Summertime is already halfway through, and if you haven’t piled into the family van and hit the open road, all hope is not lost. The great American road trip doesn’t have to take you to another time zone, after all—it could just take you south of the (Missouri) border to our neighbors in the Natural State.
Just a three-hour drive from Kansas City, Bentonville in northwest Arkansas is a perfect weekend getaway for couples, families, and friend groups alike. From expansive art museums to world-renowned mountain biking trails to shopping and dining options for all budgets, the city dubbed as “the new capital of cool” by the Wall Street Journal in 2023 is so much more than the birthplace of Walmart.
That said, it’s impossible not to associate Bentonville with the famed big box store. Founder Sam Walton owned and operated Walton’s Five and Dime on the Bentonville Town Square about a decade before opening the first Walmart, after all. Today, the town is the home to Walmart’s headquarters, The Walmart Museum, and a handful of Walmart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, gas stations, and other offshoots of the brand. The benefits of being the multinational retail chain’s hometown can be seen throughout Bentonville — from community centers to music amphitheaters to museum galleries, you can’t go far without spotting the Walmart and Walton names.
Before you start planning your itinerary, you have to figure out accommodations. If you want to stay close to the action, 21C Museum and Hotel is the spot to be. Just a block off of the town square, this 104-room boutique hotel is also the first of many art museums you can visit in town, with an extensive art gallery winding from the lobby throughout the first floor. Its restaurant — The Hive — seemingly combines art with locally sourced ingredients to showcase the town’s culinary and creative capabilities, and is worthy of a visit from a morning pick-me-up to a nightcap.
Once you’ve settled into your centrally located homebase, Bentonville is walkable and bikeable. With the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Regional Greenway, a 36-mile-long paved trail stretching from Bella Vista through Fayetteville, it’s no wonder why the metro area is one of the fastest growing regions in the U.S. In fact, many consider Bentonville to be the mountain biking capital of the world — it alone boasts 140 miles of trails, with hundreds more throughout the broader region.
Whether you’re walking, biking, or driving, the town itself seems like an art gallery, with massive outdoor art installations, locally owned retail galleries, and the celebrated Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art all within reach. If Walmart put Bentonville on the map, then Crystal Bridges has kept it there. The 200,000-square-foot museum — built on 134 acres of pristine Ozark nature — is home to a rotating collection spanning 500 years of American history, and admission is always free. The grounds themselves also boast waterfalls, outdoor installations, a quartz crystal grotto, lush gardens and more, making it easy to enjoy the great outdoors between meals and museum visits.
The 10-minute walk from 21C to Crystal Bridges along the Art Trail will take you past three must-visit attractions. First, the Compton Gardens & Arboretum is a seven-acre garden where you’ll find dozens of the Ozarks’ native flowers, grasses, and shrubs. Next, James Turrell's The Way of Color Skyspace is best visited during sunset when the circular room and its ocular skylight is illuminated by colored LED lights for a breathtaking experience. Finally, the Bachman-Wilson House showcases Frank Lloyd Wright’s sleek yet functional mid-century modern design.
While Crystal Bridges alone is worth your visit, the town itself has plenty to offer, including coffee shops, cocktail bars, and eateries that will have you planning your next trip back before you’ve even left. Every day should start at Onyx Coffee Lab, perhaps the biggest name in Arkansas coffee. Flying Fish is a local lunchtime favorite, serving huge portions of catfish, crawfish, and calamari, plus Southern favorites like po’ boys, gumbo, jambalaya, and more. The recently opened Loveless Cocktail Club is a bar and lounge where you’ll find a casual hot dog menu paired with memorable drinks and a tailored hi-fi listening experience. Finally, you can catch higher end dinners at Preacher’s Son, featuring sustainably-sourced ingredients in a refurbished church, or at Conifer, a farm-to-table, gluten-free restaurant on the edge of downtown—named James Beard Semi Finalist for Best Southern Chef in both 2024 and 2025.
Just a short walk from the town square, The Momentary — Crystal Bridges’ 63,000-square-foot satellite space dedicated to contemporary art — is located in a decommissioned cheese factory, with dramatic vertical spaces, immersive galleries, and a line-up of events year-round to inspire creativity and build community. The Momentary is home to a year-round calendar of events spanning from musical guests to performance art to a rotating collection of food trucks — plus another Onyx Coffee Lab location, if you need a quick caffeine fix. The nearby 8th Street Market is a great pitstop before or after the museum. Visit HomeGrown for a morning meal, Markham & Fitz for some show-stopping chocolate, Yeyo's El Alma de Mexico for some of the best tacos in town, or Bike Rack Brewing for a post-museum beer.
Bentonville isn’t a sprawling metropolis — nor is it a remote, off-grid getaway — but it provides a healthy dose of nature and city living simultaneously. In a town where creativity flows as freely as the bike trails that wind through its Ozark foothills, you’ll find yourself seamlessly connected to the people and the land from the moment you arrive. With world-class art, inventive Southern cuisine, and serene woodland escapes, expect to be pleasantly surprised at every turn. Whether you're pedaling beneath a canopy of trees, savoring a locally-sourced meal, or contemplating a masterpiece, Bentonville offers a rich, immersive experience that will linger long after you leave.