48 Hour Itinerary – Things to Do in Durham, NC with Kids (or without)

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The city of Durham, NC, was once a neglected town in the North Carolina Triangle but has been undergoing a transformation to rival that of Cinderella on the night of the ball.

When we lived in Raleigh back in 2004 whilst I was teaching in nearby Johnston County, Durham was a city we barely set foot in.

Years later, it’s a city we can’t get our feet out of.

It’s a city known for sports, think Duke University and Durham Bulls. Out of the once abandoned streets, rise funky hotels, hip lounges, craft breweries, and award-winning restaurants.

Durham is blossoming with urban funk, yet still retains much of its Southern charm, and history.

Durham, NC has a list of accolades such as:

• Most Creative City in the US (Movoto)
• Tastiest Town of the South (Southern Living)
• 3rd most Educated City in the US (forbest)
• and one of the Best Places to Travel in 2015 (Travel & Leisure)

In this list of the best things to do in Durham NC, we’ll be showing you all the top attractions in the city that best prove this. We’ll not only show you the popular attractions, but some hidden gems that we found during our visit.

Each time we visit we learn something new about this city – one of the most exciting and interesting places we’ve discovered so far on our USA travels.

Things to do in Durham, North Carolina

Need insider tips on what to do in Durham?

When we last visited, we were guests of Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau who wanted to showcase the fun things to do in Durham NC with kids in just 48 hours!

While you would be hard pressed to all the top activities in Durham for kids into just 2 days, if you’re effective and plan ahead, you might be able to squeeze it all in.

Here’s what we recommend you do…

1. Visit Black Wall Street

What I love about Durham is that its focus is on local.

You won’t find too many high rises, or big corporations here, instead innovative start-ups and restaurants, and independently owned cafes with stories to tell.

Black Wall Street in the early 1900s was the thriving hub of African American business activity, one of the country’s most prestigious universities (Duke), the Research Triangle Park (the world’s biggest), and the American Tobacco Company call or called Durham home.

And the death of the tobacco industry was not…