Free & Cheap Things to Do in Raleigh

Arts & Culture

The state-funded NCMA's permanent collection — 5,000 years of human creativity across European, American, African, Egyptian, and contemporary galleries plus the second-largest collection of ancient Jewish artifacts in the US — is always free. The 164-acre Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park frames an outdoor sculpture trail through native meadows and woods.

Address: 2110 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607

Tip: Open Tue-Sun 10-5 (Friday until 9). Free since the museum's 1947 founding. The Museum Park is open dawn-to-dusk year-round with a 1.5-mile Art Park Trail and the Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky.

Family Fun

The Southeast's largest natural history museum — four floors across two connected buildings (the Nature Exploration Center and the Nature Research Center) with live animals, a working scientific research center where visitors watch real lab work through windows, the Acro the Dinosaur skeleton, and the Living Conservatory butterfly room. Free general admission since 1879.

Address: 11 W Jones St, Raleigh, NC 27601

Tip: Open daily 10-5 starting May 25, 2026. Across Jones Street from the State Capitol — easy to combine in one downtown walking visit.

History & Government

A National Historic Landmark Greek Revival capitol completed in 1840 — one of the finest and best-preserved examples of state-house architecture in the country. The original chambers of the General Assembly are preserved as a museum, with the original 1840 desks still in place. Self-guided tours during operating hours; free public guided tours on Saturdays.

Address: 1 E Edenton St, Raleigh, NC 27601

Tip: Free guided tours Saturdays at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm (no reservations, first-come). Self-guided Mon-Fri 9-5, Sat 10-5. Grounds open anytime.

Family Fun

The fifth-oldest operating amusement park in the United States, founded 1887, and home to a 1911 Dentzel carousel listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Beyond the rides — narrow-gauge train, pedal boats, kiddie boats — the surrounding park has free playgrounds, picnic shelters, a lake, and shaded paths. The Pullen Aquatic Center and Theatre in the Park sit on the same campus.

Address: 520 Ashe Ave, Raleigh, NC 27606

Tip: Tickets purchased online via RecLink in advance recommended; cashiers may not be on site. 100-ticket bulk purchase gets 10% off.

Historic Sites

A five-acre campus of relocated historic buildings around the 1785 Mordecai House — the oldest house in Raleigh still on its original foundation. Also on the grounds: the small frame house where President Andrew Johnson was born in 1808, St. Mark's Chapel, a 19th-century kitchen, and the visitor center museum with permanent and rotating exhibits.

Address: 1 Mimosa St, Raleigh, NC 27604

Tip: Free Friday tour days run twice a year (typically January and August) — first-come, 20 per slot. Self-guided exterior + grounds + visitor center are always free; only the guided house tour is ticketed.

History & Cemeteries

Raleigh's oldest private nonprofit cemetery, founded 1869 on 102 acres (now 72 active). Final resting place of more than 1,400 Confederate soldiers in the original House of Memory Confederate cemetery, plus four Civil War generals, eight NC Supreme Court Chief Justices, five US Senators, seven Governors, and Raleigh's mayors. Park-like Victorian rural cemetery layout.

Address: 701 Oakwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27601

Tip: Self-guided walking welcomed during daylight hours. Guided Civil War tours and Monument Art & Symbolism tours are offered for a small fee on select dates — check the cemetery's tours page.

Historic Districts

North Carolina's largest intact 19th-century residential neighborhood — a 20-block tree-lined district just north of downtown Raleigh with hundreds of Victorian, Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Craftsman homes. The Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood publishes a free self-guided walking-tour brochure and runs an annual Candlelight Tour each December.

Address: Oakwood Ave to Boundary St, Raleigh, NC 27604

Tip: Pick up the free Walking Tour Brochure at the Capital Area Visitor Center or download from historicoakwood.org. December Candlelight Tour is ticketed (~$30); the regular neighborhood walk is free.

Parks & Nature

Raleigh's largest urban park — 308 acres of rolling former state-hospital grounds now reopened as the city's biggest free public open space. Gipson Play Plaza is the Southeast's largest adventure playground, the Dog Park is the city's only off-leash grass park, and a family of giant trolls is scattered throughout. 40,000 daffodils bloom Feb-March and sunflowers carpet the south field every July.

Address: 2105 Umstead Dr, Raleigh, NC 27603

Tip: Open dawn to dusk seven days. Free yoga, birdwatching, family story time, and sound bath programs run throughout the year — check the events calendar at dorotheadixpark.org.

History & Nature

A fully restored 1756 water-powered gristmill — Wake County's last surviving and operable mill — on a 174-acre wildlife preserve five miles south of downtown. The AE Finley Center for Education & Research is a free exhibit hall with mill artifacts, local history, and interactive displays. A 24-acre millpond, hiking trails, and birdwatching round it out.

Address: 4620 Lake Wheeler Rd, Raleigh, NC 27603

Tip: Park open 8 am - sunset daily. Mill tour hours vary seasonally — check before visiting. The 1-mile Millpond Trail loops the pond with rebuilt 1756 gristmill views.