Top things to do in Durham, North Carolina this summer

Durham, North Carolina, is diverse and progressive, with a downtown of old brick tobacco warehouses now full of restaurants, bars, bookshops and tech-company offices. It is part of a trio of cities that includesRaleigh and Chapel Hill: three points on the isosceles triangle that give the region its name. The three cities are deeply interconnected but also have their own identities. Raleigh has all the things you’d expect of a state capital: government workers bustling around downtown on their lunch hour, big museums full of kids on field trips and steak houses serving rib eyes to movers and shakers. College town Chapel Hill has long been nicknamed "The Southern Part of Heaven," and in the spring when the dogwoods and cherry trees bloom on campus, and the sky is Carolina blue, it’s easy to see why. Between the three cities is Research Triangle Park (RTP), 7000 acres housing hundreds of tech and biomedical research companies and drawing workers from around the world.

Top recommendations from a local:

We asked Durham local and Carolina Blaze player Ana Gold what her favorite spots in Durham are. Here is what she said.

• Coffee & Breakfast: For coffee, go to Joe Van Gogh Coffee because they make their own sea salt caramel syrup that is amazing in lattes. Press Coffee is a little more elevated and has a unique breakfast menu.

• Lunch & Dinner: Local 22 Kitchen & Bar for the steak and sweet potato fries, Monterrey Mexican Grill or Mezcalito Grill & Tequila Bar are best for Mexican food, Cucciolo Osteria Durham is the great for Italian while Juju Durham makes great Asian fusion.

• Don't miss: Wandering around Tobacco Road to learn the history behind the city.

• Take a walk: The gravel trail around Duke University's East Campus is 1.6 miles and is a great way to be outside while enjoying the campus.

  
  Coming to Durham for the AUSL softball season this summer? Get tickets for a Carolina Blaze game.

Spend a day at Duke 

Duke University is one of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, with a splendiferous Gothic-style campus to match. The main attraction for visitors is the free to visit Sarah P Duke Gardens, an expansive 55 acres of koi ponds, terraced flower gardens and magnolia groves. Gold says the gardens are one of her favorite places in town to take a walk and she always takes visitors there.

Descend the original terrace where seasonal flowers are planted in luscious tapestries, wander the graceful bridges and stone paths of the Asiatic Garden, and picnic on the wide lawns. A short walk west of the gardens is Duke Chapel, also free to visit, a 210ft neo-Gothic chapel crowning West Campus. Finished in 1935, it contains 77 stained-glass windows, three pipe organs and a 50-bell carillon. It’s an awe-inspiring sight. Afterward, stroll the leafy quads, where students study and play frisbee surrounded by imposing architecture.

See the lemurs

Durham’s coolest attraction has to be the Duke Lemur Center a research and conservation institute that’s home to the largest collection of lemurs outside their native Madagascar. Visits are by guided tour only, and must be reserved weeks, if not months, in advance.

See a softball game at Smith Family Stadium

Established in 2025 as one of the four original teams of the Athletes Unlimited Softball Leagues, the Carolina Blaze are professional softball at its best. Locals have been thrilled to see that the games are fast-paced and fun, while the Smith Family Stadium on the Duke campus makes a pleasant place to spend a summer afternoon. These are the days of hot dogs, giggling kids and the excitement of a home run. Check the summer schedule for a game that works for you. 

Venture to North Carolina’s best art museum

It’s easy to spend a full day inside and outside the superb North Carolina Museum of Art, 6 miles west of downtown Raleigh. Ranging far and wide, from ancient Egypt to modern Africa, its permanent collection includes works credited to Giotto and Botticelli – albeit with "assistance" – and even a 17th-century Golf Player etched by Rembrandt. The museum also holds around 20 jet black Rodin bronzes, and a gallery celebrating alumni of the pioneering Black Mountain College near Asheville, including Robert Rauschenberg. The vast surrounding Museum Park includes 5 miles of trails dotted with site-specific sculptures. In summer, the outdoor amphitheater hosts concerts, plays and films.

Picnic in the park

Close your eyes and imagine a stereotypically delightful old-fashioned public park. A lake full of ducks and paddleboats. Couples strolling leafy trails. Children going round and round on a vintage carousel. Well, that’s Pullen Park. Triangle residents have been packing a picnic and making a day of it since 1887, when Pullen became North Carolina’s first public park. It’s especially luscious in summer, when you can sit on a bench with an ice cream cone or watch Theater in the Park.

Day trip to North Carolina’s coolest small town

Chapel Hill’s little sister, Carrboro, is a former mill town turned progressive paradise. It’s adjacent to Chapel Hill – get there by walking west on Franklin St. Once called West End, it was long the working-class neighbor to the wealthier college town next door. But things have changed. Today the old mill is Carr Mill Mall, whose co-op grocery, the Weaver Street Market, is the spiritual center of town, with locals eating and dancing on the lawn all day. Major attractions of Carrboro include the farmers market, which draws crowds on Saturday mornings and Wednesday afternoons, the many coffee shops and bars, and the two-day Carrboro Music Festival, with some 100 bands playing at venues around town in early fall.

Regis St. Louis wrote the content for this article for Lonely Planet's Georgia & The Carolinas.