Furman University Guide: Where to Eat, Drink & Stay (2026)
Find the best restaurants, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks near Furman University in Greenville and Travelers Rest, with a saveable map of all 35 places.
Whether you're a Furman student working out where to eat past the Dining Hall, a parent in town for move-in or Family Weekend, an alum coming back for a bicentennial homecoming, or a prospective student walking the lake loop for the first time, this guide pulls together the restaurants, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks worth knowing near Furman University.
The thing to understand about Furman's geography is that campus sits between two very different places. Poinsett Highway, the road Furman fronts, becomes Travelers Rest's Main Street a few miles north, and the campus is actually inside Travelers Rest city limits despite the Greenville mailing address. Downtown Greenville is about the same distance the other way. Travelers Rest is the close, low-key option and a genuinely good small downtown; Greenville is one of the better food cities in the South and worth the drive. The Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail runs straight through campus and connects both, so a fair number of these places can be reached on a bike.
Best Restaurants Near Furman
Eating near Furman means picking a direction. North, downtown Travelers Rest packs a Michelin-recommended dining room, a creperie in an old post office, tacos, wood-fired pizza, and sushi into about half a mile of Main Street, all a few minutes from campus. South, Greenville gives you the real range: New Southern dinners on Main, an oyster bar over Falls Park, and a small-plates room in the arts district. Breakfast and coffee are the easy wins here, and both sit on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
Featured restaurants to check out
Topsoil Restaurant
13 S Main St, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
The best sit-down meal within a few minutes of campus, in the old Williams Hardware building at the top of Travelers Rest's Main Street. Chef Adam Cooke is a James Beard semifinalist and Topsoil landed in the 2025 MICHELIN Guide's American South selection, but the room is casual enough to walk into off the trail, and there's a dog-friendly porch facing it.
Soby's
207 S Main St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Greenville's New Southern standby since 1997, in a converted Main Street shoe store that helped start the whole South Main revival. Its wine list won a Wine Spectator Grand Award in 2025, the first ever awarded in South Carolina, which makes this the graduation dinner reservation.
Jianna
600 S Main St #2, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Modern Italian and an oyster bar on the second floor at the south end of Main, with pasta rolled daily and a 40-foot bar shucking oysters and slicing prosciutto. Chef Michael Kramer's dining room looks out over Falls Park, and it's closed Mondays.
The Anchorage
586 Perry Ave, Greenville, SC 29611, USA
Seasonal small plates in the Village of West Greenville, where the menu shifts in some way every day and the wine list leans low-intervention. A James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2018 and still one of the more interesting dinners in the city, though it's dinner only and closed Sunday and Monday.
Chicora Alley Fire House Travelers Rest
117 N Poinsett Hwy, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
A Travelers Rest offshoot of the West End original, set in an actual former fire station on the same road that runs past Furman. Southern cooking with Caribbean and Southwestern leanings, a full bar, jerk plates and shrimp and grits, and a Sunday brunch worth planning around. Closed Mondays.
Fork and Plough
1629 E North St, Greenville, SC 29607, USA
Part restaurant, part butcher shop and market in the Overbrook neighborhood east of downtown, run by chef Shawn Kelly with grass-fed beef and produce from Kingbird Pastures. Weekend brunch here is the unfussy alternative to fighting for a table on Main Street.
Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar
1 N Main St Ste t, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Scratch Southern cooking at the top of North Main, open from 8am and doing brunch daily. It's an Asheville-born chain rather than a local independent, but it's dependable, seats a crowd, and it's the easiest place to get a group of nine to agree on.
Coastal Crust Travelers Rest
327 S Main St, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza at the south end of Travelers Rest's Main Street, from a Charleston company that built its name on vintage pizza trucks before opening rooms. The two-sided oven is visible from the patio, and the dining room is small, so it fills up fast on weekends.
Sidewall Pizza Company
99 Cleveland St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Thin-crust pizza and house-made ice cream from a company that started in a Travelers Rest tire shop, which is where the name comes from. This is the Cleveland Street location near Cleveland Park; the original at 35 S Main in Travelers Rest is the closer one to campus.
Trappe Door
23 W Washington St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
A Belgian basement just off Main serving moules frites in several broths alongside carbonades flamandes and steak frites, with a beer list to match. Dark and low-ceilinged, and a welcome change of pace when you've had enough Southern food.
