Raleigh

The Southeast's largest natural history museum, free and facing the capitol, with suspended whale skeletons, the most complete known Acrocanthosaurus and researchers at work behind glass in its Nature Research Center.

💡 The museum is closed on Mondays and opens from 10am to 5pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Park in the public car parks downtown, or walk over from the capitol, opposite. Price: free entry, temporary exhibitions sometimes ticketed.

Mark Turner / CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)

A Greek Revival capitol of local granite completed in 1840, with its original legislative chambers, a copy of Canova's statue of Washington in the rotunda and statues of three presidents outside.

💡 The capitol opens Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 5pm, closed on Sundays. Self-guided visits are possible at any time, and free guided tours are offered. Price: free.

Alexisrael / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The 125-hectare grounds of a former psychiatric hospital turned into Raleigh's central park, with the best view of the skyline, summer sunflower fields and wooden giants hidden in the woods.

💡 Come at the end of the day for sunset over the towers from the big lawn, and in July for the sunflowers, whose flowering is announced by the park. Price: free, every day from dawn to dusk.

The free state art museum west of downtown, with European, American, African and contemporary works, a major Rodin collection and a 66-hectare park of monumental art, meadows and woodland trails.

💡 The galleries open from Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm; the park stays open every day, from dawn to dusk. Come by bike along the Reedy Creek greenway, which links the museum to NC State University and Umstead park. Price: collections and park free, temporary exhibitions ticketed.

DiscoA340 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

A state park between Raleigh and the airport where worn-out farmland has become oak and pine forest again, with 55 km of hiking trails, bike and bridle paths and rowing boats.

💡 For a first visit, do the Sycamore Trail loop from the Crabtree Creek entrance, or ride the Reedy Creek paths by bike. The gates open at 8am and close between 6pm and 9pm depending on the month. Price: free.

Raleigh's longest greenway, a paved 44 km path along the Neuse River through hardwood forests, wetlands and suspension bridges, forming part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail across North Carolina.

💡 Hire a bike and set off from the Falls Lake dam, to the north, for a ride of 20 to 30 km there and back, or walk a section from Anderson Point Park. Carry water, as refreshment points are rare. Price: free.

James Willamor from Raleigh, NC, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The former tobacco capital, home to Duke University's neo-Gothic chapel and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, plus old factories turned into restaurants facing the stadium of the Durham Bulls.

💡 Park in the gardens car park, paid by the hour, then walk to the chapel, open to visitors outside services. End the day in downtown Durham for dinner, as the food scene there is very lively. Price: gardens and chapel free; parking $2, about €2, an hour.

Discover Durham / CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)