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Explore the World Beyond Campus
As a student at Carolina, you'll not only live on one of the most dynamic campuses in the country, you'll live close to a variety of one-of-a-kind attractions. In between classes, why not grab a bite to eat on Franklin Street and spend some time soaking up a little Southern culture? In partnership with the Chapel Hill and Orange County Visitor's Bureau, we recommend the following nearby attractions:
Franklin Street
With more than 300 diverse businesses, “Franklin Street” is the heart of Chapel Hill, where the famous have walked and celebrated great sports victories and many more have been entertained simply by strolling its length to see and be seen.
Carr Mill Mall and Weaver Street Market
Carrboro is the kind of small southern town where the past and the present seem to be fused together. Weaver Street Market is the heart of Carrboro. It’s the place to gather, to meet, to shop. Fittingly, it’s just in front of the old Carr Mill building, a relic from an industrial past, in the present serving as a shopping mall full of eclectic stores. Down the street, The ArtsCenter is one-stop-shopping for anything about the arts. Next door is the Cat’s Cradle, the institution that helped the area earn its designation as the “next Seattle” when it comes to the music scene.
Historic Hillsborough
Hillsborough, just fifteen miles from Chapel Hill, has more than 100 late 18th century and early 19th century buildings, including the beautifully restored Ayr Mount Historic Site (c.1815); the Old County Courthouse (1844), cited by the Library of Congress as one of the finest Greek Revival structures; and the Orange County Historical Museum.
North Carolina Botanical Garden
The largest botanical garden in the southeast, established in 1966, consists of nearly 700 acres of preserved land with nature trails, carnivorous plant collections, aquatics and herb gardens, and revolving exhibits of artwork with a horticultural theme. The garden also administers the historic Coker Arboretum, established in 1903, and the recently upgraded 93-acre Battle Park, established in the late 1800s by University President Kemp Plummer Battle, known as “the Southern Thoreau.”
Nearly 300 restaurants and eateries
Ah, but the food... With about 120,000 residents, Orange County has one of the largest concentrations of diverse, multi-ethnic restaurants, eating places, nightclubs, pubs in the country: about one for every 435 people!
"In Chapel Hill, we're spoiled by having world-renowned coffee shops and an incredible array of businesses and non-profits that frequently take on student interns. If you want to work at a successful boutique investment firm or rebuild used bikes with little kids, all you have to do is walk downtown. "
J.J. Raynor⁄ Economics and Peace, War, and Defense⁄ Charlotte, N.C.