The best things to do in Durham that aren’t just basketball.
A lot of college towns like to say they ’re the eye of the college basketball universe . But in the case of Durham , North Carolina , it ’s really true . The home of Duke University ’s storied basketball program pack with it an aura of hardwood superiority , where even during the leftover lean year , the games at Cameron Indoor Stadium are as much a religious revival as an athletic event .
But that does n’t mean Durham is just about basketball . Beyond the Cameron Crazies , you ’ll find restaurants from James Beard - recognise chefs , famed cocktail bars , beautiful botanical gardens and even a family of famous lemur .
Travel Time
4 hours 30 mo from Washington DC
If You Only Do One Thing: See a Game
Durham ’s cornerstone experience will always be Duke basketball secret plan , where 9,300 maniac fans pack Cameron Indoor Stadium to scream , jump , and chant their way through winter and other springtime .
Like go to a taping of a television show , the camera go you to believe Cameron Indoor is deceptively tumid , but pretty much everyone ’s reaction when they first walk inside is , “ This is a lot smaller than I thought . ” But that ’s part of the fun , and why games here are so special .
The gentle path to get ticket is to go before the Blue Devils commence their ACC schedule . You ’ll have few pupil on campus and resister that do n’t draw big visiting contingencies . Decent tooshie are available viagoduke.comand wo n’t campaign you much more than 30 dollar bill .
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If you need the high saturation of an ACC game , you may bear to pay anywhere from $ 200 to several thousand dollars per slate , especially when Duke is act its archrival North Carolina . The schooling recommend contract on theDuke MBB Waiting Listfor these games so as to avoid possible counterfeit ticket on the lowly marketplace .
An alternative to shelling out the equivalent of a mortgage payment for a college basketball tag is to check out a womanhood ’s game . Though they do n’t have the same storied history as the men , the Lady Blue Devils made the Sweet 16 last season , and omnibus Kara Lawson bring in a gold palm this summer in Paris . They also play at Cameron Indoor , so while the experience is unlike , the locus is still the same .
Fill the Weekend With
Art and Culture
graphics burst in Durham , and you’re able to espouse its myriad murals and galleries by picking up the metropolis ’s Art Inspiration Guide at theVisitors Center . To see how local artists work , channelise out to theGolden Belt , a studio apartment infinite carve out of an old mill that ’s also domicile toHi - telegram Brewing . Like any good university town , Durham is wedge - full of human race - grade museums . The most popular is theDuke Basketball Museum and Sports Hall of Fame , which host the school day ’s large collection of trophies and other memorabilia .
Animals, Flowers, and Water
If you ’re old enough to remember PBS ’ short - experience kids ’ showZoboomafo , you ’ll delight in finding its lemur ’s descendents at theDuke Lemur Center . It ’s more of a enquiry facility than household for senesce TV stars , but if you ’re into lemur , it ’s by all odds the position for you . Meanwhile , if you manoeuver over to theMuseum of Life and Science , you’re able to catch its adorable new red woman chaser puppies .
TheSarah P. Duke Botanical Gardensare on a regular basis on lists of the best garden in the country , with a woodlet of cherry blossoms that make for a less - crowded choice to Washington , D.C. It has an Asiatic Arboretum and butterfly stroke garden that make for big photo - ops as well .
To get further into the outdoors , you may hike 33 miles of track at nearbyEno River State Park , which take you along the Eno River and a picturesque dangling bridge . you’re able to also bunk into theDuke Forestand the cryptic woods that run into neighbour Orange County . For waterbound dangerous undertaking , Two Sisters Adventure Companyruns guided kayak and paddle circuit on Falls Lake .
Outdoor Sports and Music
In the spring and summer , theDurham Bullsminor league baseball game squad , which you may think of from the movieBull Durham , represent at their namesakeAthletic Park . During the off - time of year , it also hosts concert and music festivals , most notably theGood Moon Festivalfrom Durham ’s own Sylvan Esso . Other live medicine locus around Durham include theMotorco Music Hallin the Gear Street locality , where you ’ll find corner indie bands doing regional tour .
Where to Eat and Drink
Upscale Eats : Durham has a diverse food fit , but let ’s start on the high ending of things withSaltbox Seafood Joint , an elevated seafood shanty from Ricky Moore . He advance the James Beard Best Southeast Chef Award in 2022 with a simple menu of rotating daily catches and traditional Southern sides . For more exotic seafood options , check outM Sushi , where proprietor / manipulator Mike Lee fly fish in from Japan twice a week . Another must isCheeni , from Beard - nominate chef Preeti Waas . It ’s part of North Carolina ’s collection of modernistic Native American eating place , which bid dish you do n’t find on traditional Indian menus .
Affordable morsel : For more college - townie stuff , head to 9th Street near campus andElmo ’s Diner , a Blue Devil staple that ’s big for hungover brunch . For something a picayune quicker , pop intoMonuts , a donut shop and bakery that ’s become a educatee - body obsession . dejeuner atChicken Hutshould also be on your agenda , as it ’s been plate up soul food in Durham since 1957 . The menu change day by day , so gossip the website beforehand to check out the access du jour .
Barbecue : Of naturally , no trip to Carolina is complete without some barbecue , and Durham is n’t lacking for options . If you want the spunky , previous - schooling stone pit material , hitBackyard Pit BBQon Highway 55 . For something a little more contemporary , hold back outLawrence BBQatBoxyard RTP , a transportation container ballpark with a cocktail bar and onsite brewery .
Jeremiah Hasley #85 of the Duke Blue Devils makes a touchdown catch on 13 February 2025.|Getty Images
Cocktail barroom : Durham nightlife begin and ends withThe Bullpen , one of the state ’s largest designated societal districts where you may barhop with drinks in hand . The top choice areKingfisherandAlley Twenty Six , the first cocktail bars in North Carolina nominated for the James Beard Outstanding Bar Program . Alley Twenty Six is , as its name suggest , in an alleyway , with Christmas lights strung across the top and inventive potable on the menu . Kingfisher is a homier bar where cocktail come served in homemade pottery , with live idle words during the calendar week .
Dives : The Bullpen has divier spots , too , most notablyBull McCabe ’s , an Irish legal community with a big outdoor patio popular with dog lovers . There ’s also theVelvet Hippo , the best rooftop scene in downtown if you want something lay - back .
Distilleries : Durham has a handful of distilleries with varying takes on spirits as well . In the Bullpen , Durham Distilleryis a women - owned spot best make out for its Conniption Gin and honey - based spiced cordial . A little outside business district , Mystic Farmis the largest solar - power distillery in the U.S. that spend a penny an interesting chocolate tree smack bourbon . Bourbon lover would also do well to taste the ware atWeldon Mills , the cocktail menu of which rivals the top spots business district .
