- The windswept coast of North Carolina is most remarkable, especially along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. This thin line of barrier islands sits isolated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, separated from the mainland by a distance of many miles.
- Walk along the many hiking trails of the Great Smoky Mountains, where you can observe one of the most botanically diverse regions in North America. The vast change in altitude provides a wide variety of trees, shrubs and flowers. You can also take a short walk along the Appalachian Trail, the famous hiking footpath that runs from Maine to Georgia and passes right through the heart of the national park..
- Golf courses are everywhere, but you especially might enjoy the links around Southern Pines. Here in the south-central part of the state, amidst the quiet splendor of the Longleaf Pine Forest, golf enthusiasts will find 43 different golf courses situated within 15 miles of one another. And here golf is a four-season sport.
- Two popular historical plays are performed every summer. Visit Roanoke Island on the Outer Banks and see "The Lost Colony," the story of the colony that was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh. Or go to Cherokee, in the far western section of the state, to see "Unto these Hills," the story of the survival of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation during the nineteenth century.
- You'll find lighthouses all along the North Carolina coast, but you might particularly enjoy the light at Hatteras, where the Gulf Stream and the northern current meet. Cape Hatteras is one of the stormiest places along the Atlantic Coast, and the shallow shoals located just offshore are often referred to as "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" because of the large number of shipwrecks that have occurred there.
