A Guide to Interesting Sights in Raleigh NC

Raleigh, the city of Oaks.

This extremely pleasant city is as diverse and complex as any you can find.

For the first time visitor it can seem strange and intimidating. But fear not, this can help.

Raleigh is a very large city geographically. It is however not a dense city like Boston or Atlanta. At least not yet.

The inner city is defined as inside the Beltline also known as 440. There is a second loop being built starting in the northern part of the city called 540. Most of the roads in the city run north/south or east/west. It is recommended that you either use a map when trying to locate attractions as the city sprawls across such a large area.

What to see and do if you have children.

For families Raleigh has an immense number of attractions. During the summer their are more than 35 city parks and community centers open. For those looking for a major attraction here are a few.

The Museum of Natural Science located downtown. This museum is a modern multi-story facility with different displays on each floor. The top displays of here for most are the dinosaurs and the butterfly house. The dinosaur exhibit allows you to see not just the great lizards but also the remains of giant mammals such as the 19 foot tall sloth. The butterfly house (which is closed on Mondays) is on the fourth floor and has it's own sloth. That right, they have a real live, and very shy sloth with his or her very own tree. A Leisurely tour through this museum can easily take three to four hours, particularly if there have live animal (or bug) exhibits and if you spend time in the childrens center. They do have a small cafeteria on the top floor. This is an extremely fun museum.