Rediscover What You’ve Missed with North Carolina Trips

After braking for COVID-19, the most avid of travelers long to pick up their lifelong road trip where it left off before “mask mandate” and “social distancing” entered the lexicon. While waiting for that day, travelers can plan getaways around new experiences and innovative approaches that connect the love of the journey with the need for safety across North Carolina. Here are a few starter ideas.

Uncork a wine trip: Given the relative safety of outdoor spaces, many of North Carolina’s 240 wineries moved visitors from tasting rooms to outside tables in 2020. Taking a cue from breweries, servers offered DIY flights that allowed guests to progress from glass to glass on their own instead of waiting for someone to pour. The most promising news for this year: The exceptional harvest from 2019 will make its way from barrel to bottle to glass. Destinations to consider include Winston-Salem(link is external), a Yadkin Valley wine region gateway with its own appealing mix of refinement and creative chic; Elkin(link is external), where a concentration of vineyards meets trailheads for hiking, biking, paddling and history; and Hendersonville(link is external), hub of the newly established Crest of the Blue Ridge wine region. Request a copy of the state’s winery guide here(link is external).

Learn how to leave no trace: North Carolina, the first East Coast state to partner with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics(link is external), has launched Outdoor NC(link is external), designed to inspire outdoor experiences and help manage natural assets for future generations. As travelers seek to spend time in nature, Outdoor NC provides information about the seven Leave No Trace principles as well as places to discover. A user-generated section on the website calls on outdoor lovers to “show us how you #MakeItYourNature” as they explore the state’s natural wealth in well-known and under-the-radar places.

Keep cities in play: With health experts extolling the virtues of outdoor spaces, why head to cities? For the outdoor spaces, believe it or not. North Carolina’s urban areas count municipal, county and state parks among their amenities with outdoor attractions adding more value. A Charlotte(link is external) stay might include a trio of Uptown parks(link is external), the U.S. National Whitewater Center(link is external) with its surprising range of adventure, and Lake Norman State Park(link is external) a short drive up Interstate 77. Inviting outdoor spaces in Raleigh(link is external) start with the 164-acre Ann and James Goodnight Art Park(link is external) at the N.C. Museum of Art, the largest park of its kind in the nation, and also include the expansive Dorothea Dix Park(link is external) downtown and William B. Umstead State Park(link is external). Downtown strolls in Greensboro take in parks(link is external) and greenway trails, while Guilford Courthouse National Military Park(link is external) is popular for recreation as well as its history lesson. And Wilmington boasts more than a riverfront and nearby beaches with elegant Airlie Gardens(link is external) and Greenfield Lake Park(link is external).

Stay somewhere new: Despite the pandemic, boutique lodging properties have stayed the course in reimagining histories that date back as far as the 1800s. New and soon-to-open spots include the historic High Hampton Resort(link is external) in Cashiers, the Heights Hotel(link is external) in downtown Raleigh and the Colonial Inn(link is external) in Hillsborough. Also worth noting: the reimagined Kure Lighthouse Inn(link is external) in Kure Beach, Route 19 Inn(link is external) in Maggie Valley and Longleaf Hotel(link is external) in Raleigh plus the new Grand Bohemian Charlotte(link is external).

For more information, request a copy(link is external) of the 2021 Official North Carolina Travel Guide, which includes all of the state’s 100 counties, and check the list of participating hotels, restaurants and attractions participating in Count On Me NC(link is external), a statewide initiative designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.