Founded in 1830 by Mobile’s first Catholic bishop, Michael Portier, this Southern institution — named one of the South’s most beautiful campuses by Southern Living — was among the first Catholic colleges established in the Southeast.

Several of its buildings have been recognized and added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The 381-acre liberal arts college, enveloped by pink azaleas, features a Greek Revival home that doubles as the commencement venue; an expansive green field at the steps of the library; and the St. Joseph Chapel, where rock legend Jimmy Buffett married his first wife, Margie Washichek, in 1969, according to the college.

Oh, and did we mention there’s an 18-hole golf course on campus?

The University of Alaska spans 2,250 acres, has multiple community and rural campuses across the state, and is one of the oldest universities in Alaska.

Its in-house museum, the Museum of the North, was designed by award-winning architect Joan Soranno. It was part of Architectural Digest’s 2018 “most iconic buildings in America” list and has won several national awards since its opening in 2005.

The museum’s design was inspired by Alaska’s natural surroundings and meant to evoke “images of alpine ridges, glaciers, breakup on the Yukon River and the aurora,” according to the University of Alaska.

The University of Arizona campus in Tucson is full of desert plants and red-bricked halls.

Surrounded by the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountains, the roughly 400-acre campus features rows of red-brick halls, towering palm trees lining its walkways, and a nationally recognized public garden home to many desert plants.

Set in the Ozark foothills of Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas weaves its history into its campus design, with red-brick halls and tree-shaded walkways that span the 512-acre campus.

The school’s historic core district, which includes 15 buildings, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Old Main building — which is the oldest and most recognizable structure on campus — was added to the register in 1970.

Once a 2-acre site in Oakland, UC Berkeley‘s grounds have now grown into a sprawling 178-acre campus.

In the 1860s, college administrators worked with Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of New York City’s Central Park, to design a plan for the new campus. By 1898, as enrollment increased, a competition was held to appoint a new architect, and French architect Emile Bénard won first place.

While Bénard presented his formal Beaux-Arts vision for the new campus, he declined to serve as the supervising architect, and John Galen Howard — who finished fourth — was instead chosen to oversee the project.

The University of Colorado Boulder‘s campus underwent a transformation between 1918 and 1939, when American architect Charles Klauder — whose other notable works include Cornell University, Penn State University, and Princeton University — was hired to revamp it, Architectural Digest reported.

Klauder added a touch of Tuscan Vernacular Revival style that came to be associated with the college and was also known as the University of Colorado style. The updated campus grounds featured multi-hued sandstone walls and red roofs.

Several other buildings were built in the Collegiate Gothic style, and traces of it can still be seen in older buildings across the campus.

Elements of traditional Collegiate Gothic and modernist styles co-exist on Yale University’s 261-acre campus. Modern structures, including architect Eero Saarinen’s Ingalls Rink and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, stand out against the classical buildings.

Founded in 1701, Yale University is the third-oldest college in the country.

Lush manicured lawns and a mix of red-brick and Collegiate Gothic-style buildings make up much of the University of Delaware.

Established in 1743, the university is home to 21 NCAA Division I teams and 40 club sports. It also has a four-floor library — the Morris Library — stretching 6 acres and accommodating over 1,700 students.

Flagler College’s 47-acre campus — recognized by Southern Living as one of the most beautiful campuses in the South — operates out of the former Spanish Renaissance-style Ponce de León Hotel.

Not only do students get to call a National Historic Landmark their classroom, but they are also only a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, nestled in a quaint historic town full of vendors and Spanish-era relics.

With its Gothic-style buildings across a 27,000-acre campus nestled within forests and fields and surrounded by mountains, it’s easy to confuse Berry College for an English manor in Downton Abbey.

Berry College has doubled as a filming site for movies such as “Remember the Titans” and “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Located in the picturesque Mānoa Valley, the 320-acre campus of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa offers sweeping views of the volcanic rock and easy access to Waikiki Beach.

Many architectural styles are on display across the University of Idaho’s vast campus, including the Collegiate Gothic style at the administration building, designed by architect John E. Tourtellotte, who also worked on the Idaho State Capitol.

In its north wing, the building has a U-shaped, three-story, Gothic structure, at the entrance of which President Teddy Roosevelt famously gave a speech after leaving the presidency.

Other notable spaces include a 63-acre arboretum, which is home to over 2,500 different plant varieties from around the world.

Located near Lake Michigan in Evanston — only a short drive from Chicago — Northwestern University’s 240-acre campus features Victorian-style halls and a Neo-Gothic chapel.

The University of Notre Dame is famous for its football team and theology program, per Condé Nast Traveler, which named it one of the prettiest colleges in the US.

However, it’s also well-known for its gorgeous architecture and lush quads. Its glittering golden dome, covered in gold leaf, stands tall amid other buildings, and the Neo-Gothic Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a visual delight for visitors and students alike.

