Little Rock

Arkansas Arts Center

9th and Commerce. Includes a museum school, children's theater, and a wonderful art gallery. The gallery is home to works of Cézanne, Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe, Rembrandt and Dale Chihuly. The Museum School is a great place to learn or develop art skills. Children's Theatre productions are on most weekends during the school year.

Arkansas Governor's Mansion

Also seen in Designing Women, as Suzanne Sugarbaker's home. No admission fee for tours, but they must be scheduled in advance.

Arkansas Skatium

Dual ice and roller skating facility. Learn how to figure skate or play hockey if you don't know already. Or if roller skating is your interest, the roller side has speed skating and women's roller derby.

Arkansas State Capitol

Completed in 1915, is of some interest as it was modeled after the U.S. Capitol, and as a result, it has been used in several movies. If the legislature is not in session, you may visit the Senate and House chambers. The Arkansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Arkansas Law Enforcement Memorial, and a monument honoring the Little Rock Nine are on the grounds. The Capitol occupies the former site of the state penitentiary.

Mon-Fri 7AM-5PM

Big Dam Bridge

The centerpiece of the Arkansas River Trail is this 4,226 ft long pedestrian and bike bridge over the Murray Lock and Dam, linking Little Rock's Murray Park with North Little Rock's Cooks Landing Park. Absolutely not to be missed.

Brave New Restaurant

Good luck finding this place, hidden in an office building in the Riverdale area. Once you get there, though, you'll be in one of the top handful of restaurants in town, where chef Peter Brave offers a menu of fresh ingredients in a setting overlooking the Arkansas River.

Buffalo Grill

Reliably good burgers, fries, nachos, and all-American favorites (including apple pie) can be found in this longtime Riverdale neighborhood restaurant.

Sun-Thu 11AM-9PM; Fri Sat 11AM-10PM

Butcher Shop Steak House

Casual, welcoming atmosphere for families and business meetings. USDA choice and prime steaks, hand cut on premises. Also have fish, pastas, chicken and more.

Butler Center for Arkansas Studies

The largest facility dedicated to the study of Arkansas history, housed in two historic buildings (built in 1882 and 1914) adjoined by a present-day structure. The Main Library of the Central Arkansas Library System is next door.

C. Maurice Lewis Jr. Natural Resource Complex

The headquarters of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. You can obtain an Arkansas hunting or fishing license here (it is required by state law, even for non-residents) if you're planning to hunt or fish in the Natural State. If those don't suit your interest, at least just drop by and visit the exhibition gallery.

Central Arkansas Library System Main Library

The largest public library in Arkansas. The building is the former warehouse of the Fones Brothers Hardware Company (founded in 1865, ceased operation in 1987), completed in 1920. In 1993, the city approved a bond to restore the building, and the library eventually moved there in 1997.

Central High School National Historic Site and Museum

This National Historic Site is dedicated to the Central High integration crisis of 1957. The visitor center houses a permanent exhibition on the event and the iconic facade of the school can be viewed from across the street. Reservations are mandatory to tour the school as it is an operating school, and you are asked not to enter it on your own.

Mon-Sat 9AM-4:30PM, Sun 1-4:30PM·Free

Ciao Baci

Very good appetizers and entrees, extensive wine list, and open very late. A good place for dinner or for just hanging out with appetizers and wine. A little expensive, but good prices for the quality.

Daisy Bates House

The home of Little Rock's most celebrated civil rights leader who mentored the Little Rock Nine. The house is a private residence and is not open to the public.

Forbidden Garden

Is the second generation of the longtime Forbidden City Chinese restaurant once part of midtown's Park Plaza Mall.

Gazette Building

The Arkansas Gazette, founded in 1819 by William Woodruff, has the distinction of being the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi. It is still in print today, although it is now called the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as a result of a 1991 merger with the Arkansas Democrat. The Gazette was housed in this building from 1908 until the merger. Today it houses eStem Public Charter Schools.

Heifer International Center

A nonprofit dedicated to caring for the earth and ending hunger and poverty. Visit their internationally recognized Green Headquarters building that has earned the highest LEED award. This is a great place to visit for everyone of all ages.

Historic Arkansas Museum

Preserves four historic antebellum homes, also has a gallery with changing exhibits. General admission free.

Guided tours: adults $2.50, children $1

Izzy's Famous Food Place

Southern hand-rolled hot tamales, brick-oven pizzas, 14 freshly made salads, hand-prepared burgers. Group menu is available, as well as separate checks for groups.

KATV-7 Building

Worthen Bank Building

This 1928 building that now houses Little Rock's local ABC-affiliated television station was once the headquarters of the W.B. Worthen Banking Corporation, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The bank is today still in operation, though its name has disappeared into a triple merger, first by Boatmen's, then NationsBank, and now Bank of America.

Little Rock Audubon Center

Headquarters of the National Audubon Society's Arkansas chapter and a nature education center complete with a park.

Little Rock National Cemetery

Final resting place for more than 25,000 American war veterans; closed to new internments.

Little Rock Zoo

Many different animals from all over the world. In addition, the zoo's entrance plaza contains "Over the Jumps: The Arkansas Carousel", a National Register of Historic Places entry with an unusual distinction: it's the world's only waving carousel.

Loca Luna

Eclectic food: a mix of southern, Southwestern, with maybe a touch of Italian and Mexican. (Example: barbecue chicken pizza with cranberry tequila sauce.) Good nightly specials, or try the old faithful pot roast. Great meatloaf (!) at lunch. Reasonably priced wine. Outside seating.

MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History

The museum, housed in its namesake's birthplace and the only surviving structure from the Old Arsenal, features military-related exhibits from the 19th century to the present. Also nearby is the Arkansas Korean War Memorial which was unveiled on June 25, 2007.

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

9th and Broadway. The original headquarters of the Mosaic Templars (a black fraternal organization, now defunct save for a single chapter in Barbados), destroyed by fire in 2005, has been reconstructed to house a cultural center dedicated to the history and culture of black people.

Mount Holly Cemetery

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and known by the nickname "The Westminster Abbey of Arkansas", this historic 19th-century cemetery is the final resting place for many noteworthy Arkansans. Among the most notable: David Owen Dodd, the "Boy Martyr of the Confederacy"; Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Gould Fletcher; and William Woodruff, founder of the Arkansas Gazette, the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi. Also buried here are 10 former Arkansas governors, 14 former Arkansas Supreme Court Justices, 21 former mayors of Little Rock, and 6 former U.S. Senators.

Mt. Fuji

Enjoy the best cuisine from Japan in a fine setting. Also has a gift shop that sells Japanese goods.

Murry's Dinner Playhouse

Enjoy a gourmet buffet meal and a live stage production at this local favorite, open since 1967.

Museum of Black Arkansans and Performing Arts Center

EMOBA - Ernie's Museum of Black Arkansans

This museum housed in the historic First Baptist Church celebrates the colorful culture, history, and heritage of African American people in Arkansas.