North Carolina

Since Southbound debuted in 2013, our staff and contributors have logged thousands of miles, consumed millions of calories, and taken countless notes and photos to showcase the very best destinations around the region. Although every place we’ve covered is special, some left a particularly powerful impression. Here, we give you the best of the very best, our favorite spots in the South.

Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina (UNC), has that elusive blend of qualities that makes for an ideal weekend destination: instantly comfortable yet demanding to be explored.

The landmark exhibit includes an intact triceratops and the world’s only 100-percent-complete skeleton of a T. rex in one piece of rock.

Some compare it to Paris for its art deco buildings, others to Portland for its strong sense of community. But if you ask the entrepreneurs responsible for Asheville’s rebirth over the last two decades, they will tell you their city is simply incomparable.

A trio of barrier islands hugging North Carolina’s Atlantic coast, the Outer Banks was the setting of many historic firsts. Centrally located Roanoke Island was the site of England’s first settlement in the New...

Called the “King of Shrubs,” the rhododendron loves high altitudes; it’s the national flower of Nepal and a familiar sight in the Southern Appalachians, where blossoms of white, pink, red, and purple paint the tallest slopes in the eastern United States.

The highest cocktail bar in Durham is on the sixth-story rooftop of the Durham Hotel, a white-and-gold midcentury building. Like a few other classic structures in downtown Durham, it was once a bank, but it now trades in a different kind of currency: cool.

Unexpected discoveries in the pursuit of a poet.

As we descend the narrow, stone-lined path down the hillside leading to the boathouse, raindrops begin to fall. Our group continues on, climbing aboard the polished mahogany Hacker-Craft called Miss Lucy for a sunset cruise.

With ski slopes, stylish shops, and history walks, this four-season vacation town charms visitors at every turn.