Among small towns worth seeing nearby is CHARLES TOWN , four miles south of Harpers Ferry on US-340, where John Brown was tried and hanged; the Jefferson County Museum at Washington and Samuel (Mon-Sat 10am-4pm; free) tells the story of his trial, conviction and execution, and remembers his last words: "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." SHEPHERDSTOWN , a cozy village along the Potomac ten miles to the north, is prettier and better for wandering, with quaint ancient shops and cafés looking across the river to Maryland's infamous Antietam Battlefield .

Further afield, and of more salubrious interest, is the old spa town of BERKELEY SPRINGS , now preserved as a state historic park, thirty miles west of Harpers Ferry on Hwy-9, seven miles south of I-70. The nearest early America ever came to having resorts like Bath in England, Berkeley Springs was a favorite summer retreat of the colonial elite - George Washington and Lord Fairfax were among the regulars who came here to take the waters - and assorted massage and steam bath treatments are still available at its many health spas. You can take a soak in the old Roman Bath House (call 304/258-2711 for details), in active use since 1815 and now run by the state. The town's central square is leafy and green, with footpaths fanning out in all directions, one climbing the hill up to the fortress-like mid-Victorian Berkeley Castle . Among the B&Bs in Berkeley Springs are the Highlawn Inn , 304 Market St (tel 304/258-5700 or 1-888/290-4163, ; $75-100), and the Manor Inn , 415 Fairfax St (tel 304/258-1552, ; $75-100).

Around Harpers Ferry

• Around Harpers Ferry

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