Durham, NC Road Trips

Durham owes much of its wealth and history to tobacco. Through the second half of the 19th century, Washington Duke and his family grew from a single farm into American Tobacco, which controlled 90% of all cigarette production for the United States. The Duke family donated money to Trinity College, which in 1924 was renamed Duke University. In the early 20th century, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, Mechanics & Farmers Bank, and Mutual Savings & Loan were founded in Durham by African-Americans. These prominent companies drew more African-American investment to Durham, to the point that Durham's Parrish Street neighborhood became known as "Black Wall Street." NC Mutual Life continues to this day as the oldest and largest African-American-owned life insurance company in the nation and as a visible part of the Durham skyline. The last cigarette rolled out of Durham in 2000. Many of the old factory and warehouse structures have been converted into housing, retail, restaurant and office spaces. The city has changed its motto from "City of Tobacco" to "City of Medicine," based on the high concentration of medical practitioners and researchers at Duke and in Research Triangle Park, the Durham County special tax district formed in 1959 to attract high-tech jobs to the area. Durham has a progressive, trendy arts culture. It is an eclectic blend of blue-collar, middle-class and nouveau riche. The streetscape and its underlying socioeconomic histories can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, sometimes from block to block.

1 Duke University. One of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the United States, Duke University possesses beautiful Gothic architecture. Duke is sometimes referred to as either the "Harvard" or the "Yale" of the South. 2 Nasher Museum of Art, 2001 Campus Drive (at the corner of Anderson St and Duke University Rd), ☏ +1 919 684-5135. Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM (Th until 9PM), Su noon-5PM, M closed. The museum features world-class classical to contemporary works and has hosted some major names in art. Don't miss the giant face-mask. Free admission for all. (updated Feb 2026) 3 Duke Gardens (Sarah P. Duke Gardens), 420 Anderson St, ☏ +1 919 684-3698. 8AM–dusk. One of the premier public gardens in the U.S., and with more than 5 mi (8.0 km) of walkways and paths. Beautiful flowers in the spring. Free entry, but parking costs $2. (updated Apr 2023) 4 Duke Lemur Center, 3705 Erwin Road, ☏ +1 919 489-3364. Tours are by appointment only, gift shop open daily 9:30AM-4PM. See the largest collection of lemurs outside of Madagascar. Scheduling your tour at least two weeks in advance is recommended, but they can sometimes accommodate last-minute additions. Tours $12 adults, $9 children/seniors/students/military. 5 Museum of Life and Science, 433 W. Murray Ave, ☏ +1 919 220-5429. M-Sa 10AM-5PM, Su noon-5PM. Spend a day with kids exploring interactive exhibits at this museum. Space vehicles, farm animals, playground, drum area, physics display, maps and globes, butterfly house, bugs, and now with bears and lemurs. $14 adults, $11 seniors/military, $10 children.

1 Durham Bulls, ☏ +1 919 687-6500. The Durham Bulls are one of the most popular minor league baseball teams in America, due to the 1987 movie Bull Durham, filmed largely at the old Durham Athletic Park. They play now in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park which was designed by the architects of Baltimore's Camden Yards. Tickets are $5 and up. The Duke University Blue Devils and North Carolina Central University Eagles provide lots of opportunity for spectators through their men's and women's sports programs. Go watch a Duke men's basketball game if you visit during basketball season. Tickets are extremely hard to get but can be found via online ticketing websites. If you are a college basketball fan, seeing a game at Cameron is a bucket-list item. Your best bet may be between December 15th and January 1st, when students are gone. Duke's football team has also rapidly improved, with the team winning the outright ACC title in 2025; a general admission ticket can be a fun and affordable afternoon or evening out. Wallace-Wade Stadium (site of the relocated Rose Bowl during WW2) is a wonderful place to see a football game in autumn. 2 Carolina Theatre, 309 W Morgan St, ☏ +1 919 560-3030. A historic theater that hosts many independent films and plays. 3 Durham Performing Arts Center, 123 Vivian St, ☏ +1 919 680-2787. A frequent stop for touring Broadway shows, as well as many other high-end acts. Ticket prices range from $30-$120 depending on the show. Buy in advance.

