Perhaps you’ve heard about Durham’s celebrated food scene, top-notch universities or start up culture. Maybe you’ve heard that we’re a mid-sized southern city with a cosmopolitan streak – cool and cultured, with grit. We’re all that and more.
Durham's History
The red brick warehouses and rustic tobacco factories that once housed the world’s largest tobacco company now form the American Tobacco Campus, a live-work-play destination brimming with energy and entertainment. Head to campus for Bantu tapas at Ekhaya, Puerto Rican soul food at Boricua Soul, MICHELIN-recognized Cajun-inspired cuisine at Seraphine and cocktails at The Waiting Room. Nearby, the Durham Food Hall and Brightleaf District pulse with creativity as downtown landmarks that have been repurposed as destinations for visitation. Durham's history of innovation is becoming more visitor-friendly than ever as HUB RTP reimagines the largest research park in the country as a destination for meetings, dining, shopping, recreation and more.
Durham is the only county in North Carolina with three state historic sites. Duke Homestead, home of the self-made tobacco tycoon Washington Duke, features a restored mid-1800s home, tobacco barns, an original tobacco factory and a museum. Historic Stagville, one of the largest plantations in the South, is now dedicated to the preservation and study of the lives and cultures of the enslaved people who lived there. Bennett Place, site of the largest troop surrender and effective end of the Civil War, tells a little-known story of American history.
Boutique Hotels
Downtown Durham has three boutique hotels. Unscripted Durham is the latest to open in a renovated mid-century motor lodge. The hotel also has 74 rooms, a pool deck, bar and ground-floor taproom. Across the street, The Durham is an independent hotel inhabiting a resurrected mid-century Home Savings Bank building. The 53-room hotel has a breathtaking rooftop and is a cultural hub for our vibrant and engaged downtown community. And 21c Museum Hotel has restored the historic Hill Building into a 125-room boutique hotel. The hotel features a restaurant and lounge called Counting House and a 24/7 museum with curated, rotating exhibits of contemporary art.