A campus lake, a central lawn, and a 110-foot-tall Campanile bell tower are just some of the beautiful design elements at Iowa State University’s 2,000-acre campus.

The campus is also home to one of the most Instagrammable public gardens, which, at 17 acres, includes a conservatory, a butterfly wing, and Elwood, the world’s largest concrete gnome, per the university, which stands 15 feet tall.

A defining feature of K-State’s campus architecture is its extensive use of Cottonwood Limestone in several buildings, including Anderson Hall — which is also on the National Register of Historic Places — and Dickens Hall.

Established in 1798, the University of Louisville has three campuses: the Belknap Campus, which covers 274 acres and is the main campus; the Health Science Center; and the Shelby Campus.

Belknap Campus, based near Old Louisville, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The main campus is known for its red-bricked buildings and a bronze cast of Auguste Rodin’s famous statue, “The Thinker.”

Tulane University‘s 110-acre uptown campus, located along St. Charles Avenue, has over 80 buildings, each with distinct architectural styles.

Gibson Hall, built in the Romanesque Revival style and finished in limestone, overlooks the stunning 340-acre Audubon Park.

Founded in 1794, Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, sits about 30 minutes from the Atlantic coast.

The liberal arts college’s 207-acre campus reflects classic New England architecture, with historic brick buildings, tree-lined paths, and a central quad that changes its colors with the seasons.

Situated between the Severn River and downtown Annapolis, this military school has a scenic waterside setting and a variety of Beaux Arts-style buildings spread across its campus.

According to Architectural Digest, the US Naval Academy is also home to what is considered the world’s largest single dormitory, Bancroft Hall, which resembles the Palace of Versailles.

As one of the oldest colleges in the US — founded in 1636 — Harvard University has undergone several design transformations over the years. It is also home to some historic buildings, such as Massachusetts Hall, which, according to the National Park Service, is one of the oldest surviving Harvard buildings.

Beyond the academics, one of the perks of going to school here is that you get to dine in Annenberg Hall, which looks like Hogwarts’ Great Hall, and call several Georgian red-brick buildings your classroom.

The University of Michigan has many beautiful buildings across its 3,070-acre campus.

One that stands out is the law school library, which features an arched doorway and follows a similar aesthetic to Mason Hall.

Locally known as “The Hill,” this 300-acre campus is surrounded by woodlands and prairies.

Twenty of its buildings were designed by Edward Sövik, a well-known American architect, author, and professor on campus. Two St. Olaf College buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Situated in the picturesque college town of Oxford, the University of Mississippi is surrounded by towering oak trees, magnolias, and several storied buildings.

The most famous — and also the first academic building on campus — the Lyceum, was built in 1848 by architect William Nichols.

Washington University held a competition to select a firm to design its new campus when it moved to larger grounds in St. Louis in 1900, as construction on its hilltop site first began.

A design project inspired by British universities Oxford and Cambridge bagged the first prize, and the firm behind it, Cope & Stewardson, went on to turn their vision into reality — think soaring towers with classical Gothic arches and lush quads.

The campus’s red-brick clock tower stands tall against the backdrop of Mount Sentinel, which displays a giant letter “M,” like the state’s version of the Hollywood sign. The building offers just one of the many architectural styles seen across the college campus.

As reported by Travel & Leisure, which named Creighton University the most beautiful college in Nebraska, elements of old and new design blend harmoniously on this campus, giving the university a distinct character.

You wouldn’t be the first to confuse pictures of wooden cabins on the university’s website with those of a luxury hotel chain or a serene forest home.

The university’s Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences — the said wood cabin — fits in with its natural surroundings while still standing out thanks to its intricate woodwork and masonry.

Dartmouth is another college where old and new coexist. Within a 5-acre space are two of the college’s oldest buildings, Wentworth and Thornton Halls, built in the early 1800s.

On the modern front is the Hopkins Center, built in 1962 and designed by Wallace Harrison, the same architect who designed New York’s Lincoln Center and the United Nations building.

Princeton is another Ivy League university that provides academic excellence alongside stunning architecture.

The classic Collegiate Gothic style is on display in buildings across the campus, with a few modern exceptions such as Spelman Hall by I.M. Pei, Lewis Library by Frank Gehry, and the Carl Icahn Laboratory by Rafael Viñoly, Architectural Digest reported in its list of the most beautiful colleges in the US.

St. John’s College is a dream destination for anyone who loves the mountains. Given its proximity to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the campus has access to several hiking trails, and nature is always at your doorstep.

Nestled in a part of nature that feels untouched, with sprawling hills, a whole forest, and a lake on campus, this upstate New York institution is one of the prettiest places in the state.