Durham is a terrific city to eat in, and if you search around enough, you'll find no need to go to nearby Chapel Hill or Raleigh to cater to your tastes. From time-tested burger shacks to upscale eateries on par with Atlanta and Washington, it's easy to find unique flavors all over the city. As of 2026, downtown restaurants are getting more adventurous, some outer-neighborhood places are aiming for a Michelin star and independent ventures continue to pop up all over the city. 1 Bahn's Cuisine, 750 9th St, ☏ +1 919 286-5073. Most of the week this is an average Chinese takeout place; however, on Wednesday and Saturday they serve Vietnamese home cooking and soups. A local hangout since 1985. The locals can tell you're "not from around here" if you order Chinese on those days. There are both vegetarian and vegan plates. The "#8 Vegetarian plate" of fried tofu and a vegetable roll is the most popular dish on Saturdays and to a lesser degree on Mondays. The "Pork Bun" is a good choice for small children as is the Satay Chicken (they'll frequently make adapted portions for children). It is cash only: plates and sides are $2-6. 2 Bean Traders Coffee, 105 W NC 54 Hwy #249 (in Homestead Market), ☏ +1 919 484-2499. A locally owned and operated coffee shop which as the name indicates is also a coffee buyer/distributor of the "Bean Traders" brand of whole sale coffee beans. The coffee is excellent and the atmosphere relaxed and casual. Cookies and baked goods are also for sale. Wireless access is provided. 3 Cosmic Cantina, 1920 1/2 Perry St, ☏ +1 919 286-1875.

Durham, despite having prestigious universities, is not a huge bar town. If a bar crawl is your thing, you will be much better served heading west to Chapel Hill (just don't wear any Duke clothing—seriously), or over to Raleigh, which has very popular bars and breweries. Still, there are good times to be had in the Bull City. Just don't argue Duke/UNC basketball unless you know what you're talking about. You won't make any friends and people here take it like religion; they will correct you if you're mistaken about anything. 1 Shooters II Saloon, 827 W Morgan St (behind Brightleaf Square). A wild-west themed bar and dance club popular with the college crowd, Shooters is famous for its mechanical bull and dancing cage. It is easy to find cheap drink specials and some new friends. Shooters is most frequented on weekend nights after 10PM. 2 Dain's Place, 9th Street. A non-smoking bar with many types of beers. It draws more the post-grad and 25-35 crowd. Great burgers and also an unusually good salad. 3 Fullsteam Brewery, 726 Rigsbee Avenue, ☏ +1 919-682-BEER (2337). Local brewery serving their own plus other NC beers. Popular among locals, large amount of seating, and usually has food trucks parked outside. Additionally, there are some nice bars near Duke's East Campus. Check out 4 The Green Room (pool hall), 5 Federal and 6 James Joyce for a diverse and mellow crowd. The downtown areas of Rigsbee Avenue and Main Street from Five Points to the east have popular bars.

1 Comfort Inn, 4507 NC 55/Apex Hwy, ☏ +1 919 361-2656. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. Offers guests an exercise room and a business center. 2 Comfort Inn Medical Park, 1816 Hillandale Road, ☏ +1 919 471-6100. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. Offers guests free shuttle service and a small meeting room. 3 Comfort Suites Raleigh Durham Airport/RTP, 5219 Page Road (Located by the Raleigh-Durham International Airport), ☏ +1 919 314-1200. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. 4 Doubletree Guest Suites Raleigh/Durham, 2515 Meridian Parkway, ☏ +1 919 361-4660. All-suite atrium hotel lakeside near Research Triangle Park and ten minutes from the airport. Rooms feature refrigerator, microwave, and wetbar area. 5 Duke Tower Hotel & Condominiums, 807 W. Trinity Ave, ☏ +1 919 687-4444, toll-free: +1-866-385-3869, fax: +1 919 683-1215. 6 Hotel Indigo Raleigh Durham Airport at RTP, 151 Tatum Dr., ☏ +1 919-474-3000. 7 Durham Marriott City Center, 201 Foster St, ☏ +1 919 768-6000. The people there are friendly and provide great service. They have a shuttle to take you up to a 5 mi (8.0 km) diameter from the hotel which gets you to most places in town. Ask for the 8th floor rooms facing west. 8 Millennium Hotel Durham, 2800 Campus Walk Ave, ☏ +1 919 383-8575. Accommodations, meeting space, and dining venues about a mile from Duke University. 9 Sleep Inn, 5208 Page Rd (I-40 & Page Rd), ☏ +1 919 993-3393, fax: +1 919 314-1401. A pet-friendly hotel which offers free airport transportation. 10 SpringHill Suites, 5310 McFarland Drive, ☏ +1 919 403-1111.

