30 FUN Things To Do In Wilmington, NC

There is no shortage of amazing things to do in Wilmington, North Carolina. Visitors can enjoy a spooky ghost walking tour, catch some waves at the beach, or cruise down the Cape Fear River in this historic port town. It’s one of our favorite destinations in North Carolina, and we should know — it’s the closest thing we have to a home as full-time travelers.

Cameron and I met in Wilmington, and his family still lives here, so we travel back every year to slow down. We both consider ourselves locals, which is why it pains us to see vacationers doing the same few things every trip when there’s so much more to explore. Here’s our updated, edited-down guide to the best things to do in Wilmington — whether you love the land or the water.

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Best Things to Do in Wilmington, NC

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Go to the Beach!

You can’t visit Wilmington without hitting the beach — it’s probably the main reason you’re here. There are three main beaches nearby:

There are three main beaches in the Wilmington area to visit.

• Wrightsville Beach: The most conveniently located, with the most upscale vibe, higher-end hotels, and landmarks like Johnnie Mercer’s Fishing Pier.
• Carolina Beach: About 30 minutes away across Snows Cut Bridge. It’s kitschier than Wrightsville, with great beach bars, restaurants, and a boardwalk — this is our favorite of the three.
• Kure Beach: The quietest, with an older, small-town beach vibe. Walk the pier and eat at Freddie’s.

For something further afield, Masonboro Island is a boat- or kayak-only barrier island good for a quiet day trip or overnight camping, and Topsail Beach (about 50 minutes out) is a sleepier community popular with families and groups.

Tip: Wrightsville Beach Bikes and Boards rents beach cruisers if you want to explore on two wheels rather than four.

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Try Your Hand at Surfing

The beaches around Wilmington are great for beginners thanks to a shallow, gently sloping ocean floor and smaller summer swells. Wrightsville Beach Surf Camp can get you hooked, no matter your age.

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Stand Up Paddleboard at Wrightsville Beach

Wrightsville has a different vibe than Carolina or Kure — cleaner and less crowded, especially outside of peak summer. Wrightsville SUP offers rentals (from around $35/day) and lessons if you want to try it out before committing to buying your own board.

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Stroll Through Airlie Gardens

Airlie Gardens is a 67-acre botanical garden on the way to Wrightsville Beach, filled with oaks, outdoor art, walking paths, and seasonal flowers — one of the most romantic and relaxed things to do in Wilmington.

It hosts events throughout the year, including an Oyster Roast, a summer concert series, and holiday lights (buy tickets well in advance for that one).

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Go Fishing!

Wilmington is a fishing town. Make sure you have a license unless you’re on a fee-charging pier or a licensed charter boat. Options include:

• Surf fishing from the beach
• Fishing Snow’s Cut or Carolina Beach State Park
• Deep-sea charters out of Carolina Beach or Wrightsville Beach
• Casting off Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, or Johnnie Mercer’s Pier
• The Winner Gulf Stream Fishing cruise

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Enjoy a Live Event!

Wilmington hosts festivals nearly every weekend, especially in spring and summer. Our favorites are the NC Azalea Festival, the Cucalorus Film Festival, and Wilmington Beer Week. For something weekly, check the farmers market at Tidal Creek Co-op or a concert at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater.

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Disc Golf in Wilmington

This is Cameron’s favorite thing to do in Wilmington when the weather’s good. All four local courses are free to play — you just need a disc ($10 at shops like Outdoor Provisions or CB Surf).

• North Regional Park, Castle Hayne: The best course in the area, 18 holes, prone to mud after rain.
• Joe Eakes Park, Kure Beach: Cameron’s favorite — 18 holes through a coastal forest with sand fairways, though it gets windy.
• Arrowhead Park: 18-hole par-3 course with fun elevation changes.
• Good Hops Brewing, Carolina Beach: All par-3, and you can legally grab a beer mid-round.

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Run “The Loop”

The John Nesbitt Loop is a flat, dog- and kid-friendly 2.5-mile running path around Wrightsville Beach. For something longer, the trail from UNCW to the Loop and back makes a full half marathon on paved path — great for serious training runs.

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Enjoy a Trolley Tour Downtown

With its historic buildings and homes, Downtown Wilmington fully deserves to be appreciated, and exploring is a definite Wilmington thing to do. I love our historic waterfront. If it’s your first time, consider hopping on a trolley tour, it’s one of the best things you can do in Wilmington. That’s right – downtown Wilmington still runs modified trolleys through town. You can find the trolley route here.

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Have Fondue at Little Dipper

Little Dipper Fondue, tucked into a restored 1937 building downtown, has been a Wilmington institution since 2005 — tableside cheese fondue, entrées cooked to order, and chocolate fondue for dessert. It’s still one of our go-to spots for a special occasion.

