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We are moving up north from FL and wonder which city has a walkable yet safe downtown in NC that we can explore before hitting the road the next day up north. We've never visited NC at all so we just need advice on a decent downtown where there is cute shops, dining, and is safe..
If it's just for a visit, you'd probably want Raleigh, presuming you're taking 95. Charlotte is a long way out of the way. But those aren't the only two cities in NC, despite what many seem to think...
Charlotte isn't really far out of the way at all of traveling north from Florida if you take 77.
Between downtown Raleigh & uptown Charlotte, I'd go for Charlotte. Park at a light rail station and take It into uptown. Nice, convenient & no hassles at a parking deck.
If you're coming up 95 from Florida, stopping in Raleigh adds about 30 miles to the drive. If you're in a rush, it's probably the easiest.
For a few hours stop, Raleigh has a few things that you can do. If you're looking for something more substantial, then Charlotte is probably the better bet. It adds a little more time, but no too much. It looks like it adds about 85 miles to the overall drive.
We can take either the route up to Charlotte area or just go north all the way up to Raleigh.. We just want to split the drive all the way up to VA by stopping in NC because (A) We both have never been/stayed and (B) It would be fun to explore a particular area for a day. We love how Savannah has such a walkable downtown riverfront and how Boston has all the history and cobblestone streets.. is Charlotte more like that than Raleigh?
Wait wait! You're going the wrong way! Are you aging backwards?
Do you know which day of the week you'll be traveling through NC? Are you staying overnight? Looking for night life? For the younger set there's Discovery Place in Charlotte and Epicentre has stuff and N.C. Music Factory which you wouldn't want to actually walk from downtown to but it's pretty close depending on your transportation.
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