One of the absolute best perks of living in the Triangle is the proximity to super cool places that are not the Triangle.
Living in the Triangle places you (roughly) in the middle of the state, between the coast and the mountains.
From Raleigh, you’re only 131 miles from Wrightsville Beach and 188 miles from Boone. You can leave home early in the morning, dip your toes in the ocean or swish down the slopes of a ski mountain, and be back in your own bed the same night (but we do recommend longer trips, whenever possible).
In fact, right off the bat we’re going to point you to N&O reporter Martha Quillin’s 2022 NC summer travel series, Cruising Across Carolina.
We’ll go into more detail about the NC coast and mountains below, but here are just a few other doable day trips from the Triangle:
Hanging Rock State Park: 123 miles from Raleigh — hiking trails, waterfalls and more.
Beaufort (pronounced BO-fort): 156 miles from Raleigh — a quaint, historic waterfront town.
Wilmington: 129 miles from Raleigh — riverfront restaurants and a battleship.
Pinehurst/Southern Pines: 70 miles from Raleigh — a golfer’s paradise.
Seagrove: 85 miles from Raleigh — known as the handmade pottery capital of the U.S.
New Bern: 118 miles from Raleigh — NC’s first capitol (visit Tryon Palace). Fun fact: It’s also the birthplace of Pepsi.
Want to get to know Raleigh better? Enter your email address below to start receiving our Expert Guide to the Triangle directly in your inbox.
NC has some of the best beaches in the US
North Carolina has some of the absolute best beaches in the country (let’s not count Hawaii because that’s a stacked deck). In fact, US News & World Report ranked NC’s Outer Banks #9 in the nation in their most recent Best US Beaches list — and they counted Hawaii.
Let’s get our bearings. The NC coast is roughly divided into three regions: the Outer Banks in the north, the “Crystal Coast” beaches in the middle, and the southern beaches.
The Outer Banks (sometimes abbreviated to OBX) not only delivers some of the most beautiful beaches, but some of the most interesting place names: Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills, Ocracoke, Duck, Hatteras Island, Rodanthe (Ro-DAN-thee), Salvo and Corolla.
A short Outer Banks bucket list:
See the wild Spanish mustangs, most prominent on Corolla. Look and photograph all you want, but do not touch, feed or interact with the wild horses!! We are dead serious about this.
The sun sets behind the Cape Hatteras Light Station in Buxton Thursday, May 19, 2022. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com
Tip #1: If you can’t understand the locals on Ocracoke Island, it’s because they’re essentially speaking a different language. The Ocracoke Brogue is a dialect spoken only on this remote island, a unique accent dating back to the 1600s that is derived from Irish and Scottish colonists. The brogue isn’t as common as it once was (on account of residents marrying mainlanders, known as “dingbats,” and raising children who do not speak the same way), so it’s disappearing. You can learn more in NC State University professor Walt Wolfram’s book “Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks.”
Tip #2: Watch the Netflix series “Outer Banks” for outlandish teen drama, but not for realism. There is no ferry from OBX to Chapel Hill.
Wrightsville Beach, one of the more southern beaches, is probably the closest beach getaway from Raleigh. It’s close to Wilmington and also Carolina Beach, which has the best donuts in the state (Britt’s Donuts on the boardwalk). After your donuts, it’s just a couple more miles to Fort Fisher, which has a state aquarium and a Civil War-era historic site. Note: An amazing aquarium is located in Pine Knoll Shores near Atlantic Beach, more in the center part of the coast.
Bald HeadIsland, south of Wrightsville Beach, is a special place. Accessible only by a 20-minute ferry ride from Southport (which you should also spend some time in) and there are no cars allowed on the island (apart from emergency vehicles). You’ll get around by bicycle or golf cart.
Sunset Beach is the southernmost NC beach, sitting just on the South Carolina border.
Seashells litter the shoreline of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Thursday, May 19 2022. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com
We’ll hit the highlights here, but for more detail, make sure you check out this NC Mountains Guideby reporter Kimberly Cataudella (bit.ly/3wLkTWa)
Asheville: This trendy tourist destination has some amazing shops and restaurants (and if you recall from Week 5, lots of breweries!), plus one of the state’s top attractions: The Biltmore Estate, a remarkable French Renaissance castle built by George Vanderbilt in 1890. Spring and Christmas are the peak visiting times. For a truly special visit, book a room at the historic Grove Park Inn, which allegedly (no, for real) has a ghost.
