How to Spend 24 Hours in Raleigh, North Carolina (Updated 2024)

In this visitor put up, Craig Makepeace (co-founder and writer of ThisIsRaleigh.com) shares tips on how to spend 24 hours in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I’ve known as Raleigh, North Carolina, dwelling for over 10 years. As one of many South’s most vibrant and eclectic burgs, this state capital could be one of many fastest-growing midsize cities within the US. It commonly tops the “best places to live and work in the US,” nevertheless it nonetheless provides small-town allure and Southern hospitality. My spouse and I made a decision to boost our youngsters right here due to this combine.

Nicknamed “the City of Oaks” for the sheer variety of majestic oak bushes that line the streets, in addition to providing ample inexperienced areas and trails, Raleigh is dwelling to glorious museums, a thriving restaurant scene, infinite craft breweries, enjoyable festivals and occasions, and college-town vibes!

Many guests cease in Raleigh as a part of a street journey or for work and thus don’t all the time have lots of time to totally discover it. However, even if you happen to simply have at some point, you possibly can nonetheless see lots.

Below is my private information to the most effective issues to do in at some point.

Breakfast: Big Ed’s City Market

There’s no higher Southern breakfast and introduction to Raleigh than at Big Ed’s in historic City Market, serving beneficiant parts of Southern consolation meals since 1958.

Here you’ll take pleasure in a laid-back vibe below a group of funky antiques hanging from the ceiling, together with heat Southern hospitality and meals like Grandma used to make. Especially well-liked are their large pancakes, native nation ham, fried rooster, aged rib-eye steak and eggs, sliced pork loin, fried catfish, fluffy biscuits, and double-brewed candy tea. This is the native expertise you’re in search of.

Alternate breakfast choices embrace The Mecca, Raleigh’s oldest restaurant, based by Greek immigrants in 1930; and the State Farmers’ Market Restaurant, one other well-liked place for locals to get a rustic breakfast and Southern eating expertise!
 

Morning exercise: Museums

After filling up on a hearty meal, soak up a museum. Raleigh has some glorious ones, and due to the standard and variety of free museums it has, town has typically been known as “the Smithsonian of the South.”

The implausible Museum of Natural Sciences is North Carolina’s most visited museum. There are over 4 flooring of reveals to discover, together with stay animals, walk-through dioramas, microbes, meteorites, and 3D motion pictures, plus a terrific everlasting assortment of dinosaur and whale skeletons.

If historical past is your factor, throughout the road is the North Carolina Museum of History. Founded in 1902, it welcomes greater than 400,000 guests a yr to see its 150,000 artifacts from over 14,000 years of historical past.

Art lovers ought to head to the free North Carolina Museum of Art, dwelling to greater than a dozen lovely gallery areas showcasing artwork from world wide. You can discover by yourself, take a fascinating tour, or see some performing arts. Don’t miss taking a stroll by the 164-acre Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park, whose path system by pure areas options greater than a dozen commissioned artworks.
 

Lunch: The Pit Authentic BBQ

North Carolina is an enormous barbecue state, and having fun with a plate is one thing they take very significantly within the state capital. It’s a kind of “welcome to the South” moments all meat eaters ought to expertise.

In Raleigh, they primarily do Eastern-style barbecue, wherein the entire hog is slow-cooked over scorching coals; the meat is then pulled, given somewhat chop, and dressed with a vinegar-based sauce. Typically, it’s served as a sandwich or a plated dish, with all the standard Southern sides you possibly can deal with.

The Pit Authentic BBQ is without doubt one of the hottest such spots in Raleigh. As the identify suggests, it proudly serves genuine whole-hog, pit-cooked, Eastern-style barbecue. Located within the Warehouse District, it’s well-known for child again ribs and whole-hog chopped barbecue. And for sides, take a look at the Brunswick stew, heirloom cabbage collards, and fried inexperienced tomatoes.

Famous in NC, Sam Jones BBQ in downtown is one other glorious choice. It smokes entire hogs on-site day by day and is well-liked for its chopped barbecue, fried rooster, ribs, and baked flat cornbread. It additionally serves one in all my favourite sandwiches in Raleigh, the smoked turkey!

