This beautiful island is a real tropical paradise. From the white sandy beaches to the cliffs of Kalalau it’s exotic as anywhere! Lots of hippies live around the Hanalei area, and the trail to Kalalau is the major hippie thing to do. There are some really nice campgrounds on the island, so backpacking & camping out for a week is possible, but make your reservations ahead of time.
Big Island, Hawaii
Lots of growers here. Scene is low key and laid back. Communes around. The hippies are all in the Puna District mainly in the Pahoa area from Kalapana to Pahoa and from Pahoa over to Volcano, although some hangout in the Kona district.
Recent volcanic eruptions and lava flows are changing the face of the land, some communities are gone.
Shimer College Chicago
Chicago, Illinois has a “hippie college” in the least likely of places – Shimer College is one of THE most liberal of colleges and no one in the world seems to know about it. There are no lecture classes, we discuss books (actual sources, no textbooks that have been biased by someone else’s ideas) in groups of 12 or less. People here are allowed to live as they please and most importantly to think as they please. The education is as liberating as the lifestyle.
Moved from Waukegan to Chicago years ago.
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is great!
Savannah is known for manicured parks, horse-drawn carriages and antebellum architecture.
There are a few colleges here, including Savannah College of Art & Design, so there is a nice community. They have lots of festivals all year. The weather is nice, especially in spring. It is old & historic. Beautiful houses, churches, apartments. It’s easy to walk around (hard to drive), tons of huge trees, statues. All types of stores, second-hand shops, restaurants, coffeehouses. Lots of movies have been made there, some books. Artists are all over. It’s on the river, a short drive to the ocean. Near the South Carolina border, about 2 hours north of Florida. The people are so nice, & it’s real easy to find something to do. Just walk around, you’ll see people. Liberty Street is the main street w/coffeehouses & good, mellow restaurants. Be sure to get a map, though, because it’s easy to get lost, & avoid “new” Savannah, it’s suburban, like any other town. You can find cheap motels near the interstate, or in the next town south.
Savannah is a beautiful, diverse community. it’s easier to walk than drive around, beautiful “squares” which are little parks in the middle of the roads. there are veggie places, & you can drink in public, on the roads & all. I went to the art school’s sidewalk art fest last year (every April), had so much fun, tons of music, & got to see a free show, laying out on the grass, Emmy Lou Harris. you can see artist, painters, photographers, & writers all over, lots of old bookstores, cemeteries, antique shops, you name it. there is your share of tourist, but it is worth it.
Atlanta, Georgia
There is a certain area in Atlanta that is known as Midtown which houses an area known as Little Five Points. This is truly the hippie haven of the south – or at least Georgia. In this little portion of town there are many body art and vintage shops, including a favorite of the locals called Groovy Girls. Other odds and ends are sold around here such as African drums, futons, and crystals. .
Just like the goods that are sold here, the people are an assorted mixture as well. New age Flower Children, aging Flower Children, skateboarders, and Rastafarians line the streets daily. Drum circles are common practices here. Little Five Points and the nearby Piedmont Park also host the Pot Festival every year.
St. Augustine, Florida
It is a HUGE hippy hangout town. Rain or shine, you can always go down to St. George Street and find street musicians, vendors, and tons of cool kids just hanging. There are drum circles at the fort every week. Also, tons of hippy stores, like Gyspy’s Moonrose (they have the best jewlery!) and Dreamstreet, a book store that has couches and stuff to chill on. And everybody there is friendly, you can just go up and talk to random people… some of them turn out to be really interesting.
Key West, Florida
Despite the commercialism, the boat people and street performers, still living the good life. The town is tolerant of long hairs and pot is available from Jamaica. Love the town but there are some drawbacks.
Orlando, Florida
Home to more than a dozen theme parks, this place was nothing but orange groves and alligator infested swamps 60 years ago.
Newark, Delaware
This place is the home of the University of Delaware. It’s known for its green spaces, like Rittenhouse Park, with its trout-filled creek. On the outskirts, White Clay Creek State Park has miles of forest trails, plus a late-1700s mansion on the estate of Judge Morris. A path circling Newark Reservoir offers city views. The University Museums at the University of Delaware include collections of art, plus the Mineralogical Museum.
But, the town is very small, and there is not all that much to do in the way of nightlife and entertainment and there are a lot of annoying frat boys who drive around in jeeps and chuck things at people. The drug scene is somewhat unstable here, there is a lot of laced and bad stuff, gotta be careful!
Paonia, Colorado
This is a Hippie Haven from way back. In fact all of the hippies in Boulder that didn’t become wealthy yuppies (and some that did) are now in Paonia and have been for quite some time. Paonia is on the western slopes of Colorado. It still is an affordable place to live for hippies, unlike Boulder. We even have a person in the next town over, Hotchkiss, who is named Hippy Lereaux (quite an infamous character, a real outlaw).