Farmhouse Tacos
164 S Main St, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Locally owned tacos in the middle of Travelers Rest's Main Street, opened by Greenville natives Chris and Katie Williamson on a site they picked for its Swamp Rabbit Trail access. The low-key answer when nobody wants to drive into Greenville.
Sushi Yama
319 S Main St, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Family-run Japanese at the south end of Travelers Rest doing sushi, ramen, and hibachi, which makes it the only hibachi table anywhere near campus. There's a roll on the menu named for the university, which tells you who's been eating here.
Tandem Creperie and Coffeehouse
2 S Main St, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Sweet and savory crepes, whole wheat waffles, and Methodical coffee inside Travelers Rest's 1944 post office, restored by Brad and Kristen Hartman in 2014 with the original brick and metal ceiling beams left in place. It sits at Main and Center, right at the town's trail hub, and it's daytime only.
Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery
205 Cedar Lane Rd, Greenville, SC 29611, USA
Bakery, coffee counter, and local grocery sitting directly on the Swamp Rabbit Trail between campus and downtown, with sandwiches built on stecca bread baked that morning. It doubles as a regional food hub distributing to local farms, so it's an institution rather than a themed trail stop.
Best Bars Near Furman
Furman has about 2,500 students and no bar strip at its gates, so drinking here splits the same way eating does. Travelers Rest is trail-town drinking: a small production brewery, a bottle shop with 20-odd taps, a wine bar, and a genuine neighborhood sports bar, most of it winding down early. Downtown Greenville is where an actual night out happens, from a rooftop over the Reedy to a basement speakeasy in an old bottling plant.
Featured bars to check out
Swamp Rabbit Brewery & Taproom
26 S Main St, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
A small production brewery on Travelers Rest's Main Street pouring around seven rotating house taps, from Helles and Czech pilsner to a brown porter, with 16oz crowlers to take home. There's no kitchen and it closes early, so treat it as the stop after a ride rather than the start of a night.
The Community Tap Travelers Rest
321 S Main St Suite B, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Bottle shop and taproom right off the Swamp Rabbit Trail, with more than 20 beers on tap, wine by the glass, and cheese and charcuterie boards. It's the third location of a Greenville original, there's live music on the calendar, and it's as easy to stop into at 2pm as at 8.
UP on the Roof
250 Riverplace #800, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Eighth-floor rooftop restaurant and bar above the Embassy Suites at Riverplace, looking out over the Reedy River and toward the Blue Ridge foothills. This is the parents-and-alumni drink rather than the student one, and it's worth timing for sunset.
Vault & Vator
655 S Main St Ste 100, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
A Prohibition-styled cocktail bar in the basement of an early-1900s Dr Pepper bottling plant in the West End, named for the vault and the elevator still standing in the room. Walk-ins only, no reservations, and it suits two or four people far better than a group.
The Tasting Room of Travelers Rest
164 S Main St C, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
A small wine bar and bottle shop on Main built around small-production bottles from family-owned wineries, with craft beer alongside and a private room you can rent. Quieter and more grown-up than the breweries down the street, and there's usually live music, trivia, or a pop-up on.
Pangaea Brewing
115 Welborn St Ste A, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Brewery and wood-fired pizzeria at Unity Park on the west edge of downtown, with a beer garden facing the Swamp Rabbit Trail and pizzas that run from straight pepperoni to a Vietnamese-inspired pie. Note that it's south of campus rather than up toward Travelers Rest, so pair it with a downtown day.
Reys
20 N Main St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Bar and grill at the north end of Main that turns into a late-night room with a DJ, serving hand-tossed bar pizzas and wings until late. Ownership changed around 2023 and has pushed the food side since, and it's one of the later doors downtown.
Field House Sports Bar
216 N Poinsett Hwy, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
A no-frills neighborhood sports bar on Poinsett Highway, the same road Furman sits on, with pool tables, wings, and screens for whatever's on. Regulars, karaoke, and weekend bands rather than a polished night out.
Best Hotels Near Furman
Furman has no hotel on campus, so the choice is proximity or a proper Greenville weekend. Travelers Rest gives you the three closest beds, including the two most interesting ones in the area. Downtown Greenville is five or six miles south and puts you inside a walkable restaurant scene, though all four downtown properties charge for parking and only one has a pool. Family Weekend and the bicentennial Homecoming in late October are the weekends that sell out, so book those the moment the calendar posts.
Featured hotels to check out
Hampton Inn Greenville/Travelers Rest
593 Roe Center Ct, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Sixty-one rooms just south of downtown Travelers Rest and the closest conventional hotel to Furman, a few minutes up the Highway 25 corridor. Free hot breakfast, free parking, an outdoor pool in season, and the practical pick when campus access is the entire point of the trip.