If pork barbecue is just not your factor however you continue to need a Southern eating expertise, Beasley’s Chicken + Honey is a well-liked lunch restaurant by famed chef Ashley Christensen that focuses on fried rooster and sandwiches.
 

Afternoon exercise: Umstead State Park

Time to stroll off lunch! Just a 15-minute drive from downtown is without doubt one of the hottest locations in Raleigh, and one in all North Carolina’s most visited state parks: William B. Umstead State Park, which is definitely accessible from Interstate 40 and US-70. Its greater than 5,000 acres of forest encompass three man-made lakes and include over 22 miles of trails, starting from simple to average. If you like nature trails, biking, working, picnicking, canoeing, and even horseback using, put Umstead in your itinerary.

An ideal introductory path is the two.8-mile Sal’s Branch Trail loop, which is generally shaded and flat, with tall bushes and a lake view. If you’re up for a woodland stroll, the Sycamore Trail is a 7.2-mile loop and the longest path. Another well-liked path is the six-mile Company Mill Trail loop.

Alternatively, Lake Johnson, only a 10-minute drive from downtown, is my favourite of the lakes in Raleigh. The three-mile paved greenway loop across the western facet is well-liked with NC State college students and locals. There’s a 700-foot-long boardwalk throughout the middle of the lake, a boathouse, a small seashore space, and picnic shelters.
 

Pre-dinner drinks: Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing

The finest view of the Raleigh skyline may be had from Wye Hill and its excellent outside patio. Take all of it in whereas having fun with refreshing craft beers and distinctive cocktails. There’s a wonderful small-plate menu too!

Whiskey fanatics can head to the attractive open house and hip venue Whiskey Kitchen, that includes a repurposed industrial vibe wherein to take pleasure in any of over 300 whiskies, plus craft cocktails, beer, and wine. Speaking of wine, Vita Vite Art Gallery + Wine Bar doubles as an artwork gallery and provides an incredible number of wine in a cultured and relaxed environment.
 

Dinner: Stanbury

Stanbury might be probably the most distinctive eating expertise in Raleigh and one I can’t cease speaking about. It has excellent meals, a beautiful ambiance in a unusual, rustic venue, and superb service! The menu, which adjustments every day, options fashionable delicacies (together with the most effective steak I’ve had in Raleigh), plus craft cocktails.

Bida Manda is hands-down the most effective of the Asian eating places in Raleigh. Its presumably my favourite Southeast Asian restaurant in North Carolina, if not the US. It is famend for its genuine Laotian delicacies, together with ample vegetarian and gluten-free choices.

Looking for Mexican meals in Raleigh? Gringo A Go Go is a former fuel station and now one of many extra well-liked downtown eating places, given its colourful outside patio space and genuine Mexican meals. The menu is a tribute to the household’s Central Mexican heritage, with recipes handed down from the Guadalajara highlands.
 

After-dinner drinks: Watts & Ward

Watts & Ward is my favourite (underground) bar in Raleigh, a craft cocktail place infused with the spirit of the Nineteen Twenties. Think leather-based seating, cozy nooks, rustic tables, dim lighting, and bookshelves filled with historical past. It provides an creative cocktail menu and low-key jazz occasions.

But you probably have dinner at Stanbury, close by is my different favourite cocktail bar, William and Company, or Willco to the locals. This cozy neighborhood cocktail bar on the sting of historic Oakwood serves up recent and distinctive craft cocktails created by top-notch bartenders.

If you benefit from the idea of a dessert bar — a spot the place you may get bourbon together with your pie or champagne together with your cake — then think about Bittersweet, the place I like to go for an espresso martini and Irish espresso.

If you solely have 24 hours in Raleigh, this one-day itinerary is what I counsel for first-time guests who wish to get an actual really feel for the City of Oaks — its tradition, historical past, foods and drinks scene, and sense of Southern group. (Of course, I counsel you keep longer, as there are many cool issues to do in Raleigh, together with superior festivals and sporting occasions.)

Craig Makepeace is the co-founder and writer of ThisIsRaleigh.com, a web site devoted to sharing all the most effective issues to do in Raleigh. Originally from Australia, he first moved to Raleigh in 2004 and fell in love with town of oaks. He’s a journey addict, sports activities fanatic, seashore lover, and passionate craft beer drinker. You can comply with him on Instagram at @ThisIsRaleigh.