Attractions

Haunted pub crawls, film studio tours, beaches, horse-drawn carriage rides, museums, and the riverfront are just a few great Wilmington, N.C., attractions. Explore this section for a full list of things to see and do.

Without question, the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA is the centerpiece of the Wilmington Riverfront. A majestic symbol of this country's hard-earned naval victories in World War II, the battleship is a must-see attraction.

Enshrined in a berth on Eagles Island across the Cape Fear River from historic downtown Wilmington, this awesome vessel is...read more

History, science and cultures of the Lower Cape Fear region, from prehistory to the present, delight all ages at Cape Fear Museum.

Established in 1898, this oldest history museum in North Carolina greets visitors with a 20-foot-tall giant ground sloth skeleton. A miniature re-creation of the second battle of Fort Fisher and...read more

Named for Capt. John Newland Maffitt, one of the Confederacy's most successful blockade runners, the Capt. Maffitt is a converted World War II Navy launch affording 45-minute sightseeing cruises with live historical narration along the Cape Fear River. The water taxi and harbor tours run on Saturday and Sunday in the...read more

This elegant, refurbished riverboat is a large, three-level, paddle-free vessel with capacity for 600 guests. The Henrietta III is so spacious that it can accommodate three separate events. For instance, a wedding party, a private celebration and a public dinner cruise all at the same time. Cruise Cape Fear River in...read more

March 16-18 2012:   The 4th annual Cape Fear Wildlife Expo will showcase the state’s natural resources, wildlife, conservation, and outdoor recreation. The three-day event features more than 100 exhibitors with interactive displays, intriguing workshops and educational activities at the Coastline Conference & Event Center and the new riverfront Wilmington Convention Center. ...read more

Front Street Brewery's brewmaster Kevin Kozak conducts daily tours of the establishment's brewing area. This is Wilmington's only restaurant/brewery combination, and it's definitely worth a stop for a brewery tour and lunch or dinner. Kozak has won more than a few awards for his fine ales and beers. Be sure to...read more

The Wilmington Sea Dawgs "unleash the excitement" of professional basketball in the Port City. The team's record has awarded them a place in the post-season play-offs every year. Playing in the Continental Basketball League and calling Cape Fear Community College's Schwartz Center their home, the Sea Dawgs play an exciting brand...read more

There's only one place in Wilmington where you can enjoy a high-level, high-energy baseball game during the summer - a Wilmington Sharks game. The Wilmington Sharks are one of 15 teams in the Coastal Plain League, a summer collegiate baseball league featuring players from top college programs around the country. The...read more

Located on Water Street near the visitor center information booth, the Wilmington Trolley offers a 45-minute, narrated tour of historic downtown Wilmington over about an 8-mile distance. Available daily from 10 AM to 8 PM, the tours are $11 for adults and $5 for children. Special tour packages are available, as...read more

Situated at the corner of Fifth and Market streets in historic Wilmington, fabulous Bellamy Mansion Museum has been admired by passersby since its completion in early 1861. Over the years, the house withstood fire, vandalism, neglect and urban renewal only to emerge from the ashes, shake off the dust and assume...read more

When Lord Charles Cornwallis, still in danger of a Rebel pursuit, fled in 1781 to the coast after the Battle of Guilford Court House in central North Carolina, he repaired to Wilmington, then a town of 200 houses. He lodged at the gracious Georgian home of John Burgwin, a wealthy planter...read more

Featuring more than 100 species of snakes, most of them deadly, the Serpentarium boasts the largest collection of venomous reptiles in the world. The owner is the major breeder of the spectacular South American bushmaster, the world's longest and deadliest pit viper. The Serpentarium displays the world's only breeding colony of the nearly extinct,...read more

More than 100 years ago, Chandler's Wharf was crowded with mercantile warehouses, its sheds filled with naval stores, tools, cotton and turpentine and its wharves lined with merchantmen. A disastrous (and suspicious) fire in August 1874 changed the site forever. In the late 1970s, Chandler's Wharf became an Old Wilmington riverfront...read more

This tiny church, built in 1858 and originally a mission chapel of First Presbyterian Church, is a remarkable example of Stick Style, or Carpenter Gothic, architecture. Its exterior details include decorative bargeboards with repeating acorn pendants, board-and-batten construction, a louvered bell tower (with carillon) and paired Gothic windows. When the congregation,...read more

This hands-on, learning-through-play museum offers something for children of all ages and interests. Sail the seas as a pirate in Ahoy, Wilmington!, Climb on the new School Bus, examine your teeth in the ToothaSaurus Pediatric Dental Exhibit, perform examinations as a physician in the Teddy Bear Hospital, experiment in the Science...read more

