Charlotte Travel Guide
Arrival
Charlotte has one of the busiest airports in the country. American Airlines has their hub there so it’s quite easy to have a direct flight there from many cities throughout the United States - and internationally. And I’m not sure there is an airline that doesn’t fly into CLT - except Allegiant. They do however fly into Concord, just about 20 minutes northeast of Charlotte (close to UNC Charlotte and the Charlotte Motor Speedway). They are the only airline that flies in there so it makes it easy to navigate.
Driving there is also easy with interstates 77 and 85 running through the city and I-40 and I-26 not far away. Parking can be at a premium though in Uptown and cars aren’t always needed. Ride shares are plentiful and the light rail runs from the south side of the city all the way up to the UNC Charlotte campus. It makes it an easy and inexpensive way to visit places throughout Uptown and the brewery haven in South End.
If you’re up for an adventure, Amtrak does stop in Charlotte but routes can take a long time to get there.
The light rail heading towards Uptown from the UNC Charlotte campus
Stay
Charlotte has several neighborhoods to explore but Uptown is certainly the center of it all. And, technically, Charlotte doesn’t have a Downtown (you can read why here) so the city center is Uptown. For hotels we’ve stayed in the Hilton Charlotte City Center and the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel.
There are a plethora of vacation rentals. Condos are the default in Uptown but going with an Airbnb can get you in the neighborhoods that have a lot of the breweries and other restaurants (South End, Plaza Midwood and NoDa) which is good because the hotels in these areas are few and far between.
If you are coming in for a NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway then you’ll want to look at the hotels around Concord. The cluster around I-85 and Bruton Smith Boulevard will be the closest. That area also has the Concord Mills Mall, the Sea Life Aquarium and tons of restaurants.
The UNC Charlotte campus is on the north east side of Charlotte not far from Concord and very close to Harrisburg. This area of town also has lots of hotel options, shopping, restaurants and a handful of breweries.
Views of Uptown from the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel
See
Charlotte is a huge sports town. NASCAR is obviously a big draw but in terms of major league sports there are the NFL Carolina Panthers and NBA Charlotte Hornets. Minor league sports also abound with Charlotte Knights (Minor League Baseball), Charlotte Independence (Minor League Soccer) and the Charlotte Checkers (Minor League Hockey). For college level sports you have UNC Charlotte as well as Winthrop University just across the border in South Carolina and Davidson College near Lake Norman.
For outdoor activities, the amusement park, Carowinds, is a short drive from Uptown and sits on the NC/SC border. The US National Whitewater Center also has a ton of trails and, yes, rafting. If you are looking for some free spots you can visit Latta Plantation Nature Reserve, Lake Norman State Park or one of the many greenways around the city. UNC Charlotte also has a botanical garden on campus that is free to access and explore.
Being a large city there are also lots of museums and theaters to partake in as well as the NASCAR Hall of Fame. For kids there are some indoor options with the Sea Life Aquarium and the Discovery Place Science Center.
If you have some time to spend outside of Charlotte there are lots of great places that you can do an overnight (or even a day trip to). I have a blog post that covers some of my favorites that you can read here.
UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens
Food & Drink
If you are anything like me when you travel, you are looking for some breweries! I have a blog post about my favorite ones in the Queen City all broken down by area. You can read that here.
If you want a good combination of brewery AND food you can’t go wrong with either Legion Brewing in Southpark or Salud Cerveceria in NoDa. I’ve yet to have an even mediocre meal at Legion. The menu has some staples but is updated regularly. Their location in Plaza Midwood also has food but they really excel at the one in Southpark. And Salud has phenomenal pizza. They are named after Outkast songs and have inventive ingredients like honey or potato.
Dilworth Tasting Room is in the Dilworth area just outside of Uptown and has great drink options and yummy cheese plates and flat bread. Sea Level is THE place to go for seafood in Uptown. They truck in fresh seafood from the coast daily. Their drink options are great as well and have awesome oyster options. Barcelona Wine Bar is at the beginning of the South End area and has delicious Spanish tapas at lunch/dinner and a fantastic weekend brunch. In Plaza Midwood we enjoy Moo & Brew for good burgers and a plentiful beer list and Soul Gastrolounge for their tapas and sushi.
A few of our favorites have multiple locations throughout Charlotte and its suburbs: Rhino Market & Deli has salads and sandwiches (my husband loves the hot roast beef) and you can eat in or take it to go. They have beer and wine options also to have there or to go! Amelie’s French Bakery has awesome French inspired cuisine but I love to stock up on their macarons. For Mexican, we love Que Onda. You MUST try their Coca Cola Carnitas tacos. And no visit to North Carolina would be complete without having barbeque and Midwood Smokehouse is the ultimate Carolina BBQ stop. I mean, even Justin Timberlake went there when he was in town! They have a total of 5 locations so finding one near you shouldn’t be too hard.
The original Midwood Smokehouse in the Plaza Midwood area of Charlotte