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I'm visiting Raleigh in June from the UK, and am travelling with my husband on a business trip. During the week he'll be at work, so I was wondering what I could do, and what to do to stay safe around the city. We'll be staying near RTP.
Hi! We relocated here from England 10 years ago. RTP is actually a business park, and not small, so that doesn’t help a lot, but we’re used to that. You’ll need to rent a car and have some kind of GPS, they’re almost all automatic, and drive as cautiously as you would anywhere strange, don’t expect everyone to use their indicators or know how a roundabout works, they’re pretty new here. Read up on turning right on red, and what to do at a stop sign.. You simply can’t do without one. We don’t have city centers to waste hours at a time in here. There’ll often be a block here and a block there that’ll interest you. Gems are hidden in little strip malls and the edges of towns.
June’ll be getting hot here in comparison to what you’re used to, especially when you factor in the humidity, another reason to rent a car, as what seems like a longish walk you can do without that factored in, truly will be beastly. Safety isn’t really a factor you need to be worried about.
Raleigh has a great set of museums in the downtown area and a fantastic art gallery that you’ll need a car to get to. Lots of great restaurants, bars and boutiques dotted about. If you do a search for “36 hours in” Raleigh then Durham then Chapel Hill you’ll find several lists that’ll help you find something to your taste. ‘The Indy’ has up to date local listings that’ll help you find events closer to the time of your trip. Charity shops are known as thrift stores, if you enjoy that kind of browsing and secondhand clothes stores are consignment stores, Raleigh has some great ones.
Have fun planning your trip!
Do you know what hotel you are staying at yet? If his work will be in RTP, you may be staying at a hotel in or near Brier Creek, which is a sprawling outdoor shopping center with stores, restaurants, and a movie theatre. (Be careful of cars if you'll be walking in that area.) The hotels may have a shuttle that would drop you off somewhere near by.
To visit any of the museums downtown or other interests further out, you'll need a car.
Find a way to visit the downtown areas of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Brier Creek is a shopping area, but unless you are an avid shopper (of mediocre strip-mall and big box stores) it will be underwhelming.
DT Raleigh has museums and is very walkable.
DT Durham is the same. You can also visit the Duke Campus, and I highly recommend you visit Duke Gardens since you are coming in June. Durham has a few museums, many good eateries and drinkeries, and you can catch a Durham Bulls Ballgame, usually in the evenings, but sometimes in the day.
Chapel Hill is home to UNC, and is a beautiful, walkable town.
There are a million things to do in each place, I just named a few. It really depends on what you like to do.
There is public transportation, but it's not great. It will get you to the core areas though. You might also check with the hotel to see what service they can offer. (And of course there is Uber, which is probably cheaper than renting a car)
If you also have your own car and "SatNav" (as my British friends call it), you can open up to more areas outside the main business districts. There are historical sites, small towns, hiking paths, etc...
Just so much to do, I would suggest that you tell us more about what you like to do, so we can further define responses.
...and enjoy your visit here. June is a nice time. Probably a little warm for a Brit, but not nearly as bad as July and August.
First thing to mention that the Triangle (Raleigh/CH/Durham area) is a really safe part of the US. The few trouble spots are extremely isolated, you don't even have to think about it.
You might need a car however if you don't have a rental or don't know how to drive you can still find things to do during the day. The city centers are active and busy and safe.
RTP is a sparse corporate campus zone in a forested area between actual cities. If you're staying in housing in RTP you'll have a hard time walking about but there's buses that go from RTP to the cities nearby.
The bus system in the Triangle is called GoTriangle/GoRaleigh/GoDurham/etc. It's fine, safe, and it works. Not the fastest way to get anywhere but I'm sure you have time to kill anyways.
Use Google Maps to find the best routes, time tables, and the fare price. The buses have free WIFI.
Visit the very walkable Downtown Raleigh and Downtown Durham and Downtown Cary and Downtown Chapel Hill and check out all the boutique stores, pastry shops, coffee shops, parks like the Duke Gardens/Duke University Campus.
Thank-you all for your great responses. My main 'concern' was how to get about, as I'm aware lots of places aren't like here in the UK where you can practically walk anywhere! I was planning on getting Uber's to places, though the bus sounds like a good idea too.
I planned on spending some time shopping and have looked up a couple of the malls in the area. Museums are a big interest of mine, and I don't particularly mind what they contain! So thank-you for your tips on those.
I would just Uber, unless you have experience driving in the US in metro areas. We're a small metro, but a metro nonetheless. Given how residents seem very confused by signage, exits, on-ramps, and navigating the 440 Beltline, I'd save the hassle and take a $15-20 Uber Ride.
Another really enormous and comprehensive resource for travelers is the "TRIP ADVISOR" website. It also has a "FORUMS" section including a "North Carolina" section where you can review answers to travelers who had similar questions as yours.
Thank-you all for your great responses. My main 'concern' was how to get about, as I'm aware lots of places aren't like here in the UK where you can practically walk anywhere! I was planning on getting Uber's to places, though the bus sounds like a good idea too.
I planned on spending some time shopping and have looked up a couple of the malls in the area. Museums are a big interest of mine, and I don't particularly mind what they contain! So thank-you for your tips on those.
I'm really looking forward to exploring
The bus service here is nowhere compared to that in the UK. Don't bank on that too much.
UBER can turn out to be hugely expensive if you're gonna have multiple trips in a day. Your best bet is to have a friend in someone local or rent a car (try a peer to peer renting service).
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