Chapel Hill



Scenic and regularly decked out in "Carolina blue", Chapel Hill is a lovely college town in North Carolina that makes up the westernmost point of the Research Triangle. The town is the smallest of the Triangle's three cities, with an influence and pull that belies its size. Based around the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the town caters heavily to the local student population, with plenty of bars and restaurants near the university's beautiful campus. Immediately to the west of Chapel Hill is the adjacent town of Carrboro, an old mill town now known for its local shops, restaurants and nightlife.

Understand
The town began as a small village of a thousand people consisting of mostly Scottish and English immigrants arriving in the area during the 1700s; the village took its name from the New Hope Chapel, which happened to be situated on a hill (the Carolina Inn of Chapel Hill now stands where the chapel once was). The town was founded in 1819 to support the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and later was incorporated in 1851. The adjacent town of Carrboro was settled in the 1880s around a spur rail line built to serve the university; the town is named for Julian Carr, who purchased a local cotton mill and installed electricity in the town. Today, Carrboro is where many UNC students live, owing to its cheaper rents, and is home to the Weaver Street Market (a local co-op), a popular farmers' market, plenty of bars and restaurants, and a bunch of festivals.

Like much of the rest of the Piedmont, the landscape is hilly and heavily wooded, becoming very lush and green in the summer months. Politically, Chapel Hill is liberal compared to much of North Carolina. Although legend says that the town became liberal when a Union general married former UNC President Swain’s daughter, Chapel Hill’s liberal politics are similar to many US college towns and are bolstered by nearby Carrboro, which is known for being a bastion of liberalism in the state. It is not uncommon to see a protest in Chapel Hill and/or on the university campus for various liberal causes, with the traditional locus of this being the square in front of the post office on Franklin Street across from the campus.

By car
Interstate 40 passes along the north and east side of Chapel Hill, with three exits: NC 86 (Exit 266), US 15/501 (Exit 270), and NC 54 (Exit 273). From the west, NC 86 (which becomes Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in Chapel Hill) is the best exit. Be warned that Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd is a notorious speed trap through Chapel Hill, where the speed limit is only despite the road being designed to handle much faster speeds. From the east (say, Raleigh or the Research Triangle Park), NC 54 (which becomes Raleigh Road) is a good option. Coming from Durham, US 15/501 is the most direct route.

By plane
The nearest commercial airport is Raleigh-Durham International Airport, a 20 minute drive to the east in Morrisville, just off I-40. RDU has two terminals; Terminal 1 services budget carrier Southwest, while the more modern and architecturally impressive Terminal 2 services American Airlines/American Eagle, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, and United. Both terminals have restaurants, newsstands and smaller versions of North Carolinian stores such as A Southern Season and the ACC Store. RDU also has rental car services and overnight car parking. If taking public transit, Triangle Transit route #100 takes you from the airport to the Regional Transit Center, where you can then transfer to #800 or #805 to Chapel Hill.

By train
The nearest Amtrak stop is in Durham, which is served by the New York City-Charlotte Carolinian line and the Raleigh-Charlotte Piedmont line. The station is across the train tracks from the Durham Station Transportation Center, where you can take Triangle Transit #400 or #405 to Chapel Hill.

By bus
Limited commuter service from Greensboro and Burlington is provided by PART (Piedmont Authority for Regional Transit) Route 4, with connections to Winston-Salem and High Point.

There is no long-distance scheduled bus service into Chapel Hill. Greyhound and Megabus serve the bus depot in Durham; from there you can take Triangle Transit #400 or #405 to Chapel Hill.

Get around
The UNC campus and the downtown area are very pleasantly walkable, but going further afield largely requires transportation by car. Anything outside the immediate Franklin Street downtown area can be frustrating on foot, with long distances and fast-moving car traffic. Grocery stores are a fairly long walk from downtown Chapel Hill, although downtown Carrboro is served by the Weaver Street Market and a Harris Teeter. Limited public transit service around town is provided by the fare-free Chapel Hill Transit bus system.

Curb parking in the downtown area is available but often full, especially while school is in session, making it hard to find a spot. Paid lots and garages are available along Rosemary Street, just north of Franklin Street. Outside of the downtown area, parking is very easy to find.

By bike
Chapel Hill is a great location for recreational biking, with local mountain biking trails and scenic road riding through local farmland. Commuting by bike is popular in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. The Carrboro area is somewhat bike-friendly, while Chapel Hill is spotted by steep hills and poorly lit stretches of road. Some roads have bike lanes or wide shoulders, and there are also several bike-only paths; however, these tend to be short and do not tend to serve as transportation routes, but rather as exercise areas.

