Outer Banks

Encompassing a 130-mile stretch of barrier islands off the North Carolina coast, separating the Atlantic Ocean from the state, Outer Banks is a prime summer holiday spot with pristine, secluded beaches, quaint towns and fishing villages, and various iconic monuments and natural wonders dotted along the way. The ideal place for escaping crowded seaside tourist destinations, Outer Banks offers multiple stops that make this unique location more than just a beautiful beach holiday.

Start with Roanoke Island, site of the New World’s first English settlement, this island serves delicious seafood in its main town, Manteo, and is home to the National Wildlife Refuges. Explore the more 150,000 acres of woods and waters where you can find birds, black bears, alligators and red wolves. Watching the sunset by Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse is a breathtaking experience, and any sunrise or sunset is generally worth stopping for.

Other highlights include Jockey’s Ridge State Park, the tallest active sand dune system in the United States and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore where the infamous pirate Blackbeard once pillaged and the Outer Banks’ most recognisable landmark, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse lives. Outer Banks were sites of early European settlement and the hundreds of shipwrecks along the shore once gave this stretch the nickname of Graveyard of the Atlantic. Up in Kill Devil Hill you will find a memorial and centre dedicated to the Wright Brothers who took the world’s first flight.