The Station by Compo Hotels
745 Old Buncombe Rd, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Eight freestanding cottages just outside downtown Travelers Rest, each around 550 square feet with a king bed, a full kitchen, laundry, a private porch, and Swamp Rabbit Trail frontage. There's no front desk and check-in is by smart lock, but for a family staying several nights over move-in or graduation the space beats a hotel room.
Hotel Domestique
10 Rd of Vines, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, USA
Just over a dozen rooms in a European-style lodge on a hillside north of Travelers Rest, founded by pro cyclist George Hincapie and still built around riding, with bike rentals, guided routes, and an on-site mechanic. Restaurant 17 downstairs is arguably the best dinner in the area, and the setting makes this a destination stay rather than a convenient one.
Hyatt Regency Greenville
220 N Main St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
More than 300 rooms around a glass atrium at the north end of Main, and the closest of the downtown hotels to Furman. It's also the only one downtown with a pool, which matters more than you'd think when younger siblings come along, and Roost handles dinner without leaving the building.
The Westin Poinsett, Greenville
120 S Main St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
Greenville's grand 1925 hotel, shuttered in 1987 and restored to reopen in 2000, now 200 rooms on the National Register with the original marble lobby intact. A block from the Peace Center and the most characterful downtown base, with Spoonbread downstairs.
AC Hotel Greenville
315 S Main St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
A design-forward Marriott in the Camperdown development, hung with more than 100 works by local artists and topped by Juniper, its rooftop bar looking toward the foothills. Good for visitors who want Falls Park and the Peace Center on foot.
Grand Bohemian Lodge Greenville, Autograph Collection
44 E Camperdown Way, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
The splurge, sitting directly on the Reedy River above Falls Park with balcony rooms, an art gallery off the lobby, and Between the Trees looking out over the water. Worth it for a milestone weekend, and the best-sited hotel in the city.
Furman Campus Landmarks
Furman's 750 acres are built around a lake with a 1.5-mile loop trail, and that loop is the visit. Five of the six stops below sit on or just off it, which means a first-time tour is one walk rather than a series of drives. Architectural Digest and Travel + Leisure have both put Furman on their most beautiful campus lists, and the loop is why.
Featured campus landmarks
Bell Tower
Bell Tower, Greenville, SC 29617, USA
Furman's signature image, standing alone on a small peninsula in the lake. It's a 1965 replica of the 1854 tower from the old downtown campus, built after the original bricks proved too far gone to move, and its 60-bell carillon chimes on the hour and every quarter, played from a keyboard by members of the Quaternion honor society.
Furman Rose Garden
Travelers Rest, SC 29613, USA
A terraced rose garden on the lake loop with roughly 800 rose bushes, a 19th-century gazebo, and a fountain. Formally the Janie Earle Furman Rose Garden, it's the most photographed spot on campus after the Bell Tower and a standard stop for graduation and engagement pictures, at its best in late spring.
Daniel Chapel Furman University
Greenville, SC 29617, USA
Furman's chapel, formally the Charles E. Daniel Memorial Chapel, 27,000 square feet with a sanctuary seating up to 350, made possible by a 24.5 million dollar gift in memory of the Greenville construction magnate Charles Daniel. It holds a C.B. Fisk organ of 2,929 pipes installed in 2003, and the sanctuary cross was built from rafter beams of Charleston's First Baptist Church.
Henry David Thoreau Replica Cabin
Greenville, SC 29617, USA
A 15-by-10 replica of Thoreau's Walden cabin, built in 2009 by twelve students in a May Experience course and set in trees on the far side of the lake, roughly the same distance from the water as the original was from Walden Pond. The students built the desk and chairs themselves and left out a bed on purpose. Going inside has to be arranged with the university, but the walk to it is free and unexpected.
James B. Duke Library
3300 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, SC 29613, USA
One of the original buildings of the Poinsett Highway campus, with its cornerstone laid in 1956 and a 25 million dollar expansion and renovation completed in 2004. It holds Special Collections and Archives, including the South Carolina Baptist Historical Collection, and there's a cafe inside if you need somewhere to sit mid-tour.
Paladin Stadium
3300 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, SC 29613, USA
Furman's on-campus football home since 1981, seating 16,000 for Southern Conference play at the FCS level, with the Pearce-Horton Football Complex attached. Commencement is held here too, so most families see it long before they see a game.
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