ithaca, N.Y.; Lawrence, Kan.; New Haven, Conn.; Providence, R.I.; and the University of Arizona neighborhood of Tucson.

Andrew Collins is the author of Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA and eight additional travel guides. He can be reached care of this publication or at OutofTown@qsyndicate.com.