Free & Cheap Things to Do in Durham

Gardens

55-acre botanical garden on the Duke University campus with four distinct collections — the formal Italianate Terraces, the Doris Duke Center, the William Louis Culberson Asiatic Arboretum, and the H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants. Year-round bloom rotation from spring camellias and Yoshino cherries to fall maples. Free admission since the gardens were founded in 1934.

Address: 420 Anderson St, Durham, NC 27708

Tip: Pay parking via Pay By Phone app (location 3109). Free street parking on weekends and after 7 pm on Anderson St (subject to availability). Open dawn to dusk year-round.

Architecture & Walks

A 210-foot Gothic Revival cathedral at the center of Duke's West Campus, built 1930-1932 of Hillsborough bluestone with 77 stained-glass windows. The Aeolian organ (1932) and the Flentrop organ (1976) are both internationally significant; the 50-bell carillon plays daily. Free and open to the public, with free Sunday docent-led tours after the 11 am service.

Address: 401 Chapel Dr, Durham, NC 27708

Tip: Open Mon-Sun 10 am–8 pm. Free docent tours Sundays ~12:15 pm (meet on the front steps). Free 5 pm carillon recital weekdays. Free open organ rehearsals Tue-Thu 1-1:45 pm during the academic year.

Arts & Culture

Duke's contemporary and global art museum with strong collections of African art, modern and contemporary American art, and Pre-Columbian works. Designed by Rafael Viñoly with five glass-roofed pavilions opening on a central court. Rotating major exhibitions on loan from international collections — recent shows have spotlighted Black artists, Indigenous artists, and contemporary photography.

Address: 2001 Campus Dr, Durham, NC 27708

Tip: Free for everyone always; free on Thursdays applies to special exhibitions too. Free Bass Connections parking lot (signage marked Nasher) right beside the museum. Closed Mondays.

History & Military Sites

Site of the largest Confederate surrender of the Civil War — Joseph E. Johnston surrendered 89,270 troops across the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida to William Tecumseh Sherman here over three days in April 1865. Reconstructed Bennett farmhouse, kitchen, and smokehouse give the visitor a glimpse of an ordinary Southern farmer's life; the 30-foot Unity Monument commemorates the peace.

Address: 4409 Bennett Memorial Rd, Durham, NC 27705

Tip: Open Tue-Sat 9-5; visitor center, nature trails, and grounds always free. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Allow about an hour for the visitor center exhibits and walking the reconstructed buildings.

Historic Sites

One of the antebellum South's largest plantations — by 1860 the Bennehan and Cameron families enslaved over 900 people across 30,000 acres. Today the site preserves the 1799 Bennehan house, four two-story slave dwellings built by enslaved craftsmen in 1850 at Horton Grove, an 1860 barn, and 165 acres of land. Substantive slavery interpretation centered on the lives and labor of the enslaved.

Address: 5828 Old Oxford Hwy, Durham, NC 27712

Tip: Open Tue-Sat 9-5. Self-guided exploration of grounds and Horton Grove quarters is always free; guided tours of the Bennehan house run on a posted schedule. Active genealogy program for descendants of those enslaved here.

Historic Sites

Washington Duke's 1852 farmhouse, well house, smokehouse, and three reconstructed tobacco factories — the spot where the American Tobacco Company began. Visitor center holds the 5,500-square-foot Tobacco Museum covering 400 years of tobacco history, plus the Legacy of the Golden Leaf film about the Duke family's rise. The Duke fortune later founded Duke University.

Address: 2828 Duke Homestead Rd, Durham, NC 27705

Tip: Open Tue-Sat 9-5. Tours at 10:15, 12:15, and 2:15. Visitor center, Tobacco Museum, and grounds are always free; guided tours of the Homestead are $4 adult / $1 child.

Hiking & Outdoors

Twenty-four miles of hiking trails along the Eno River 10 miles northwest of downtown Durham, spread across seven access areas — Fews Ford, Cabe Lands, Pump Station, Cole Mill, Pleasant Green, Few's Ford, and Holden Mill. The Pump Station Trail is the park's best spring wildflower hike; Holden Mill Trail loops past an old mill site. Free canoe launches on the river.

Address: 6101 Cole Mill Rd, Durham, NC 27705

Tip: Tropical storm damage closed parts of the park in 2024; most access areas have reopened. Check the park's website trail status before visiting. Fews Ford and Lower Pump Station are typically the most popular access points.

Historic Districts

A National Register historic district covering 14 contributing buildings — the former American Tobacco Company headquarters built 1874-1950s, repurposed in 2004 into a 1-million-square-foot live/work/play campus around a man-made central waterway and the iconic Lucky Strike smokestack. Free to walk and explore; the campus also hosts free concerts and events.

Address: 318 Blackwell St, Durham, NC 27701

Tip: Free Wi-Fi campus-wide. Easy combine with Durham Bulls Athletic Park next door (Bulls game tickets start ~$8). The Durham Visitors Center on Morris Street has a free audio walking tour map of the district.

Trails & Biking

A 22+ mile paved-and-gravel rails-to-trails route through the Triangle — the northernmost 11.4 miles in Durham County are paved 10-foot-wide multi-use, starting near Durham Bulls Athletic Park and running south through New Hope Creek to Massey Chapel Road and on to Chatham/Wake counties. Part of the East Coast Greenway.

Address: Trailhead at Morehead Ave & Blackwell St, Durham, NC 27701

Tip: Durham County section is fully paved; Chatham and Wake County sections are gravel/equestrian-friendly. Major access points in Durham at Morehead Ave (downtown), Garrett Rd, and Massey Chapel Rd. Open dawn to dusk.

History & Culture

The restored childhood home of Pauli Murray — civil rights lawyer, Episcopal priest, poet, and pioneer whose Brown v. Board legal arguments shaped American civil rights law. A National Historic Landmark and recently designated National Park Service site honoring Murray's contributions to civil rights, women's rights, and LGBTQ history. Self-guided outdoor exhibit is always free.

Address: 906 Carroll St, Durham, NC 27701

Tip: Self-guided outdoor exhibit always free during daylight hours. Indoor exhibits open Saturdays and Wednesdays via pre-scheduled tours only — check paulimurraycenter.com calendar. Pay-what-you-can pricing for ticketed events.