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Getting around Charlotte

If you’re staying in Charlotte, you can walk around the Uptown area or take the Gold Rush shuttle, which provides free service throughout Uptown. There’s trolley service from Historic South End to Center City Charlotte, and the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) provides public transportation throughout the city.

To tour the outlying areas you’ll need a car. As with most major cities, traffic can be difficult during the rush hour.

When driving around Charlotte, pay attention to street names. Several major streets have a name change after an intersection. Also, several roads have the same name; they may all connect in some way, but it can be confusing for a driver who’s not paying attention.

What is good to know if travelling to Charlotte?

• It could be argued that the most popular attraction is NASCAR. Charlotte is a car racing hub: the majority of NASCAR teams and race shops are within an hour’s drive of Charlotte, and most NASCAR drivers maintain a residence in or near the city. It is said that 73 per cent of American motor-sports employees are based within two hours of Charlotte. For those interested, fifteen minutes from downtown Charlotte will have you at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
• The Charlotte area is rich with gardens. The Botanical Gardens at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have orchids, carnivorous plants, butterfly and hummingbird gardens, a tropical rain forest, and plants indigenous to the area.
• Latta Plantation was a successful cotton plantation and is now a living history farm. Visitors can experience what life was like for planters, farmers, and slaves of the North Carolina backcountry in the early 19th century.
• Kings Mountain National Military Park, 30 miles west of Charlotte, is the site of a significant victory by American Patriots over American Loyalists during the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. The battle destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis’ army and effectively ended Loyalist ascendance in the Carolinas. The park has a museum and a trail around the battlefield sites.
• The Mint Museum of Art, built in 1836 as a US Mint, has permanent collections of American, European, African, pre-Columbian, and Spanish colonial art; porcelain and pottery; regional crafts; and historic costumes.
• Reed Gold Mine, east of Charlotte, is where Conrad Reed discovered a 17-pound nugget in 1799 and started America’s first documented gold rush. Guided underground tours of the gold mine are available, as well as seasonal gold panning, walking trails, and a stamp mill.
• The best places to find antiques are reputed to be the towns of Waxhaw, Pineville, and Matthews. Shops are usually open from Monday through Saturday in Pineville and Matthews. In Waxhaw, some shops are open on Sunday but closed on Monday, and Waxhaw holds an annual antiques fair each February.