North Carolina

[athompson]

We are flying to Raleigh from Chicago the last week of July. I'd like to see Raleigh, Asheville and make a day trip to see my sister in Jonesborough, TN (close to Johnson City). Knowing that, what are your must sees for a family of 5 (10, 12 & 14)? We are wide open and happy to stay in a few places for 1-2 nights each. I'd love at least one stay on a lake during that week.

[mmsmom]

We are flying to Raleigh from Chicago the last week of July. I'd like to see Raleigh, Asheville and make a day trip to see my sister in Jonesborough, TN (close to Johnson City). Knowing that, what are your must sees for a family of 5 (10, 12 & 14)? We are wide open and happy to stay in a few places for 1-2 nights each. I'd love at least one stay on a lake during that week.

NC is a really wide state. I think it is about 10 hours from farthest east to west points. So, it will be hard to cover a lot. The beaches in NC are amazing but I don’t think you will have time for them as it is opposite direction of Asheville and Johnson City. I would do one night in Raleigh then drive to Asheville which is 4 hours. See the Biltmore (full day activity) and Chimney Rock park. You can visit your sister from there. Lake Lure is a nice lake and is close to Asheville. There is probably limited lodging availability now as that area is really popular in summer since it is so hot in the rest of NC. There are a lot of other fun areas in the mountain region... Blowing Rock, Sliding Rock, Grandfather Mountain, Linville Falls. Just depends on what activities you like to do and how much driving you want to do. Raleigh will be really hot so plan indoor activities.

[athompson]

NC is a really wide state. I think it is about 10 hours from farthest east to west points. So, it will be hard to cover a lot. The beaches in NC are amazing but I don’t think you will have time for them as it is opposite direction of Asheville and Johnson City. I would do one night in Raleigh then drive to Asheville which is 4 hours. See the Biltmore (full day activity) and Chimney Rock park. You can visit your sister from there. Lake Lure is a nice lake and is close to Asheville. There is probably limited lodging availability now as that area is really popular in summer since it is so hot in the rest of NC. There are a lot of other fun areas in the mountain region... Blowing Rock, Sliding Rock, Grandfather Mountain, Linville Falls. Just depends on what activities you like to do and how much driving you want to do. Raleigh will be really hot so plan indoor activities.

This is so helpful. Thank you so much!

[kdeunc]

There is a tv show on PBS called North Carolina Weekend. They do segments on places and events of interest around the state. I know they have done several segments on Asheville and the Raleigh area. You may want to check it out. I think you can find them on YouTube and the PBS page is UNCTV.org