Related: 10 College Towns That Retirees Love, Too
The University of Colorado-Boulder
What started as one building in 1876 — now known as Old Main — has grown into dozens more today, with a mix of both traditional and modern architectural styles. But, of course, as beautiful as the CU-Boulder campus is, it gets a big boost from the surrounding landscape, particularly Boulder’s famed Flatirons, ancient triangular sandstone formations that jut into the air at a steep angle southwest of campus.
Related: 20 Beautiful Libraries Around the World
Elon University
Berry College
With campus destination names like House o’ Dreams and Lavender Mountain, it’s clear that this 27,000-acre, northwest Georgia campus is a scenic one, but it’s the college’s Ford Hall — named for Henry Ford, who helped fund it and the surrounding structures — and its nearby reflecting pools that are truly breathtaking. (Incidentally, Henry Ford is one of many billionaires who never attended college.)
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Trinity College Dublin
Related: 30 Free Things to Do in Ireland
Colgate University
Colgate’s 88 campus buildings were built between 1827 and 2019 but were designed to adhere to “a singular architectural language.” The structures are handsome, but it’s the campus’ 2,300 trees, mostly sugar maples and northern red oaks, that really give the campus its beauty, especially in the fall.
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Sewanee: The University of the South
Cornell University
Hiking on campus? Yep, Cornell’s got it. Fall Creek and Cascadilla gorges are just two of a handful of places where students can get a hike in between classes. Other favorite scenic campus spots include Beebe Lake, Mundy Wildflower Garden, F.R. Newman Arboretum, and the campus’ Botanic Gardens.
University of Coimbra
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Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Massachusetts
This liberal arts college for women includes a botanic garden with a greenhouse and multiple gardens, two lakes, waterfalls, stables, and woodland riding trails. Its striking buildings include the 1897 Mary Lyon Hall and the Abbey Chapel, which was added in 1938.United States Naval Academy
Located at the confluence of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay, this entire 338-acre campus — known as “the Yard” — has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Its Bancroft Hall is the largest college dormitory in the world, and its domed Main Chapel is one of the campus’ most iconic buildings.
Spelman College
Atlanta This historically black women’s college was founded in 1881 and is laid out over 39 beautifully landscaped acres. Architecturally significant buildings include the 1886 Rockefeller Hall and the 1927 Sisters Chapel.
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee Founded in 1873, the Vanderbilt campus — with its nearly 200 species of trees and shrubs — is a designated National Arboretum. Scenic spots include the Alumni Lawn, Kirkland Hall, and Bishops Commons — all of which can be explored via virtual tour.
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana Many of the campus buildings here are made from Indiana limestone and were constructed by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. A district known as The Old Crescent hosts nine of the campus’ most historic buildings, which represent a diversity of architectural styles including Collegiate Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Gothic Revival.
University of Washington
Seattle Founded in 1861, this Pacific Northwestern campus includes iconic indoor and outdoor spaces. The UW Quad is resplendent in spring, when the many cherry trees bordering its criss crossed pathways bloom. Another stunning scene can be found in the 1926 Suzzallo Library’s Graduate Reading Room.
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, England
Founded in 1209, Cambridge is the fourth-oldest surviving university in the world and the alma mater of Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, and Sir Isaac Newton. Its 710-acre campus is filled with ancient architecture, museums, and a Botanic Garden, much of which can be explored via Google Street View.Rhodes College
University of Notre Dame
Howard University
Another historically black university, the 256-acre HU campus — often called “The Mecca” — has a number of historic landmarks, including Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, and the Founders Founders Library. Its Upper Quadrangle, known to students as “the Yard,” is one of its most famous and photographed campus locations, and can be visited via Howard’s virtual tour.
University of Chicago
ChicagoThis campus combines gothic designs with modern buildings in a striking array of architectural styles. Some of its more distinctive buildings include the Cobb Lecture Hall, the ivy-covered Snell-Hitchcock dormitory, the Rockefeller Chapel, and the more recent and modern glass-domed Joe and Rika Mansueto Library.
Vassar College
Another college combining historic and modern architecture, Vassar’s campus became formally recognized as an arboretum in 1925. Today, the campus has more than 2,200 trees and is also home to the 1916 Shakespeare Garden and the campus-adjacent, 430-acre Vassar College Ecological Preserve, which includes more than 600 species of vascular plants and contains multiple walking trails.
