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About the area

  • During the day, casual drives along brick streets shaded by oak trees and lined with 100-year-old homes set the tone for Southern relaxation.

    Downtown Wilmington retains its history with North Carolina's largest historic district, horsedrawn carriage rides and ghost-themed walking tours.But it also offers a variety of independent shops, exquisite restaurants of all flavors and a nightlife unlike any other on the mid-Atlantic coast.

    Its beauty will make you want to take a piece of Wilmington home, and there are plenty of shops give visitors a good selection of fine gifts. The Cotton Exchange, once a cotton export company, has been converted into eight restored brick buildings with 30 specialty shops and restaurants.

    Visitors stay because they've found a treasure where the Cape Fear and the ocean meet.


Downtown events

Downtown restaurants

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Parking

  • Parking downtown can be tricky on busy days. But complexes with multiples stores and/or restaurants, such as the Cotton Exchange, Chandler's Wharf and City Market, have their own free spaces, and there are parking decks and metered spaces elsewhere.

    DECKS
    Water Street Deck: Offers all-day parking on two levels. Fee is $4 weekdays and $3 evenings and weekends. Entrances on Front, Chestnut, Water, and Grace streets.


    Library deck: Offers all-day parking, free for the first hour and for library patrons. Hourly rate: $1/hour with a $5 daily maximum. Parking is free after 5 p.m. and on the weekends. Entrance on 2nd Street between Chestnut and Grace streets.
    2nd Street deck First hour free, then $1/hour with $5 daily maximum. Charged from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.


    Market Street deck: First hour free, then $1/hour afterward. Night parking is a flat fee of $5 between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. The deck is guarded by security and cameras during those times. Entrances from 2nd and Market streets.



    METERS
    Wilmington's downtown parking meters operate from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and cost 50 cents per hour. Evenings, Sundays and holidays are free. Meters accept quarters, dimes, nickels and tokens. There is a 1-hour limit on parts of Front Street and 2-hour limits elsewhere.