The Blue Ridge Parkway: The National Park Service calls this “America’s favorite drive,” with 469 miles to view rugged mountain ranges and pastoral landscapes from Rockfish Gap, Va. to Cherokee, NC. You may even see some bears.
Grandfather Mountain: One of the most scenic spots in the state, with a mile-high swinging bridge (the highest suspension footbridge in the U.S.) for the brave.
Cherokee: Learn more about Cherokee history and culture at Oconaluftee Indian Village, but make time for hiking and fishing, and maybe a trip to the casino.
Tweetsie Railroad: An old-school, Wild West adventure theme park between Boone and Blowing Rock with historic steam-engine train rides, including a fall favorite, the Ghost Train. The open-air locomotive rides are “interactive,” meaning: stay on your toes — there are bandits in them thar hills.
Whitewater rafting: Lots of great options for whitewater rafting and tubing, including the Nantahala River, the Nolichucky River and the French Broad.
Snow skiing: Snow skiing (and snowboarding) in NC isn’t going to be like skiing out west or in the northeast, but it’s still pretty great — especially considering it’s just a short road trip away. Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain and Appalachian Ski Mountain are some of the most popular ski resorts in NC.
Appalachian Trail: If you’re not ready for the 2,193.1-mile through-hike (Georgia to Maine) you can still hike the parts of The Trail that go through NC. According to the AT Conservancy, there are 95.7 miles of the App Trail in NC, but The Trail runs along the NC/Tennessee border for 224.7 additional miles. The best sections to hike range from the Max Patch Bald at Hot Springs (less than 2 miles) to the Great Smoky Mountains traverse near Fontana Dam and Davenport Gap (72 miles).
Photographers crowd a rock above the Linn Cove Viaduct to shoot the fall colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Grandfather Mountain. News & Observer file photo News & Observer file photo
Charlotte’s got a lot
Raleigh’s friendly rival is the Queen City to the southwest, and as the most populous city in the state, it has a lot to offer (in fact, it’s official slogan is “Charlotte’s got a lot”). From where we sit, some of the main reasons to hit up Charlotte are:
The Carolina Panthers, to see NFL action in person.
The Charlotte Hornets, for NBA games.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame + races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
IKEA, for all your Swedish furniture and meatball needs.
And Carowinds, a world-class amusement park with the Fury 325 roller coaster, considered “the fastest and tallest giga coaster in the world” (that assessment is from the Theme Park Center website — you won’t find me anywhere near that thing).
You can even take the Amtrak train to Charlotte, and skip the interstate traffic headaches. The Piedmont runs from Raleigh to Charlotte daily.
From Triangle to Triad
Let’s not forget about the Triad, the region made up of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem. The Triad is closer to the Triangle than Charlotte, making day trips very doable.
Greensboro: Greensboro was the site of a historic sit-in at an all-white Woolworth’s lunch counter by four NC A&T college students on Feb. 1, 1960. That downtown Woolworth’s building is now home to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, with the actual lunch counter restored and placed in its original location inside. You really have to see that. Remember, Greensboro is on the Amtrak route.
High Point: Need furniture? Unassuming High Point just happens to be the furniture capital of the world. The city hosts two furniture industry trade shows each year, and boasts millions of square feet of retail trade and furniture showrooms. As with Greensboro, it’s on the Amtrak route.
Winston-Salem: You can’t take the Amtrak to Winston-Salem, but it’s still worth the drive. First on your list should be a visit to Old Salem. The popular historic site and museum tells the story of Moravian, Black and Indigenous people in the South. We don’t want to reduce the importance of Old Salem to cookies, but seriously, the Moravian cookies are <chef’s kiss>. Winston-Salem also has a minor league baseball team (cool mascot: The Dash), and it’s only a 25-minute drive down to Lexington, to sample some of that Lexington-style western NC barbecue in person. Experts recommend Lexington Barbecue and B-B-Q Center.
Read more about life in the Triangle
You can find other installments in our Triangle Living series — about food, weather, transportation, NC culture and more — at newsobserver.com/living/newcomers.
Brooke Cain is a North Carolina native who has worked at The News & Observer and McClatchy for more than 30 years as a researcher, reporter and media writer. She is the National Service Journalism Editor for McClatchy.