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Bar Hop Downtown or Carolina Beach

Downtown, most bars line Front Street and run back toward 3rd. There’s something for every crowd — dive bars, rooftop bars, breweries, and clubs. Our regulars: Barbary Coast (the dive bar from Blue Velvet), The Husk, Blue Post (pool and arcade), and Duck & Dive.

Down at Carolina Beach, the vibe is beachier and less collegiate. Stop by Fat Pelican (our favorite dive bar anywhere), Crush & Grind (craft beer and coffee by day, wine bar by night), Ocean Grill and Tiki Bar (pricey but unbeatable on a nice day), or Sea Witch Tiki Bar for weekend live music.

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Grab a Craft Beer

Wilmington has become a genuine craft beer town over the last decade. A few of our favorites: Front Street Brewery(the OG, open since 1995), Wrightsville Beach Brewery, Edward Teach Brewing, and Flying Machine Brewing Company.

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Shop at The Cotton Exchange

A collection of boutique shops inside a historic downtown cotton warehouse — best visited on weekends when it’s liveliest. Good spot for antiques, locally made goods, and art if you want a change of pace from the beach.

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Cruise the Cape Fear River

See downtown Wilmington and the river from the water with Cape Fear Riverboats. The Henrietta III runs sunset cruises on Saturdays with a bar and light snacks, plus shorter, more educational daily tours.

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Ride the Sea Legs Pedal Pub

A pedal-powered bar crawl on the water, out of Carolina Beach — you pedal (with a captain steering), bring your own drinks, and take in the views over a 90-minute ride. Time it for a Thursday night in summer for the fireworks cruise.

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Take the Kids to Jungle Rapids

An outdoor water park with body slides, a lazy river, and a wave pool, plus a year-round dry side with go-karts, mini golf, laser tag, bowling, and a climbing wall. Good for a full day if you want to cool off without dealing with beach sand.

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Play Beach Volleyball

Capt’n Bill’s on Market Street is Wilmington’s hub for organized beach volleyball, with leagues at every level, tournaments, and a bar and grill on-site if you just want to watch.

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Tour the USS North Carolina

The USS North Carolina (BB-55) battleship is docked right in Wilmington and open year-round, with exhibits on its role in every major Pacific naval offensive of WWII. Visit around Halloween for the haunted ship tour.

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Check Out the Cameron Art Museum

If you are looking something to do when it rains head to the Cameron Art Museum with the family. The museum frequently has interesting exhibitions, classes, workshops, and events.

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Take a Ghost Walk

Wilmington has been a port town since the 16th century, and it has the stories to prove it. The Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington covers the city’s darker history downtown — there’s also a haunted pub crawl if you want a drink with your chills.

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Kayak Around Zeke’s Island

One of Cameron’s favorite Wilmington activities — Zeke’s Island is an NC Coastal Reserve reachable only by shallow-water boat, with a launch at Federal Point. Bring a cooler and chairs. We’d skip crossing the old Civil War wall to the island itself — Cameron got caught out there once during a high tide, and it wasn’t pretty.

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Visit the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher

A real research center, not just a tourist attraction — home to Luna the albino alligator, Maverick the rescued bald eagle, and a seasonal butterfly garden.

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Hunt for a Venus Flytrap at Carolina Beach State Park

One of our favorite sunset spots in Wilmington, and one of the only places on Earth to see Venus flytraps growing wild. There’s good fishing, a boat launch onto the Cape Fear River, shaded hiking trails, and campsites for tents and RVs.

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Have a Coffee at Bitty and Beau

A local couple opened this coffee shop to employ people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — it’s since grown into a national brand (with Wilmington roots) and the owner won CNN’s Hero of the Year. Worth the stop even if you’re not a coffee person.

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Catch a Wilmington Sharks Game

The Carolinas don’t have an MLB team, but the Sharks play collegiate summer ball at Legion Stadium. Thursdays are $1 draft night — a great, cheap evening out.

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Experience Hollywood East

Wilmington was once dubbed the “Hollywood of the East,” and One Tree Hill, Iron Man, The Conjuring, and several Nicholas Sparks adaptations were all filmed here (Cameron even got a moment on the local news once). Film incentives dried up after 2014 and production has slowed significantly, but you can still do a self-guided tour of old filming locations around town.

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Try Britts Donut

Everyone in Wilmington raves about Britt’s — a classic glazed donut, coffee, and milk, and nothing else on the menu. Expect a line in summer. No credit cards.

