Chimney Rock State Park

Grandfather Mountain's mile-high swinging bridge lets you walk across a genuinely dizzying gap between two rocky peaks, with views stretching across the entire Blue Ridge.

Chimney Rock State Park offers a dramatic granite spire with elevator access to the summit and waterfall views most visitors never expect.

And Ocracoke Island, reachable only by ferry, preserves a genuinely quiet, old-fashioned Outer Banks village feel most of the busier beach towns have long since lost.

The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, the largest privately owned home in America, offers a genuinely staggering look at Gilded Age wealth, complete with formal gardens and its own working winery.