13 best places to visit in North Carolina from the Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks

09.09.2024 - 19:20 / lonelyplanet.com / Obama / Frederick Law Olmsted

Sep 9, 2024 • 5 min read

From the towering peaks to the west to the sandy shores of the protected coastline, North Carolina is home to a variety of experiences. 

The state is where the Wright Brothers famously made their first flight and where a little soda brand called Pepsi gained international recognition. It’s also where musicians like Earl Scruggs, Nina Simone and John Coltrane were born. Driving from one end to the other is straightforward, and the state has extensive airport and rail networks.

Start your Asheville sojourn at the Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned home in America. Built in the style of a French chateau for the Vanderbilt family, the Gilded Age mansion has on-site restaurants, inns and even a winery.

Landscape artist Frederick Law Olmsted designed the grounds of the 8,000 acre estate to showcase natural beauty in every season. With six formal and informal gardens, more than 20 miles of nature trails and a conservatory brimming with lush tropical plants, Olmstead’s vision endures with beauty at every turn.

While most cities have a “downtown,” Charlotte’s hub is known as Uptown. Here you’ll find the majority of the landmarks, including the Mint Museum of Art (which has a second location in the city in a former US Mint), the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture. The artist Romare Bearden, who was born in the city, is honored with a public park nearby. 

It’s also a sports fan’s paradise, home to the Carolina Panthers football team. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is a sprawling, interactive museum devoted to racing history, with drivers’ trophies and car simulators. 

The US National Whitewater Center is a 1,300-acre park with ziplines, trails and artificial rapids used for the Olympic Trials.

Best day trips from Charlotte

While often lumped in with Raleigh, Durham has an atmosphere all its own. Home to famed Duke University, there’s plenty to see on and off campus. The Duke Lemur Center is a world-class primate center with the most diverse population of lemurs outside of Madagascar, open for tours by appointment. 

Roam the galleries of the Nasher Museum of Art, which has pieces from Mesoamerica along with modern works by Kehinde Wiley, painter of President Obama’s portrait. The Sarah P. Duke Gardens first opened in 1934 and has native North Carolina species like the Venus flytrap.

Greensboro has a long history of textile manufacturing, where Lee and Wrangler jeans’ parent company has its headquarters. Leftover textiles from these factories were once sold at a downtown store, which has since been revived as the offbeat Elsewhere Museum, where artists create new work based on what’s already inside the building.

The city made