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina At the center of Duke’s campus rises the 1935 Duke Chapel, a striking example of Collegiate Gothic style architecture. The Sarah P. Duke Gardens, about a 10- to 15-minute walk from the chapel, are another campus highlight, with 55 acres of landscaped gardens, water features, an arboretum, trails, and more.
University of Bologna
Bologna, Italy Founded in 1088, Bologna is considered the oldest university in the world. Its Orto Botanico dell’Università di Bologna — a botanical garden and herbarium — was established in 1568. Much of the campus can be explored via an extensive photo gallery on its website.
Flagler College
St. Augustine, Florida Though it’s located in the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the contiguous U.S., Flagler wasn’t founded until 1968. Still, its 19-acre campus offers lots of eye candy, including the 1888 Ponce de Leon Hall — once a luxury hotel — Kenan Hall, and the outdoor West Lawn, all of which you can visit via a virtual tour.
Yale University
Founded in 1701 and then known as the Collegiate School, Yale is the fourth-oldest university in the U.S. behind St. John’s College, College of William and Mary, and Harvard. The campus is notable for many iconic structures that range from Collegiate Gothic, Victorian, and Georgian to much more modern architectural styles. Many of these can be visited through a virtual tour.
Pepperdine University
Malibu, California Perched on 830 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains with Pacific Ocean views, this Christian college was once described by Expedia.com as a place with “stunningly distracting scenery” that “looks more like a beach resort than a private university.” Its buildings are mostly Mediterranean Revival Style, characterized by white stucco and red tile roofs. Other striking features include Alumni Park and Stauffer Chapel, which has 3,000 square feet of stained glass windows.
Lewis and Clark College
University of California Santa Barbara
Another college that has its beauty on display for all in the form of a virtual tour, scenic highpoints of this campus include the UCSB Lagoon and the 175-foot Storke Tower and its adjoining plaza, which serves as an open-air venue for concerts and other events. The best feature, though, has got to be Campus Point, a scenic peninsula with a beach cliff, crashing waves, and hiking trails.
University of Queensland
Georgetown University
Built above the Potomac River, this 1789 university overlooks Northern Virginia. Its beauty is reflected in its many natural and manmade features, including fountains, gardens, tree groves, and open quadrangles. Its most stunning architectural feature is Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark built between 1877-1879, which features a clock tower, and the ornate Gaston Hall, a 750-seat auditorium.
The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
This 1907 university campus is characterized by palm trees, sure, but it’s actually home to more than 4,000 trees of 500-plus species, making it an accredited arboretum. The school also includes the only university tropical arboretum in the country, Lyon Arboretum, as well as an open Thai pavilion and a Japanese garden with a koi pond and teahouse.
Scripps College
This private liberal arts women’s college has been on the list of many “most beautiful college campus” lists, including the Princeton Review, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, HuffPo, and more. Its beauty is most evident in its many courtyards and landscapes, which include a rose garden, Iris Court, and orange, olive, grapefruit, pomegranate, kumquat, and loquat trees, from which students are welcome to pick freely.
Wellesley College
Kenyon College
This rural, 1,000-acre campus’ Middle Path — a tree-lined footpath that the college calls its “central artery” — is just the start of its beauty. There’s also the Brown Family Environmental Center, 500 acres of woodland and prairie habitats, gardens, and 8 miles of trails. And the 10-acre Kenyon Farm, where students are responsible for managing the animals and crops.
Aarhus University
Bryn Mawr College
This 1885 women’s college is filled with some of the first examples of Collegiate Gothic architecture in beautiful historic buildings like Rockefeller, Taylor, and Rhoads halls. Another campus designated an arboretum, the college’s 135 acres were designed in part by Frederick Law Olmsted, who is largely considered to be the father of American landscape architecture and was responsible for Central Park’s design.
University of Virginia
Oxford, University
Another British university with famous alumni including Oscar Wilde, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Indira Gandhi, Oxford predates even Cambridge, with evidence of teaching as early as 1096. It has no central campus — its 39 colleges are spread throughout the town — and dozens of buildings. The oldest, Duke Humfrey’s Library, has been incorporated into the campus’ Bodleian Library.
