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Fun things to do in raleigh nc for families
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It is known for its numerous magnificent oak trees, and as the second-largest city in North Carolina, Raleigh has limitless attractions for your whole family to enjoy. Whatever age your kids may be, Raleigh has something to offer for all ages, whether it be amusement parks, museums, trolley tours, or many other options.
If you want to take your loved ones on the vacation of a lifetime in Raleigh, below is a list of fun things to do in Raleigh with kids. This museum has a multitude of activities and exhibits for your whole family to enjoy, like a living conservatory, filled with plants, butterflies, turtles, sloths, flowers, and more.
Your family will also enjoy the exhibits about prehistoric North Carolina, dinosaurs, amazing fossils, the environment, climate, hands-on exhibits, and so much more.
Some movies showing in the theater are perfect for kids aged , and other educational activities that are also fun and entertaining. First opened in , the North Carolina Museum of Art is a magnificent museum that features not only lovely art exhibits but also a beautiful Museum park and various performances, concerts, educational programs, and other fun events. Take your loved ones on a trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art, where they can not only appreciate breathtaking pieces of art from all over the world but also enjoy watching films, listening to wonderful concerts, and exploring a vast park.
There are even paved trails where you can take your bike and cycle through the beautiful scenery. This museum is a popular destination for cheap family-fun activities because of its free admission. It offers kids activities that both your toddlers and teens can enjoy, like making art, tours specifically designed for families, and critically acclaimed musical ensembles.
The North Carolina Museum of Art, offering a wide array of programs and events, is perfect for toddlers, older children, teens, and adults. Related: Best Things to Do in Raleigh. This They can enjoy virtual reality games, 3D movies with special effects to make the experience more interactive, apocalypse-themed laser tag, going through the sky trail, a feet drop tower, and a lot more.
The arcade, featuring hundreds of choices, has classic games like basketball, racing, cranes, and so much more. There are also kid-themed games for your younger children like Paw Patrol, Wizards of Oz, and Willy Wonka, to name a few.
The arcade and laser tag games are great for kids ages 6 and up, but the other park features are best for your teenagers, as well as other adults in your family. It featured play-based exhibits, an IMAX theater, and so many other interactive and enjoyable family-friendly activities.
Consider taking your kids this weekend to the Marbles Kids Museum if you want to take them to a place where they can have a both fun and educational experience. You can choose from Toddlers Hollow, ideal for tots aged 3 and below, Treetunes, a music-themed playground, Power2Play, a sports-based activity center for slightly older children, and a lot more.
Before paying a visit, check their calendar for a list of events that they have going on because Marbles Kids Museum has many themed events that are fun for the entire family. I strongly recommend visiting William B. The beautiful forests have the most scenic backdrops for a lovely hike, bike ride, or taking lots of photos together.
You can rent canoes and rowboats to go into the water and enjoy a tranquil time cruising in the water. During the summer, you can try camping with your tribe as you huddle around a campfire, watch the stars, sing songs, share stories, and toast marshmallows.
William B. Umstead State Park is the perfect vacation spot for your entire family, no matter their age. Adventure Landing Family Entertainment Center, better known by its shorter name, Adventure Landing, is an amazing family center. The miniature hole golf course has many levels that you can choose, depending on your skill level. There are many other fun choices, aside from the before mentioned, that your family can gladly explore.
The go-kart track is best suited for teenagers but, children ages 3 and up may also ride them, so long as an adult accompanies them, and the batting cages have an age limit of at least 6 years old. The North Carolina Museum of History, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Affiliations program, is one of the best museums of its kind in the state of North Carolina.
The North Carolina Museum of History is family-friendly and has a multitude of exhibits, events, and programs that your tribe will have a blast doing. This museum holds many programs your loved ones can partake in, like baking recipes from the s, making a personal time capsule, and riding a year-old saddle.
The various exhibits cater to all ages, and there are even exhibits about toys from the s and the 60s. Visitors of all ages are welcome at the North Carolina Museum of History however, the program that entails riding a historical saddle is for teenagers aged only. If you are looking for free kid-friendly things to do in Raleigh, I recommend the JA Raulston Arboretum because there is no entrance fee, and you can enjoy its amenities, like guided tours, free of charge.
Your family will love exploring the many gorgeous gardens, like the Japanese Garden, a lovely zen garden, the Finley-Nottingham Rose Garden, featuring more than magnificent roses, a Winter Garden depicting the beauty of winter plants, and many others. Related: Best Restaurants in Raleigh.
Lake Johnson Park is a lovely recreation area, offering guests a lake that features many fun things to do, 5. Lake Johnson Park is the ideal location if you want to spend a relaxing day with your family as you take in the fresh air and enjoy mother nature to the fullest. Depending on the season, Lake Johnson Park holds events that are perfect for your children, like the Lake Johnson Park Nature Explorers program, where you can immerse yourself in nature doing fun activities.