Its 575-acre campus has over 2,300 trees and 10-mile walkways that are perfect for unwinding after a long day of studying.

Duke University’s architecture holds traces of both Gothic stonework and Georgian styles within its West and East campuses. Its 210-foot-tall Duke Chapel — which is frequently booked for weddings — exudes peak Collegiate Gothic style, standing out among the 254 buildings on campus.

Other highlights on campus include the Duke Forest and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

One of the largest and oldest universities in the state, the University of North Dakota spans 521 acres. Several buildings on campus feature the Collegiate Gothic style, which features brick exteriors, stonework, and arched entrances.

The iconic Merrifield Hall reopened in 2025 after a two-year renovation.

This liberal arts institution features historic buildings, stone structures, outdoor art installations, and wooden beams — all surrounded by natural forests and lush green walkways.

From a pond and open courtyards to brick-lined walkways, Oklahoma State University’s 1,489-acre campus has it all.

The architectural details are largely of the Neo-Georgian style, and highlights to visit across campus include the Formal Gardens, the grand staircases, and the Theta Pond.

Originally known as the Albany Collegiate Institute, this private liberal arts institution relocated from Albany to Portland in 1934 and, almost a decade later, was renamed Lewis & Clark College after its namesake explorers.

The campus, set amid Douglas firs and rolling hills, exudes an old-school rustic charm. Notable historic buildings include the Frank Manor House, now the office of undergraduate admissions, and the Corbett House, designed by Italian-American architect Pietro Belluschi in 1929.

UPenn incorporates a variety of architectural styles, from Collegiate Gothic to more modernist projects. Several buildings on the 299-acre campus were designed by Cope and Stewardson, a firm famous for its university projects, including Princeton and Washington University in St. Louis.

Here, you’re also embedded in nature with plenty of trees peppered across the campus while still having access to the Philly skyline from Penn Park.

Built out of the consolidation of seven glorious Gilded Age estates, Salve Regina University’s 80-acre campus has many Instagram-worthy sights.

The most noteworthy of these is the Ochre Court, the second-largest estate in Newport after the Breakers, and it serves as the university’s administrative building.

The six-story Florentine Bell Tower, Asia Gardens, and numerous fountains throughout campus are just some of Furman University’s highlights.

It also hosts many hiking trails, residences overlooking the lake, and Georgian-style buildings.

Tucked away in the scenic city of Sioux Falls, and previously named by Travel & Leisure as the most beautiful college in South Dakota, Augustana impresses with its administration building, manicured quads, and towering trees.

At Vanderbilt, you’re enveloped in nature’s arms. The college’s campus is nationally designated a Level-II accredited arboretum, home to over 200 species of trees and shrubs.

The campus also features many art sculptures and grand red-bricked facades.

But the most iconic building on campus is Kirkland Hall, a 19th-century structure that originally held all the classrooms, a chapel, and a library. It was rebuilt in 1906 after a fire and recently underwent renovations that modernized its features.

Founded in 1911, Southern Methodist University is five miles north of downtown Dallas and features grand buildings, manicured lawns, and the Meadows Museum, which, according to Southern Living, houses one of the “largest and most comprehensive” collections of Spanish art outside Spain.

There’s also Dallas Hall, the university’s first building, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The University of Utah’s campus is so huge, spread across 1,535 acres and surrounded by the Wasatch Mountain Range, that students use shuttles to get to and from some parts.

The views change with the season, with lush green spaces in spring and summer and snow-capped mountains in winter.

Picture cozy cottages and manors nestled between the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks — these are the scenes at Middlebury College year-round.

On the architectural front, Battell Hall and the much-older but perfectly symmetrical Painter Hall add further charm to this campus.

Designed by founding father Thomas Jefferson, the University of Virginia largely features buildings in the Neoclassical style.

Jefferson’s home, Monticello, is also part of the campus’s greater landscape, as is the Academical Village he designed. Monticello and the Academical Village are jointly designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A series of stunning Collegiate Gothic buildings line the University of Washington’s Liberal Arts Quadrangle, with cherry blossoms in the spring and snow-capped mountains in winter — it’s no wonder this campus is consistently named among the most beautiful in the country.

West Virginia University’s 1,892-acre Morgantown campus is home to 11 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places.

To get a perfect view of three of the most notable historic buildings, visitors can walk by Woodburn Circle on campus.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison‘s campus is nestled between two lakes and has an incredibly picturesque setting.

On the architectural front, some highlights include Bascom Hall, Music Hall, and Memorial Union.

Borrowing from the state’s rustic aesthetic, the University of Wyoming exudes an equally tasteful old-school charm.

Highlights include the sandstone Old Main building, one of the first buildings built on this residential campus, and rows of green trees surrounding it.