UNC Bike Share is available for visitors to use. Once you create an account, you can ride bikes from hubs around campus and the downtown area. You can use them up to an hour a day for free; extra time costs $5 per hour.



Buy
There are an assortment of local shops along Franklin/Main Street through Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The only sizeable mall in town would be the on Estes Drive off of Fordham Blvd on the northern side of town, with a small selection of shops and restaurants, including the popular A Southern Season store. However, a much wider selection of shops can be found at (off I-40 past the eastern edge of town in Durham), an upscale mall with indoor and outdoor shopping and dining.



Food

 * For groceries, Harris Teeter has locations on in Carrboro and at the, and Food Lion at the western end of Main St in Carrboro and on the north side of Chapel Hill at Fordham Blvd and Ephesus Church Rd. There's a  on the north side of town at Franklin St and Elliott Rd, and a  nearby at Fordham Blvd and Ephesus Church Rd.
 * For groceries, Harris Teeter has locations on in Carrboro and at the, and Food Lion at the western end of Main St in Carrboro and on the north side of Chapel Hill at Fordham Blvd and Ephesus Church Rd. There's a  on the north side of town at Franklin St and Elliott Rd, and a  nearby at Fordham Blvd and Ephesus Church Rd.
 * For groceries, Harris Teeter has locations on in Carrboro and at the, and Food Lion at the western end of Main St in Carrboro and on the north side of Chapel Hill at Fordham Blvd and Ephesus Church Rd. There's a  on the north side of town at Franklin St and Elliott Rd, and a  nearby at Fordham Blvd and Ephesus Church Rd.

Eat
Many restaurants in Chapel Hill are on Franklin Street and the roads nearby Franklin Street, but some restaurants are away from Franklin and others can be found in residential neighborhoods such as Meadowmont and Southern Village within the Chapel Hill city limits.

If you need to use a bathroom on Franklin Street, remember that most restaurants require a food purchase before using their bathroom facilities, even on nights such as Halloween and nights where Franklin Street shuts down for bonfires (i.e. if the UNC men's basketball team wins against Duke University).

If ordering delivery, consider restaurants in Durham too – some of them deliver to Chapel Hill.

Drink
Being a college town, Chapel Hill and adjacent Carrboro have more than their fair share of bars. All the nightlife options are sandwiched along Franklin and Rosemary Streets in Chapel Hill and Main Street in Carrboro, with Thursday and Saturday nights being the busiest.

Coffee

 * The most convenient option in Chapel Hill is, in the middle of town near the intersection of Franklin Street and Columbia Road and is regularly open. There are other coffee shops in the downtown area and on the UNC campus.
 * If you are on campus, one option sits on the western edge of campus: in the Health Sciences Library at 335 S Columbia St. However, hours are limited once school is out of session.

Sleep
Most accommodations in Chapel Hill are of the chain variety. If you want to stay in the center of town, you have three options, and they tend to be expensive: the Carolina Inn and the Franklin Hotel in Chapel Hill, and a newly opened Hampton Inn in Carrboro. There are cheaper accommodations on two of the main roads out of town, Highway 15-501 and Raleigh Road, positioned to take advantage of their proximity to I-40, and driving into town from one of these will be all but necessary as bus service on the edge of town can be inconvenient at best.

Connect

 * Any of the libraries on the UNC campus have public terminals to access the internet. The campus also has guest Wi-Fi, available at certain locations.
 * The Town of Carrboro has free wireless; see the website for maps and access areas.
 * The has Wi-Fi free of charge. Bring your own laptop, unless you are a resident or wish to pay an annual library card fee. You need a library card to use the computers.

Go next

 * Durham is a short drive northeast of Chapel Hill and home to the prestigious (and rival sports institution) Duke University, a couple of museums, a small historic downtown, a major performing arts center, and trendy bars, cafes, and galleries.
 * Eno River State Park offers miles of hiking trails, including some that lead to an old quarry that is now a popular swimming hole, and is outside Durham.
 * Raleigh, the state capital, is about a 45-minute drive east and home to the state museums of art, history, and science, the state symphony and ballet, and the campus of the North Carolina State University.
 * Hillsborough, the county seat, is a cute historic town a half-hour drive north of Chapel Hill, good for a day trip or to spend a night or two.
 * Pittsboro, another historic town with activities on the Haw River, a half-hour drive southeast