Two Georgia schools ranked among nation’s most beautiful campuses

Travel & Leisure puts Berry College and the University of Georgia on its list of scenic schools.

Sunset over the Berry College campus. Photo by Brant Sanderlin/Berry College.

Berry College assistant professor of environmental science Zach Taylor, left, and students take water sample in the stream near the Old Mill. Photo by Brant Sanderlin / Berry College

A fawn, doe and buck deer roam on the Berry College campus near the Cook Building. Photo by Brant Sanderlin/Berry College.

Berry College students hiking at the Old Mill. Photo by Brant Sanderlin/Berry College

The Berry College Morgan and Deerfield Residence Halls at sunset. Photo by Brant Sanderlin/ Berry College.

Baldwin Street Steps during class change facing toward Park Hall and Brooks Hall on the University of Georgia campus.

This shows a portion of the Founders Memorial Garden on Lumpkin Street in Athens. The 2 1/2-acre garden honors the 12 women who came together in 1891 to start the Ladies Garden Club of Athens — the first garden club in America. CONTRIBUTED BY REYNOLDS ROGERS / VISIT ATHENS GA

Ken Dious was one of eight people who rang the Chapel Bell to honor the 60th anniversary of desegregation of the University of Georgia outside the UGA Chapel on the campus in Athens on Saturday, January 9, 2021. (Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com)

The best-known landmark of Athens and its university is the Arch, right at the heart of campus and downtown Athens. PHOTO CREDIT: Fleming Smith

Sanford Stadium sits sun-dappled, painted-up and pristinely prepared for today’s game against UMass between the hedges. (Chip Towers/DawgNation)

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Sunset over the Berry College campus. Photo by Brant Sanderlin/Berry College.

By AJC Staff Report

June 24, 2025

Most students choose a college for its academics, its cost, the party scene or because it’s far away from home.

Travel & Leisure gives another idea for consideration: the campus itself.

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The publication recently created a list of the 30 most beautiful colleges and universities in the nation. Two Georgia schools made the list: Berry College near Rome and the University of Georgia in Athens.

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Travel & Leisure notes Berry’s 27,000 acres of fields, lakes, forests and mountains and its “beautiful English Gothic-inspired buildings like the Ford Dining Hall, Ford Auditorium and Mary Hall.” For UGA, Travel & Leisure highlighted the iconic iron arch, the chapel bell and the Founders Memorial Garden, which features more than 300 plant species.

Travel & Leisure is not the first campus to spotlight Berry for its beauty. In January, U.S. News & World Report put the school on its list of 25 beautiful college campuses. Three other Georgia were also included: Georgia Tech, Mercer University and Spelman College.