Biltmore Estate - North Carolina Attractions
America’s largest privately owned home, the Biltmore House, is nestled among 8,000 acres in the mountains near Asheville. George Vanderbilt saw his 250-room French-Renaissance chateau completed in 1895. This National Historic Landmark is among the country’s most visited historic houses and has shops, a four-star hotel, gardens, walking trails and an award-winning winery. A winery is a winemaking facility by the way, in case you were wondering.
Blue Ridge Parkway - Attractions in North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Parkway, nicknamed ‘America’s Favourite Drive,’ is a 469 mile scenic route connecting the Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah National Parks. North Carolina is home to 252 miles of Parkway, which goes through two national forests and countless lovely viewpoints
Cherokee Indian Reservation - North Carolina Attractions
Homeland of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee Indian reservation welcomes thousands of visitors each year. Popular attractions include Harrah’s Cherokee Casino. Yep, you heard about it on The Simpsons, this is a real ‘Indian Casino’. In 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Native American tribes could operate casinos free of state regulation. More North Carolina holiday family-friendly are the Museum of the Cherokee, and Oconaluftee Indian Village.
Wright Brothers National Memorial - Attractions in North Carolina
The site of man’s first powered flight by Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1903, (Orville at the controls) the Wright Brothers National Memorial is located in Kill Devil Hills on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The memorial is a 60ft granite pylon. There’s a reconstructed hangar and daily presentations on the Wright brothers’ historic first flight. Little or no mention of the Wright sister though. She ran the bicycle shop when they were doing their thing with powered flight and did it very well too. Better then them. Without her they’d have been stuffed.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park - North Carolina Attractions
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the largest protected land area east of the Rocky Mountains and the most visited national park in the United States. Although it spans across two states, the majority of the park lies within North Carolina. There’s 276,000 acres of forest. To put that in proportion, Hyde Park is about 350 acres, so allow about five years to thoroughly explore. There are rivers, streams and lakes that offer some of the best canoeing, kayaking and white water rafting in the USA
North Carolina Attractions Museum of Life and Science
Located in Durham, the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science is a 78 acre interactive science and technology centre that mixes science and fun. Interactive exhibits explore topics such as weather, aerospace and geology. Visitors can embark on a train ride through a nature park and wander through a 5,000 sq ft glass conservatory filled with over 1,000 free-range tropical butterflies. We advise that before you buy your ticket you check they haven’t had a last minute change of plan and filled the conservatory with 1,000 tropical spiders. It’s unlikely, but you never know.
North Carolina Zoo
One of the world’s largest and finest walk-through natural-habitat zoos, the North Carolina Zoo features more than 1,100 animals from 250 species as well as thousands of rare plants spread over 500 acres in Asheboro in central North Carolina.
The 37 acre African Plains exhibit alone is bigger than all of London zoo and it comprises less than a tenth of this zoo overall!