Mordecai Historic Park is a magnificent place featuring a historic house museum and trolley tours that are a local favorite. Mordecai Historic Park is fit for all ages, but older children may appreciate the grandeur of the area more. TreeRunner Adventure Park is a world-class aerial adventure park that features 70 obstacles, 7 different courses, and 3 difficulty levels. If you are still unsure about what to do in Raleigh with kids but want to try something different from going to amusement parks and museums, you may want to try taking them to the TreeRunner Adventure Park.
This outdoor adventure park is perfect for your loved ones and has courses that even your toddlers can do. The Junior Park, for example, is great for your little ones to traverse an easy obstacle course, about feet high up, through the trees. Your teenagers, on the other hand, may choose from three courses, beginner, intermediate, and expert.
Related: Things to Do Near Raleigh. There are over 50 arcade cabinets, 15 pinball machines, and console games your kids will gladly enjoy. They have hundreds of choices to choose from, whether they want to try playing with the arcade cabinets, console games, pinball machines, foosball tables, basketball shoots, giant Jenga, and more.
Crabtree Valley Mall, the biggest enclosed mall in the Research Triangle area, is a well-loved shopping and dining district of locals and tourists alike It offers at least different stores to choose from. While vacationing in Raleigh, you may want to take a break from all the tours, museum-hopping, and thrilling activities and merely enjoy an afternoon shopping at one of the best malls in the city, Crabtree Valley Mall. Whatever you may want to buy, whether it be toys, clothes, books, and other things, for your tykes, Crabtree Valley Mall has it all.
Lynn Rd Raleigh, NC The picturesque Lake Lynn Park is a well-loved relaxing vacation spot for locals and tourists alike. It features a community center, sports courts, two playgrounds, a baseball field, picnic shelter, a batting cage, and a lakefront boardwalk.
There are many fun things to do in Raleigh with kids, including paying a visit to Lake Lynn Park. Bring your tennis gear, and you can bond with your loved ones as you enjoy a family game at the tennis courts. You may even rent a picnic shelter, where you can have a delicious family barbeque or grill juicy burgers, and spend quality time together as you enjoy a little more privacy.
As the sun starts to set, you can share a romantic moment with your significant other as you take a stroll on the boardwalk and watch the sunset together. The smaller playground is for kids ages only, and the larger playground is for kids ages only. Christina Rado June 7, Related Articles.
Fun things to do in raleigh nc for families –
Home » Things to Do » Family Fun. We get asked the question often, is Raleigh good for families? As parents with two daughters currently aged 10 and 14 who first moved to Raleigh back in , we think so.
We even recorded a podcast episode on the topic of things to do with kids in Raleigh. As profiessional travelers and family travel bloggers, we know how to craft and find great expereinces for kids. Click to read our best family travel tips. Down below we share our personal suggestions for family fun broken into select categories. Perfect for younger kids, you can ride the historic carousel and iconic miniature train, take paddle boats out on the lake, and let your kids run wild at the playgrounds and have a picnic.
Read our full review on Pullen Park here. No admission price, you pay per activity. Popular for groups and birthday parties. Various admission passes are on offer. Tons of indoor entertainment including a trampoline park, ropes course, laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, and soft play area. Closed toe shoes are required in all areas. Plus zip line, ropes course, rock climbing, an escape room and ATVs.
Many of them are free and kid-friendly. Read our review of the Museum of Natural Sciences. Looking for things to do in Raleigh with toddlers? Consider Marbles as one of the best things to do with kids in Raleigh up to the age of Free admission. Charge for some special exhibits.
Take a self-guided tour and see displays from football, basketball, baseball, athletics, golf, motor racing, Olympics sports and more. Read our full review here. One of the best things about living in Raleigh is the miles of Greenway trails to explore, and many of the trails in Raleigh are kid-friendly. Umstead State Park, and the 2. Walking the 3-mile Lake Johnson loop trail is one of our absolute favorite things to do in Raleigh with kids or without.
Read our review: Why Lake Johnson is our favorite lake. This 2. Read our full review of the Lake Lynn Trail. An easy 2-mile paved scenic greenway trail loops around Shelley Lake and is popular with locals in North Raleigh. Read our review: Shelley Lake Park loop trail. Read our full review of the Art to Heart Trail. The Yates Mill Pond Trail is a 0.
Add on to this trail by doing the 1-mile Creekside Trail. Read our review of the Historic Yates Mill. The 2-mile Bond Park Lake Trail is another favorite of ours, and we have walked it many times with our kids. It hugs a picturesque lake, and the trail is a mix of paved and unpaved natural woodland setting. Read our review of the Bond Lake Trail. Lovely 2-mile loop trail around beautiful Apex Lake. Fully-paved trail and mostly flat, plenty of shade, accessible year-round and easy for all ages.
