Charlotte

Wander through a rainforest, peer inside a huge eyeball or sample liquid-nitrogen ice cream in the chemistry lab at the hands-on Discovery Place science museum, complete with an Omnimax cinema. — Lonely Planet

Home to the nation’s most comprehensive interpretation of post-Civil War Southern history, this museum guides visitors through the Queen City’s evolution from a farming community to a mill town. — Where

The hushed halls display historic maps, American paintings and an impressive number of gruesome Spanish Colonial bleeding-saint statues. — Lonely Planet

Founded by the Swiss-born Andreas Bechtler, the museum highlights his family's love affair with art, as well as their deep connections with many of the artists on display. — Fodor's

Historic Brooklyn, as the once-thriving African-American neighborhood here was known, is long gone, but this celebration of black art, history, and culture serves its memory well. — Fodor's

Set in Myers Park, one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods, this 4-acre garden is a serene environment for feathered visitors and others. — Fodor's

Mint comprises a larger campus that includes the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, the Knight Theater and the Duke Energy Center. — Where

This museum’s centerpiece is the ​the 240-year-old, 18th-century Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, the oldest surviving structure in Mecklenburg County. — Where

People from around the world come here to pay tribute to the life of beloved evangelist Billy Graham, a native of Charlotte. — Fodor's