The region's first Baptist church makes this sanctuary the mother church of many other Wilmington Baptist churches. It is also the city's tallest. Its congregation dates to 1808, and construction of the red-brick building began in 1859. The church was not completed until 1870 because of the Civil War, when Confederate...read more

The first Presbyterian minister arrived in Wilmington in 1760 to attend an existing gathering of Presbyterians. The Wilmington Protestant Church was incorporated by the state legislature in the corporated by the state legislature in 1785 and it was received into the Fayetteville Presbytery in 1817. This congregation has long had among...read more

See historic downtown Wilmington the old-fashioned way - by horse-drawn carriage or trolley. This half-hour tour in a fringed-top surrey (open-air trolley) is narrated by a driver wearing nineteenth-century garb. Don't miss the memorable seasonal events, including the romantic horse-drawn Valentine ride in a French evening coach, an "Easter Bunny"-drawn ride,...read more

April 11-15, 2012  No matter the weather, spring doesn't begin in Wilmington until the North Carolina Azalea Festival. The annual Wednesday to Sunday celebration, one of the region's largest, attracts visitors from all over the United States and Canada. Entertainment includes a grand downtown parade, a lively street fair lined with...read more

When Nance Martin died at sea near Cuba in 1857, her body was preserved seated in a chair in a large cask of rum. Six days later, following a quick voyage home, she was interred at Oakdale Cemetery, cask and all. Her monument and many other curious, beautiful and historic markers...read more

The heart and soul of downtown Wilmington is its riverfront. Once a bustling, gritty confusion of warehouses, docks and sheds — all suffused with the odor of turpentine — the wharf was the state's most important commercial port. Much has changed today. Now, experience Wilmington's charm and historical continuity by strolling...read more

St. James is the oldest church in continuous use in Wilmington. The parish was established in 1729, but the church was not built until 1751. Construction was aided by a tax of one shilling and four pence levied on all taxes of the parish by the Genergal Assembly for three years....read more

Established in 1869, this was the first African American Episcopal in eastern North Carolina, and services have been conducted  since then. The building, completed in 1875, is a simple Gothic revival structure with a buttressed nave and octagonal bell tower. All visitors are welcome to attend worship services on Sunday. Call the church...read more

Numerous historical writers have referred to this Spanish baroque edifice (built 1908-11) as a major architectural creation, often pointing out the elaborate tiling, especially inside the dome, which embraces most of this church's cross-vaulted interior space. The structure was build without nails or wooden beams. The plan of the brick building...read more

Responding to the growing number of German Lutherans in Wilmington, North Carolina's Lutheran Synod organized St. Paul's in 1858. Services began in 1861 as the Civil War broke. Construction came to a halt when German artisans working on the building volunteered for the 18th North Carolina Regiment and became the first...read more

The oldest Jewish temple in North Carolina, this unique Moorish revival-style building was erected in 1875-76 for a Reform congregation established in 1872. Its two square towers are topped by small onion domes, and the paired, diamond-paned windows exhibit a mix of architrave shapes, including Romanesque, trefoil and Anglo-Saxon arches. Another...read more

Conceived as a combined political and cultural center, Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts was built between 1855 and 1858. During its first 75 years, the hall brought great national performers and some surprising celebrities to its stage: Lillian Russell, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Philip Sousa, Oscar Wilde and Tom...read more

Historian and lifelong Cape Fear resident Bob Jenkins, the man with the straw hat and walking cane, leads the Wilmington Adventure Walking Tour. He speaks passionately and knowledgeably about his hometown. Expounding upon architectural details, family lineage, and historic events, Bob covers 250 years of history in about two hours. See...read more

Inspiring business conferences, grand banquets, intimate meetings and family celebrations find a home at this stunning new convention center that opened in fall 2010. Situated near Wilmington's historic district, the 107,000-square-foot center's design reflects the city's rail and port history. Interior wrought-iron details honor trains that once ran the Atlantic Coast...read more

In 1866-67, immediately after the Civil War, the United States Congress enacted legislation to create national cemeteries to honor and protect the remains of U.S. soldiers who died in battle or of disease. The Wilmington National Cemetery was established in 1867 on 5 acres of land about a mile east of downtown. The...read more

The history and heritage of railroads in Wilmington is clearly borne out by this museum's fine photographs and artifacts. Beyond details of more than 130 years of history, the Railroad Museum is fun for people of all ages fascinated by trains and train culture. For the price of admission, you can...read more

This magnificent Italianate building, built by a prosperous merchant from Connecticut, dates from 1852 and is remarkable for its original furnishings and artwork. The house boasts fine architectural details such as window cornices and wreaths in the frieze openings, all made of cast iron, and a piazza with intricate, wrought-iron tracery....read more