The list of necessary things to do in Durham starts to get longer and longer until you start to lose track of all the amazing opportunities that are at your disposal. We’re here to make that a little easier for you.
So whether you’ve just arrived, only here for a short time visiting, moving on, or lived here a while and just haven’t got around it. Here’s a bucket list of 50 things you have to do in Durham!
Bull City Bucket List
- Visit the Durham Farmers Market in Durham Central Park
- Grab some coffee at Bean Traders
- Enjoy some breakfast at Guglhupf
- Stroll through Sarah P. Duke Gardens
- Explore Duke University’s campus
- Take a walk through the Duke Chapel and admire the beautiful organ
- Soak in the sun at the American Tobacco Campus
- Buy some local fruits and vegetables from Perkin’s Orchard
- Walk the trails of the Eno River State Park
- Grab some dinner and sit outside at Geer St. Garden
- Ride a bike along the American Tobacco Trail
- Go to a Duke University’s Basketball game
- Grab some donuts from Monuts
- Walk around downtown Durham and look at all the murals (some are hidden)
- Indulge in some brunch at True Flavors off of Route 55 and say “yes” when they offer biscuits to start with (I can honestly say they have the best biscuits I’ve ever tasted)
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- Take a picture with a bull
- Play shuffleboard at the Surf Club on Rigsbee Ave
- Play darts at Fullsteam and grab a beer while you’re at it
- Go to a Durham Bulls Baseball game
- Walk and shop along 9th St
- See a show at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC)
- Visit the Ninth Street Bakery and if available order the cruffin – you will not regret it
- Enjoy some ice cream from The Parlour
- View Satellite Park at the Duke Arts Annex
- Explore the campus of North Carolina Central University
- Order a cider flight at Bull City Ciderworks
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- Spend a couple hours at the Durham Museum of Life and Science
- Grab a meal from one of the many food trucks the city has to offer
- Walk through the museum at 21C Hotel
- Scarf down an entire BBQ platter from The Original Q Shack (Do not even get me started on the hushpuppies! Those delicious gems deserve their own article)
- Get the taco lunch combo from NanaTaco
- Visit Brightleaf Square
- Eat and shop at the wonderful Parker and Otis
- Enjoy breakfast at Foster’s Market and grab some food for later
- Order a gin and tonic from Alley Twenty Six
- Enjoy drinks on the rooftop balcony of the Durham Hotel
- Savor a burger and beer at Bull City Burger and Brewery
- See a concert at the MotorCo Music Hall
- Grab a coffee or hot chocolate from Cocoa Cinnamon
- Visit the Blue Note Grill and enjoy some BBQ and music (Before you go, check their calendar and pick a night where they have a live performance! Some bands may require a cover charge)
Q Shack
Foster’s Market
Beaver Queen Pageant
Pizzeria Toro
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- Eat your way through all the pastries made at the Loaf Bakery
- Find a festival to go to – I made it to the Earth Day Festival in Durham Central Park and the Beaver Queen Pageant in Duke Park
- If you love to shop the Streets at Southpoint is the place for you
- Order and eat a wood-fired pizza from Pizzeria Toro
- Tour and sample gins, liqueurs, and vodkas at the Durham Distillery (Go ahead and buy some bottles to take home with you. You know you want to!)
- Eat some empanadas at Luna
- Visit the Nasher Museum of Art (Thursdays they have free admission!)
- Enjoy some classic diner dishes at Elmo’s Diner
- Mark your calendar for a Third Friday in Durham to view art exhibits, listen to music, shop, and eat
- Follow and subscribe to Best of the Bull for information on all the happenings in Durham! I remember coming across the site and reading every article because I didn’t want to miss out on anything! I made an entire list of places to go to and things to see from Best of the Bull articles. And after having the opportunity to explore Durham even more as a contributor, I can happily and truthfully say that Durham is one of the greatest cities that the United States has to offer!
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This article is by our contributor, Kaitlin Martin who sadly moved on to Virginia, but put together this awesome bucket list for all of us to enjoy!
A Note From Kaitlin:
When I moved down to Durham, North Carolina last August I didn’t know what to expect from the city. I figured I would get a job, make some friends, and try to avoid the full responsibilities of adulthood for as long as I could. The proposition to move down to Durham came from my best friend who was accepted into a graduate program at Duke University. She wanted to have a familiar face in Durham and of course I saw this as an opportunity to start brand new since I had just graduated from college in my home state of Virginia.
I’m not going to lie, finding a job proved to be extremely difficult and I was frustrated with myself and the area for the first few months I lived there. I worked a retail job, made a couple friends from work, and tried my best to stay positive and hopeful, but seeing as how I’m moving back to Virginia, things didn’t work out as I had planned and hoped for.
The restaurants, parks, and events around Durham were some of the things that kept me happy during my 10-month stint in Durham. I always looked forward to brunch at Foster’s Market. My perfect Saturday was a visit to the Durham Farmer’s Market and a walk through Eno River State Park. I could spend hours just sitting in the rocking chairs at the American Tobacco Campus and eating ice cream from The Parlour. I may have not found my dream job in Durham, but I found my dream city and maybe one day I’ll return.
Here is a list of 50 things I did in Durham this past year that made my time there worthwhile. For the sake of tense, the listed is written in the present because if any of you readers haven’t done some of these things, you can add them to your Durham Bucket List!
Author: Kaitlin Martin
Hello hello! My name is Kaitlin and I graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in May of 2017. I moved down to Durham this past summer and have enjoyed getting to explore the city and the opportunities here SO much! From the food to the nightlife, Durham never ceases to amaze me. When I’m not scarfing down breakfast food and chocolate, I enjoy spending time outside, reading, and writing. Sometimes you just have to get out of your head and into the world.
