Charlotte, Raleigh, and the Piedmont Travel Guide
- Overview
- Places to Explore
- Sights
- Restaurants
- Hotels
- Entertainment
- Shopping
- Travel Tips
- Features
- Fodor's Choice
- Deals
- Guidebooks
Photo: Matej Krajcovic/Shutterstock
The gently rolling hills of the Piedmont make up the central third of North Carolina. This region, wedged between the mountains and the coastal plain, gradually rises from 300 to 1,500 feet above sea level. Long ridges, meandering rivers, and large human-made lakes characterize the area, the most heavily developed region of the state. The Piedmont includes North Carolina's three major metropolitan centers—Charlotte, the Triad, and the Triangle. For the sake of verbal convenience, North Carolinians group six of the area's urban centers into two threesomes: the Triad and the Triangle. The Triad is short for Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point; the Triangle refers to the shape traced by Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, in the center of which sits Research Triangle Park—a renowned complex of international companies and public and private research facilities. These urban centers have brought world-class museums, shopping, sophisticated restaurants, and professional sporting venues to the region. And one of the beauties of the Piedmont's cities—including Charlotte, which has the state's most dramatic skyline—is that they're characterized by canopies of hardwoods and pines.
Charlotte, Raleigh, and the Piedmont Hotels
Accommodations in the Piedmont include everything from roadside motels to sprawling resorts to lovely bed-and-breakfasts. Most major chains are represented...read more
Charlotte, Raleigh, and the Piedmont Restaurants
In the Piedmont it's as easy to grab a bagel, empanada, or spanakopita as a biscuit. The region is still the home of barbecue: wood-fired, pit-cooked, chopped...read more
Things To Do in Charlotte, Raleigh, and the Piedmont
Explore the best sights, entertainment, and shopping with our top choices and insider tips.
Travel Deals in Charlotte, Raleigh, and the Piedmont
- JetBlue Nationwide Fare Sale (R/T incl. Tax) CheapOair.com
Charlotte, Raleigh, and the Piedmont Experiences
-
Raleigh museums: More than a dozen museums and historical sites—several within an easy walk of one another—cover every aspect of North... Read more
-
Want a guaranteed one-word conversation starter in any gathering of North Carolinians? Say "barbecue." Barbecue has been called "the most Southern... Read more
-
Exploring the gorgeous gardens in North Carolina's Piedmont is a year-round pleasure. For starters, there are lots of them, and they are diverse... Read more
-
Bet you didn't know that North Carolina was home to the nation's first cultivated grape. French explorer Giovanni de Verazzano took note of the... Read more
Travel Blog
-
Trip Ideas & Itineraries
While most Americans spend Thanksgiving at home with family, others hit the road for a true holiday. Read more
-
Trip Ideas & Itineraries
The date 11/11/11 only happens once a century, and hotels are hoping that special deals and discounted Read more
-
Best of the Best
Now that summer has officially arrived, crowds are going to be flocking to the coast to beat the heat. Read more
·Weather
Now
50° F Mostly Cloudy 25% Humidity Feb 13, 2012 at 3:52PMCheck historic weather for your trip dates
Arriving:Places To Explore
· Forums Trip Reports
-
Inspired by santamonica's current Asheville report, I thought I'd share the highlights of my recent visit there.
My parents have a home about 20 min. SE of Asheville and my daughter and I drove there afte Read more -
We live in Connecticut and wanted to visit my brother-in-law and his wife in Summerville, SC, but my husband hates the airlines and I didn’t want to drive both ways. Read more
·North Carolina Forum
-
We have a long weekend next weekend and thought we would take a drive from Virginia Beach to our neighboring state. Read more