Durham is served by a freeway system centered on I-85, I-40 and US 15-501. Interstates are up to national standard but smaller arterials like the latter and the Durham Freeway (NC-147) are antiquated in design and have short on- and off-ramps, which can lead to risky merging. If you wish to rent a car, car rental options at RDU Airport are plentiful and range from $20 to $50 per day, with whole-week rentals significantly discounted. Drivers in Durham and the Triangle region as a whole can be politely assessed as "assertive." Expect 5-10 mph over the posted speed limit to be the expected minimum. Do not honk at other drivers, unless in immediate danger of a collision. Otherwise, this can be construed as an unnecessary act of aggression, as with many other places in the South. The nearest commercial airport is Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU IATA), southeast of Durham in Morrisville, just off I-40. RDU has two terminals; Terminal 1 services budget carriers like Southwest, while the more modern and architecturally impressive Terminal 2 services major domestic airlines and international carriers like Air France, Icelandair and Lufthansa. RDU also has rental car services and overnight car parking. GoTriangle regional buses offer limited connections onward to other parts of the area via the Regional Transit Center in RTP but taxis and Uber/Lyft are the most convenient options if not driving one's self. Amtrak's Carolinian and Piedmont lines stop in Durham.

Like Atlanta's infamous "Peachtree", Durham has a number of synonymous roadways, in some cases miles from each other. This can easily confuse visitors. The most notorious are Chapel Hill Road, Street and Boulevard. Likewise, University Drive and Duke University Road are entirely different thoroughfares, in completely different areas. Thankfully technology has rendered this issue largely irrelevant but when in doubt, ask any convenience store clerk and they'll point you where you need to go. Parking can be an issue on weekends and during evening hours in and around Downtown and Duke University's campuses. Be mindful of parking in residential zones in Downtown neighborhoods for extended periods without a permit. Never park against signed regulations on the campuses of Duke or NCCU. You will get a ticket or get towed, 24/7. A Durham curiosity exists downtown on South Gregson Street immediately south of West Peabody Street; many over-height vehicles have hit an abnormally low iron railroad bridge notoriously nicknamed The Can Opener, which has been raised slightly in response yet still occasionally claims the roofs of trucks and RVs. Avoid this stretch completely if the height of your vehicle is in any way in question. GoDurham offers extensive bus service throughout the city with hourly or half-hourly frequency on most lines. Additionally, while some lines have lit bus shelters and digital arrival-time message boards, others are simply a bus stop sign planted into the dirt roadside.

From the 1980s to the 2000s, Durham had a regional and perhaps national reputation as a dangerous city rife with murder, far above the national averages. This is true but was chiefly due to the city's position in the drug trade at the confluence of Interstates 85 and 40, making it a bit of a way station in narcotics movement. Many rappers in the 1990s mentioned Durham and North Carolina in their tales of drug trafficking and violence. For decades, this drug-related violence spilled into surrounding neighborhoods in Durham and created an air of violence and danger. For sure this helped with its "cool" factor as young, professional people moved in. Those days are gone. Durham is a safe city by any measure. Gentrification, urban renewal and upward trends in income have turned unsafe areas into some of the most lucrative real estate by price per square foot on Earth. Still, Durham is not a small town. It can feel rough in parts and you would not be advised to do careless things like leaving your windows down, objects in your vehicle or your doors unlocked in any part of the city. Gun violence is still a major problem in the city, especially among young people in gangs. If you hear gunshots, don't move and call 911 when you are certain it has stopped. It happens. The Durham Police Department only hires or trains officers with significant law enforcement and/or military experience. They are complete pros but they are under-staffed, as are city emergency services since the pandemic. Calling 911 at night can very well result in a busy signal.