Editor’s note: This story was first published in May 2026 and was most recently updated in August 2026.

The word yemista means “stuffed” in Greek. True to its name, the dish traditionally consists of tomatoes and bell peppers stuffed with rice and ground beef, then baked in the oven.

Yemista (also spelled gemista) was a weekly staple of my childhood. My parents immigrated to the US from Greece in the 1980s and loved making the dishes they grew up with. Their food helped me connect to my culture as a first-generation Greek American and instilled an early and enduring love for Mediterranean cooking.

My dad, an excellent home cook, has taught me how to make many classic Greek dishes. And he thinks his yemista is a perfect summer dinner.

To make yemista at home, you’ll need:

• 8 (relatively large) tomatoes
• 1 pound of ground beef
• ½ onion, chopped
• ⅔ cup of rice (we use the medium-grain Calrose rice)
• ¾ cup of parsley
• 1 clove of garlic

Although yemista is traditionally made with both tomatoes and bell peppers, my dad has found that bell peppers in the US are thicker than in Greece — and thus trickier to cook evenly with tomatoes.

Now he usually just makes yemista with tomatoes, but the process to cook peppers is the same. Feel free to follow these instructions and try both if you desire!

This will be for our yemista filling.

After washing your tomatoes, use a good knife and slice off the top of each one, including the stem.

Don’t throw the tops away! You’ll need them again before the tomatoes go into the oven.

You’ll want to scoop out the tomato’s core and flesh, leaving enough space to add the yemista filling (as seen above). My dad recommends using an ice cream scooper to get the filling out since it’s sharper, but a spoon will also work.

If you’re making eight stuffed tomatoes, save the flesh of five of them in a bowl — you’ll need them for the filling. My dad recommends using the leftover flesh to make a simple tomato sauce for pasta.

Pro tip: If you’re doing stuffed bell peppers as well, you’ll scoop them out the same way, just make sure to throw the seeds away.

Using a knife, remove the hard core from each small ball of tomato filling you’ve scooped out. Put the remaining flesh in a food processor to finely chop everything.

Carefully slide your ball of tomato filling up and down the grater over a bowl, removing the flesh from the core. Don’t try to grate the hard core — we only need the soft part of each tomato.

This can be a little trickier, especially for an inexperienced chef, so watch out for your fingers!

Set it aside until it’s time to make the filling.

Dump any extra water from the tomato cups right into the baking dish.

Our yemista is almost ready for the oven!

First, add a drizzle of olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat.

The onion should cook for a couple of minutes, until browned.

Season the beef with salt and freshly ground black pepper for extra flavor.

Only use half of the parsley you’ve prepped.

Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up the ground beef, cooking it until the meat has browned.

Remember you’ll need ⅔ cup of rice.

This will take around five minutes, until most of the water in the sauce has reduced.

But don’t let the filling get too dry — we need some liquid to help the rice cook in the oven.

Give it one last mix, and voilà — your filling is done!

Remember, the rice will expand in the oven. Make sure you don’t overfill the cups.

Depending on the size of your tomatoes, you might have some extra filling. Unfortunately, since it contains raw rice, there’s not much you can do with it.

If you have extra tomatoes, you can always scoop them out and fill them with the extra stuffing, or adjust your recipe next time to use less ground beef.

You’ll want to add half a cup of water to the pan, along with a spoonful of olive oil. Both help prevent the tomato cups from sticking to the pan.

Place the baking dish on the middle rack of your oven, set to 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes to cook the yemista, depending on the oven. Check on them around the 45-minute mark.

Scoop a bit of the stuffing from a tomato and taste it to see if the rice is cooked. If it still tastes chewy or crispy, the yemista needs more baking time.

This helps the yemista cool and absorb all those delicious flavors you worked so hard on.

Season the stuffed tomatoes with some oregano and freshly cracked black pepper. You can also serve them topped with a yogurt-and-garlic sauce, just like my grandfather always loved.

To make the sauce, take one cup of Greek yogurt and add a minced clove of garlic. Mix everything together, then add a teaspoon or more on top of each stuffed tomato, depending on your preference.

Yemista also goes great with my dad’s Greek potatoes.

Yemista is perfect for the summer, when tomatoes are at their peak. I love the blistered texture of the roasted tomatoes, which are juicy and subtly sweet. The combination of the rice and beef is always comforting, but the dish is colorful and healthy — a hallmark of the Mediterranean diet beloved by Greeks.

When I was a kid and my parents made yemista with both tomatoes and peppers, I never ate the pepper shells but always asked for more tomatoes. And my best friend, Nausheen, would always request it whenever she came over for dinner in high school. She still talks about it to this day.

Whenever you decide to eat it, I hope my dad’s yemista brings you as much joy and comfort as it has given me through the decades.

As the Greeks would say, kali orexi!