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A locals guide to visiting Raleigh

GW14158GW14158 Posts: 43
in The Porch

Figure there will be a lot of people coming into Raleigh that have not been here before so I thought I’d weigh in on some favorite things to do. I’ve lived in Raleigh over 20 years and during that time hosted lots of friends and family from out of town. The thing about Raleigh (and the surrounding area) is that while it’s a great place to live, it’s admittedly not a destination city. There is no one THING to do or see, but still some great places to visit and things to experience:

Best Breweries (THE most important!):

Brewery Bhavana

Trophy

Burial

Crank Arm

Raleigh Brewing

Ponysaurus

Lynwood Brewing Concern

…Raleigh has GREAT beer

....nice outdoor drinking for wine enthusiasts: Raleigh Wine Shop & Wine Authorities

 

Personal Favorite Restaurants:

Five Star Chinese

Bella Monica

Sitti

Dos Taquitos

Warajii 

Sushi Blues

Transfer Food Hall

Wye Hill (great outdoor seating)

Taverna Agora

 

Favorite Southern Restaurants:

Mandolin 

The Pit

Tupelo Honey

Longleaf Swine

Big Eds City Market

Farmers Market Restaurant

 

Free Things to Do:

NC Art Museum (walking around the grounds is the best part)

CAM (Contemporary Art Museum) 

Pullen Park

Hiking Umstead State Park

Sarah P. Duke Gardens (Durham)

Walking around UNC and Chapel Hill

NC Science Museum 

Raleigh Farmers Market

Raleigh Fair Grounds (flea market)

American Tobacco Campus (Durham)

 

Local Shopping:

Pour House Records

Deco (great for local stuff)

House of Swank

Quail Ridge Books

The Village District (former Cameron Village)

Fenton (Cary)

…walk around Wilmington Street. 

…I obviously don’t shop much. 

 

Cheap Things to Do:

Boxcar Barcade (bar and vintage video games and pinball)

Marbles Kids Museum (for young kids…)

Museum of Life + Science (in Durham, again for kids…)

Rent rideshare bikes and bike the greenway (best starting point is the NC Art Museum and greenway maps are available online or at REI)

Minor League Baseball: Durham Bulls or Carolina Mudcats (Clayton)

Morehead Planetarium (Chapel Hill)

 

Pricer Things to Do:

Drive Shack / Top Golf

Rush Hour Go Cart Racing

Apex Racing Lab

Deep River Sporting Clays (Sanford)

 

Reasonable Day Trips:

Wilmington / Wrightsville Beach

Hanging Rock State Park

South Mountain State Park (about the furthest West you’d want to drive for a day trip. Would NOT recommend trying to visit Asheville in a day)

NC Zoo in Ashboro

 

Welcome other ideas!!

Randall's Island NYC 9/28/06, Knoxville 9/06/98, Columbia, MD 9/18/98, VA Beach 8/3/00, Charlotte 8/4/00, Cincinnati 8/20/00, Columbia, MD 9/4/00, Camden, NJ 7/5/03, Camden, NJ 5/28/06, Columbia, SC 6/16/08, Wash DC 6/22/08, Charlotte 10/30/13, MSG #1, NYC 05/01/16, MSG #2, NYC 05/02/16, Baltimore 09/12/24

Comments

  • on2legson2legs Posts: 15,581
    Thank you!
    1996: Randall's Island 2  1998: East Rutherford | MSG 1 & 2  2000: Cincinnati | Columbus | Jones Beach 1, 2, & 3 | Boston 1 | Camden 1 & 2 2003: Philadelphia | Uniondale | MSG 1 & 2 | Holmdel  2005: Atlantic City 1  2006: Camden 1 | East Rutherford 1 & 2 2008: Camden 1 & 2 | MSG 1 & 2 | Newark (EV)  2009: Philadelphia 1, 2 & 4  2010: Newark | MSG 1 & 2  2011: Toronto 1  2013: Wrigley Field | Brooklyn 2 | Philadelphia 1 & 2 | Baltimore  2015: Central Park  2016: Philadelphia 1 & 2 | MSG 1 & 2 | Fenway Park 2 | MSG (TOTD)  2017: Brooklyn (RnR HOF)  2020: MSG | Asbury Park  2021: Asbury Park  2022: MSG | Camden | Nashville  2024: MSG 1 & 2 (#50) | Philadelphia 1 & 2 | Baltimore  2025: Raleigh


  • PJNBPJNB Posts: 13,765
    Awesome job thanks for this! 
  • darwinstheorydarwinstheory LaPorte, IN Posts: 6,938
    Thank you OP!
    "A smart monkey doesn't monkey around with another monkey's monkey" - Darwin's Theory
  • droptheleash9droptheleash9 Posts: 1,447
    edited May 2
    Go play Pinehurst!
  • D-DayD-Day Posts: 412
     
    Was looking for a view on Relaigh and this showed up too

    lead direct to👇🏿27 best FUN things to do in Releigh
    https://www.artofit.org/image-gallery/30258628740562063/27-best-fun-things-to-do-in-raleigh-north-carolina/
  • nicknyr15nicknyr15 Posts: 8,967
    Awesome info. I’m actually getting tempted to take the drive down. Is there a better beach for surfing between Wilmington and wrightville?
  • GW14158GW14158 Posts: 43
    From Raleigh Wrightsville is exactly 2 hours door to door to the Johnnie Mercer Pier. My cousin runs a surfing camp and lessons and works out of Wrightsville and Topsail. (https://ncsurfadventures.com/) From that would say those are your best beaches for surfing.  
    Randall's Island NYC 9/28/06, Knoxville 9/06/98, Columbia, MD 9/18/98, VA Beach 8/3/00, Charlotte 8/4/00, Cincinnati 8/20/00, Columbia, MD 9/4/00, Camden, NJ 7/5/03, Camden, NJ 5/28/06, Columbia, SC 6/16/08, Wash DC 6/22/08, Charlotte 10/30/13, MSG #1, NYC 05/01/16, MSG #2, NYC 05/02/16, Baltimore 09/12/24
  • WranglerWrangler Posts: 100
    This is great.  Thank you.  Coming from NY.
  • jasonwjasonw Posts: 426
    Come to Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach on Monday everyone! 
  • Jdub5521Jdub5521 Posts: 157
    This rocks, thank you! Any recommendations for coffee/breakfast? 
  • walkunafraidwalkunafraid Posts: 2,635
    Thanks for sharing! I'll be hitting up a few of those breweries for sure. Any of them within walking distance of the venue? 
    Everything has chains...Absolutely nothing's changed. - PJ

    “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” - Albert Camus
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