Experience the best of Eureka Springs

Eureka Springs lies in the Ozark Mountains of north-west Arkansas and grew in the 1880s as a spa resort around springs thought to have healing waters. Its steep, winding streets are lined with Victorian houses, stone stairways and small shops, and the whole historic downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Crescent Hotel, a limestone hotel opened in 1886, overlooks the town from a hilltop.

The Christ of the Ozarks, a white statue about 20 metres tall, stands on a hill above the town, and Thorncrown Chapel, a glass-and-timber chapel designed by E. Fay Jones, sits in the woods. Beaver Lake, a large reservoir, lies a short drive west, and Table Rock Lake in Missouri lies to the north. Branson, Missouri, is about an hour and a half away, and the Buffalo National River, a free-flowing Ozark river, is further south-east.

The food is Southern and Ozark: fried catfish, biscuits and gravy, barbecue and pies, with farm stands selling local produce. Spring brings dogwood and redbud blossom, summers are hot and humid, and October is famous for autumn colour across the hills. Winters are cold, sometimes icy.