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Day Trip to Southport

Southport sits where the Cape Fear River meets the Atlantic and has been called “America’s Happiest Seaside Town.” It’s full of cute shops and restaurants — don’t skip Provision Company for lunch. You can drive, but the ferry from Fort Fisher is the more scenic way in. Check NCDOT for ferry schedules and ticket prices.

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Wilmington Railroad Museum

Set inside an old train station, with real artifacts tracing the evolution of the railroad and its role in shaping the city. Climb aboard a century-old caboose, and there’s an interactive hall for kids.

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Historic House Museums

The Bellamy Mansion shows off Greek Revival, Neoclassical, and Italianate architecture with an on-site museum and regular tours. The Burgwin-Wright House, built in 1770, is the city’s only colonial-era structure open to the public, with expansive gardens to wander.

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Check Out the Museum of the Bizarre

A small, quirky downtown museum of oddities and curiosities — think Houdini’s Ouija board, movie props from local film shoots, and a two-headed calf. $3 admission, and genuinely fun for an hour.

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Walk Poplar Grove Plantation

A preserved 1850s plantation with a manor house tour, on-site museum, and horseback riding. It’s also an important stop for understanding the region’s pre–Civil War history, including its history as a sweet potato and peanut farm worked by enslaved people.

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Relax at Greenfield Lake

Over 250 acres of waterfront trails, a playground, gazebo, skate park, and boat rentals — one of the most dog-friendly spots in the city and a good fishing spot too. The Greenfield Lake Amphitheater on the grounds hosts concerts, theater, and festivals year-round; check Live Nation for the current schedule.

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Explore Fort Fisher State Historic Site

Once a Confederate fort protecting the region’s trading ports, and the site of the largest amphibious battle fought on U.S. soil. Today it’s a mix of preserved fortifications, a museum, and miles of beach and salt marsh trails.

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Visit the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science

A solid rainy-day option with something for every age — hands-on science exhibits for kids and deep dives into local history, including the Fire! Gallery and Cape Fear Stories.

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Where to Eat in Wilmington

This is all our opinion, but these are the best places to eat and drink in Wilmington!

• Indochine — Thai-fusion, always busy, always worth the wait. One of our go-tos for special occasions.
• Dock Street Oyster Bar — Steamed and raw oysters in a relaxed bar setting.
• Flaming Amy’s — A colorful Wilmington institution known for its burritos.
• Little Dipper Fondue — See above.
• Front Street Brewery — Good beer, good food, reasonable prices, expect a wait on summer weekends.
• Cape Fear Seafood Company — Doesn’t look like much, isn’t waterfront, but reliably good local seafood.
• Slice of Life — The best pizza in Wilmington, hands down.
• Crush & Grind — Our favorite coffee shop (technically in Carolina Beach), craft coffee by day, wine bar by night.

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Wilmington Attractions Map

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How to Get There

Wilmington has its own small airport, Wilmington International (ILM), with flights connecting mostly through Charlotte, plus some direct routes from Atlanta and Dallas. It’s easy to navigate and often no more expensive than flying into Charlotte or Raleigh.

By car, Wilmington sits at the eastern end of I-40 — about 2 hours from Raleigh, 3.5 from Charleston, 4 from Charlotte, and 1.5 to Myrtle Beach. There isn’t much public transit here, so plan on a rental car, which you can pick up right at ILM.

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Wilmington Weather

The busiest months — Memorial Day through Labor Day — aren’t necessarily the best. Expect temperatures over 90°F with high humidity. We prefer the shoulder seasons: April, May, September, and October, when it’s warm enough for the beach without the oppressive heat, and prices and crowds are both lower.

September and October are our top pick for weather, though hurricane season is a real consideration on the NC coast (a major hurricane hits roughly every 3–4 years; the last one was Florence in 2018).

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Where To Stay in Wilmington

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We Love Wilmington, NC

I moved from Michigan to Wilmington, NC, when I was 19 years old in search of a different lifestyle in the South and a college degree. Wilmington became my home while I attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

People often asked me why I moved to Wilmington, and I was searching for an “out” of the harsh Michigan winters. I Googled “Universities on the Beach,” and the rest was history. It took me one day in Wilmington to realize I had picked an excellent school and home and was living where other people vacationed.

I think the decision to move to North Carolina completely changed the path of my life as well. While in college, I got involved in some great programs, used my school’s study abroad program to venture out to Australia, and fell in love with travel. Now, I run a travel blog for a living and have traveled to over 100 countries!

Cameron and I also met in Wilmington and now travel back here every year when we want to slow down since Cameron’s family lives in Wilmington. We both very much consider ourselves locals, and that’s why it pains me to see vacationers here doing the same few things daily when there is so much more. (Oh, and Cameron has even been on the local news… We get this place!)