Durham is 25 minutes from downtown Raleigh and it is where I go when I want a different city without the drive. It used to be the Triangle’s underdog. Now it has the best restaurant scene in the state per square mile, a downtown built out of old tobacco warehouses, and a minor league ballpark that is nicer than some major league ones. This page is the short version of what I actually do there, kept current as things open and close.
Quick orientation: downtown Durham is compact and walkable, split between the American Tobacco Campus south of the tracks, the Five Points and City Center blocks around Main Street, and Brightleaf to the west. Duke’s campus is a five-minute drive west. Park once in a deck and walk; you do not need the car again until you leave.
The best things to do in Durham
Sarah P. Duke Gardens
Fifty-five acres on Duke’s West Campus and the best free outing in the Triangle. The terraced Historic Gardens are the postcard, but the Asiatic Arboretum with its red bridge and the Blomquist native plant garden are where I end up. Go on a weekday morning if you can; weekends fill with photo shoots. Parking is paid at the garden lot.
Durham Bulls at the DBAP
The Durham Bulls Athletic Park is the reason people fall for this city. Cheap tickets, a snorting bull on the outfield wall, the downtown skyline behind it, and fireworks most Friday nights in season (April through September). Sit on the third base side for shade at evening games. Kids run the bases after Sunday games.
American Tobacco Campus
A former cigarette factory turned into restaurants, offices and a lawn with a manmade river running through it. It is the easiest place to land with a group because everyone can pick their own dinner, and it sits next to the ballpark and DPAC. The lawn hosts free concerts and movie nights in warm months.
DPAC
The Durham Performing Arts Center gets the Broadway tours first in the Carolinas, plus comedy and concerts. Every seat is a good seat, and the walk from dinner at American Tobacco is two minutes. Buy from the DPAC box office directly to skip resale markups.
Eno River State Park and West Point on the Eno
Durham’s nature side. West Point on the Eno is a city park with a restored 1778 grist mill, easy river trails and a swimming hole locals have used for generations. Eno River State Park has the longer hikes; the Cox Mountain and Bobbitt Hole trails are the ones I send people to. Both are free.
Museum of Life and Science
If you have kids, this is the best museum in the Triangle, full stop. Eighty-four acres with a butterfly house, dinosaur trail, bears and lemurs, a train ride and enough outdoor space to burn a whole afternoon. Members get in free; otherwise budget for admission and go early.
Durham Central Park and the farmers market
The Durham Farmers’ Market runs Saturday mornings year-round at Central Park (Wednesdays too in season) and it is one of the best in the state. The park itself has a skate park, a big pavilion, and food trucks most weekends.
Brightleaf Square and Ninth Street
Brightleaf is two restored tobacco warehouses with restaurants and shops around a courtyard. Ninth Street near Duke’s East Campus is the college strip with the bookstores and cheap eats. Both are good for a wander when downtown feels too polished.
The food
Durham’s restaurant scene is the deepest in North Carolina. Rather than list places that will change by the time you read this, I keep the current picks in the posts below. The short version: there is a James Beard nominee on nearly every downtown block, and the taquerias and Ethiopian spots along the edges of downtown are as good as the tasting menus.
Events to plan around
- Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, April, one of the top documentary festivals in the country.
- Art of Cool Festival, spring, jazz and R&B across downtown venues.
- Beaver Queen Pageant, June, a gloriously weird Durham tradition in Duke Park.
- American Dance Festival, June and July, six weeks of modern dance at Duke and downtown.
- Bull City Food and Beer Experience, late winter at DPAC.
- CenterFest Arts Festival, September, downtown streets closed for two days of artists and music.
- Durham Holiday Parade and the Lights at American Tobacco, December.
Neighborhoods to know
Old West Durham and Trinity Park are the leafy historic neighborhoods between downtown and Duke. Old North Durham and Duke Park have the bungalows and the Beaver Queen. Hope Valley and Woodcroft to the south are where the newer subdivisions and the shopping are. Rockwood and Lakewood are where the new restaurants keep opening.
Latest from Durham
Nothing filed under this town yet. New posts land here automatically as soon as they publish, so check back or browse the whole blog in the meantime.
More town guides: Raleigh Cary Apex Fuquay-Varina Holly Springs Wendell Chapel Hill Wake Forest Garner Knightdale
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