Things to Do in Greensboro, NC: From Craft Breweries to Greenway Trails

By Eric Barton | Sept. 5, 2025

AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.

Some people might mistake Greensboro as a quiet stop between Raleigh and Charlotte. Stay here for a while, though, and you find yourself with a long to-do list of things to do: a civil rights museum that belongs on every traveler’s list, breweries humming inside old mills, and gardens that live up to the city’s name.

The best things to do in Greensboro, NC, aren’t contrived attractions—they’re the everyday places where the city shows off its history, creativity, and green spaces without trying too hard. Here then are the Greensboro experiences that turn a stopover into a long weekend.

Elsewhere Museum

$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

Elsewhere Museum is Greensboro’s gloriously odd mash-up of thrift store, gallery, and creative lab, housed in a former second-hand shop since 2003. After a six-month hiatus in 2023, it reopened with fresh leadership and a renewed commitment to its roots as an artist residency, still bringing in creators from across the globe to live and work inside its ever-evolving space. It’s as unpredictable as art should be, the sort of place Greensboro surprises you with when you least expect it.

Best for: Visitors who want creativity, curiosity, and conversation under one wildly original roof

Greensboro History Museum

FREE | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

The Greensboro History Museum does the heavy lifting of telling the city’s story, from Revolutionary War relics to a section of the 1960s Woolworth lunch counter made famous during Civil Rights sit-ins. The building itself, a former Presbyterian church from the 1890s, feels like part of the exhibit, with creaky floors and soaring ceilings that add to the history lesson. It’s approachable and free, which makes it easy to wander in and lose an afternoon.

Best for: Curious travelers who want Greensboro’s past in one place

Greensboro Science Center

$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

The Greensboro Science Center pulls off an ambitious mix: aquarium, zoo, and museum all in one. Sharks glide past the glass inside, while red pandas nap in the treetops outside, and somehow it all feels connected. It’s the rare spot that keeps kids fascinated and gives adults an excuse to wander just as wide-eyed.

Best for: Families who want education mixed with entertainment

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

FREE | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park marks the site of a Revolutionary War battle that helped turn the tide against the British. The trails here wind past monuments and through quiet woods, so you can get both a history lesson and a decent walk in the same afternoon. It’s less a battlefield frozen in time than a park where the past still echoes.

Best for: History buffs who don’t mind lacing up their walking shoes

Hangar 1819

$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

Greensboro's intimate, music-first venue with room for about 500 fans, meaning you’ll never be too far from the action. It used to be The Blind Tiger, but under new ownership it's transformed into a reliable place for national touring acts and local bands to plant down and play hard—without pretense. You feel the sweat, the sound, and the energy close enough to taste, the sort of spot that makes you grateful small venues haven't gone extinct.

Best for: Music lovers chasing live shows that feel alive, not corporate

International Civil Rights Center & Museum

$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

The International Civil Rights Center & Museum sits inside the old Woolworth’s where, in 1960, four students staged the sit-in that helped ignite a movement. The lunch counter is still there, now surrounded by exhibits that trace the fight for equality from Greensboro to the wider world. It’s powerful, sobering, and one of those museums that stays with you long after you leave.

Best for: Visitors who want to connect with history in the place it happened

Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden

FREE | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden feels like Greensboro showing off its green thumb, with winding paths, brick walkways, and sculptures tucked among the flowers. It’s not a sprawling park, but that’s the appeal—you can see most of it in under an hour and still feel like you’ve stepped out of the city. In spring especially, it turns into an open-air postcard.

Best for: A peaceful walk through an oasis in the city