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Practicalities
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Raleigh-Durham
airport
(tel 919/840-2123) is off I-40, fifteen minutes northwest of town. The
taxi
ride into town costs around $30, while a circuitous shuttle service will charge a whole lot less ($18). Amtrak drops you off at 320 W Cabarrus St. The Greyhound station is in a seedy part of downtown at 321 W Jones St. A patchy local
bus
service (CAT or Capital Area Transit tel 919/828-7228) operates out of the transit mall at Blount and Martin streets. The
visitor center
at 301 N Blount St (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; tel 919/733-3456,
) coordinates local walking and driving tours.
If you want to stay , avoid the more anonymous downtown hotels and try instead the William Thomas House B&B , at 530 N Blount St, just a few blocks from Capitol Square (tel 919/755-9400, ; $130-160), or head out to Hillsborough Street near North Carolina State University, where the Velvet Cloak Inn at no. 1505 offers comfortable rooms, free coffee, tea and cookies, and an indoor pool, at good weekend rates (tel 919/828-0333, ; $50-130).
Big Ed's
, in the City Market at 220 Wolfe St (tel 919/836-9909), serves Southern
home-style
breakfasts and is closed on Sundays. Across the street,
Greenshields Brewery
, 214 E Martin St (tel 919/829-0214), offers very good English-style beer and pub food. More upmarket, but just as popular, the huge
42nd St Oyster Bar
, downtown at West and Jones streets (tel 919/831-2811), is always buzzing with journalists, politicians and students enjoying fresh fish and seafood.
Hillsborough Street
, lined with bars, clubs and cafAŠs, has some great places to eat and is the epicenter of Raleigh's excellent
nightlife
.
Rathskeller
at no. 2412 (tel 919/821-5342) serves healthy, creative food in intimate wooden booths, and there's also a lively bar. Or try
Cup a Joe
at no. 3100 (tel 919/828-9665), a bohemian coffee bar with live folk music on Friday and Saturday. For techno and house, make for the
Five O CafAŠ
, above the Studio arts cinema at no. 2526 (tel 919/821-4419), while
The Brewery
at no. 3009 (tel 919/834-7018) is a good venue in which to see the best regional rock and alternative bands. Away from Hillsborough Street, the
Berkeley CafAŠ
, at 217 W Martin (tel 919/821-0777), specializes in roots and alternative country as well as rock. The
Tir Na Nog Irish Pub
on 218 S Blount (tel 919/833-7795), is a lively bar with live music Tuesday to Saturday that also serves Irish food and a Sunday brunch. Pick up the free
Spectator
for nightlife listings. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United States,
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