And, close to charming downtown Apex. This is a mile paved trail stretching from Falls Lake in North Raleigh to the Wake County border in southeast Raleigh, but you can break it up into short sections and along the way are winding boardwalk areas, views of historical sites, and suspension bridges.
For family-friendly nature trails, Hemlock Bluffs in Cary is a good nature preserve to explore. Do the 0.
Read our review of hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve. Press play to stream through our videos showcasing the above mentioned trails. We also have this post on 12 kid-friendly trails in Raleigh with lots of information. While we may not have a river or beautiful beaches at our doorstep, we have so much access to beautiful lakes and parks.
Check out this list of 17 parks in Raleigh and we love Lake Kerr for a camping getaway. In the warmer months it plays host to numerous events and festivals, including the field of sunflowers each year. This natural oasis surrounds three man-made lakes and is just 15 minutes from downtown Raleigh with access from I and I Lake Johnson is our favorite of the lakes in Raleigh , and we lived on Lake Johnson for four years.
Read our review of Lake Johnson. This lake in Cary is popular with the locals. The Boathouse has boat rentals for all ages and abilities, including pedal boats, kayaks, and canoes. Jordan Lake is an outdoor recreation lovers paradise. This undeveloped, 14,acre reservoir offers opportunities for boating, fishing, camping, kayaking, hiking, picnicking, and swimming, Perfect for a day out, or a long-weekend getaway.
This public park spans 28 acres near Shaw University in the South Park neighborhood of downtown Raleigh and is home to an historic carousel, a playground, splash pad, gym, community center and outdoor track. This four-acre urban green space in the heart of downtown is one of our favorite spots in Raleigh with kids.
The 12,acre Falls Lake is the focus and offers a range of outdoor experiences including camping, boating, fishing, kayaking, hiking, picnicking.
Mordecai Historic Park was once the site of the largest plantation in Wake County, and now home to some of N. Hiking trails, a acre pond, and the Historic Yates Mill make up this acre wildlife refuge and resource center. Read our review of Lake Raleigh. Bond Metropolitan Park is the largest municipal park in Cary on acres and offers opportunities for many types of recreation including 4. This acre park centered around beautiful Apex Lake offers picnic areas, playgrounds, fitness and nature trails, athletic fields, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, plus fishing and kayaking on the lake.
Located on acres adjacent to a acre lake, the park has more than 16 miles of trails. And, it is a great spot to see the sunset. One of the most popular and best playgrounds in Raleigh is Sassafras, a colorful and engaging playground with different areas to play including a zip line, swings, slides, monkey bars, and things to climb on and explore.
Very well maintained. There are many reasons to visit Pullen Park, and their playground is a favourite of Raleigh kids. Two slides, swing sets, 6 climbing apparatus, a sand pit, and room to run around. This recently opened new playground features rubber safety surfacing. The playground includes areas for ages 2 to 5 years and 5 to 12 years, plus adult exercise equipment, a skywalk climbing feature, and nature play elements.
Slides, swings, and sand. This is a neat little park fenced in on a corner block not far from downtown. Clean and well maintained in a historic neighborhood. Great playground with some of the biggest slides around. Separate playgrounds based on age. Swinds, slides, basketball court, and public pool.
Well kept and next to a community center for bathrooms. Courtesy of the Carolina Panthers, the Panther Play 60 Challenge course has different climbing structures and a synthetic turf surface. The yard dash has a timer and synthetic turf surface. There is a play structure for ages years and years with rubberized surfaces and age-appropriate swings.
Hidden gem and quaint little park in a nice neighborhood setting. Ages , wood-chip surface. S the tot cart parking lot with donated toys, scooters, and bikes for the children to use is a hit.
To search all playgrounds in Raleigh, click here or use the park locator app. We know how stressful it can be finding places to eat in Raleigh with kids. Down below are our hand-picked establishments offering kid-friendly menus, and most come with space to sit outside:. Housed in the historic Carolina Coach Garage.
Take your pick from the 12 vendors inside then enjoy your meal outside on the back patio. One of the best burgers in Raleigh. Quintessential old Raleigh with a diverse crowd, fun atmosphere, and tasty creations. Indoor seating plus a nice outdoor covered patio. This cafe is a real throwback to a classic diner. Another good old country breakfast place. Smorgasbord of choices of traditional Southern breakfast and lunch favorites — large portions at a good price.
Indoor and outdoor seating. Retro-industrial restaurant serving traditional American comfort food the locals love!
Fun things to do in raleigh nc for families –
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. s Kids Museum. Marbles Kids Museum ; Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences ; and. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is great for families. Some movies showing in the theater are perfect for kids aged , and other educational.