Your Group Itinerary

Please bring your itinerary with you. You must follow your itinerary to avoid conflicts with other scheduled groups. All sites are carefully scheduled to receive limited numbers of visitors in each time period. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for your first tour, that tour may be altered or shortened in order to get you back on schedule.

Before Leaving Home

Please check weather conditions in the Raleigh area and encourage your group to dress appropriately (i.e., rain gear and comfortable walking shoes). Chewing gum, food, and drinks are not permitted inside the sites.

Upon Arrival

We welcome you to come by Visitor Services to let us know that you have arrived safely. If you are rushed to reach your first site, please call Visitor Services to inform us of your arrival. It is important that we know of your arrival should a parent or the school inquire about the group. Parents and other adults who drive separately from the group should have a copy of the itinerary for the group they plan to join.

Buses—Unloading/Boarding/Parking

Buses unload and board their passengers on Jones Street at the north end of the Museum of History, across the street from the Legislative Building. Please use caution, this is a busy street.

After unloading passengers all buses and passenger vans must park at 2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh (North Carolina Museum of Art); look for directional signs. It is approximately 5 miles from the downtown area; therefore bus drivers must remain with their buses or visit the Museum of Art. It is strongly recommended that group leaders have telephone contact with their bus drivers.

Cars may park in any visitor parking deck/lot in the downtown area; $1.00 per hour. You will find parking decks on Wilmington, Blount, and Salisbury Streets. Ther is also a small lot on Jones Street.

We Have a Place Reserved for You

In the event of long delays, cancellations, or changes, please notify Visitor Services promptly at 919-807-7950 so that the staff can make necessary arrangements. Refer to the maps we provide to find your sites, since guides will not be available to direct you. Also, remember that in many cases the tour guides are volunteers and are not required to wait more than 15 minutes past your scheduled tour time; therefore, if your arrival time changes, please call and let us know. Executive Mansion tours fall under Homeland Security guidelines. Once a tour there has begun, the gates are locked, and no one will be admitted. For these reasons, we ask you to be responsible for keeping your group on time and on schedule.

Attention School Groups: LUNCH

Bag lunch storage and an indoor lunch space for use on rainy days is available in the Museum of History. When your group disembarks on Jones Street, you may also unload your lunches and store them at the museum. Picnicking is permitted in the park behind the Archives and History/State Library Building. Buses may not park on Lane Street at the picnic area but may stop long enough to unload passengers or lunches. Tables in both areas are available on a first-come, first-served basis. You are responsible for your own clean-up. Please bring heavy-duty garbage bags to collect trash for disposal in the dumpsters.

Public Restrooms

Public restrooms are available at the museums and the Legislative Building. No public restrooms are available at the State Capitol or the Executive Mansion.

Departure

Restrooms and water fountains at the museums and the Legislative Building are at your disposal before departure.

We are here to help you make your visit to Raleigh a pleasant and meaningful experience. Our scheduling service will greatly simplify your planning. Check the links to the various sites so that you have a full understanding of the special programming they offer. We look forward to serving you. For accommodations and restaurant information and for entertainment and sports venues, please go to www.visitraleigh.com and www.raleighnow.com.

Welcome to Raleigh!