[2024] Is Charlotte Worth Visiting? Yes! 5 Reasons You Should Visit!

The Firebird statue aka Disco Chicken

The Firebird statue is to Charlotte like the Spirit of Detroit is to Detroit.

Due to the statue's importance to the city, seeing the Firebird statue is an absolute must when exploring uptown Charlotte.

While the statue's proper name is simply 'The Firebird', locals of Charlotte often give the iconic statue the nickname 'Disco Chicken'.

Upon examining the stance of the statue, it resembles an anthromorphic bird whose legs look as if the creature is wearing flared trousers, as was popular with the disco scene in the 1970s.

The Firebird was introduced to Charlotte in 2009. It is stationed outside the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. The statue stands at 17 feet 5 inches high. Whether it is day or night, locals and visitors to Charlotte's uptown queue up to get their picture taken by this attention-grabbing sculpture.

Speaking of the Bechtler Museum of Art...

Charlotte's art & history museums

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A large and fun gimmick in uptown Charlotte between S Church St and the CATS railroad line is the Musical Parking Garage. On every side of the parking structure, there are differently colored beams. Below those beams are panels with handprint icons.

When you place your right hand on the panels, the parking structure plays a musical pitch.

If you're renting a car, I encourage you to drive 20 minutes outside uptown to check out the Metalmorphosis sculpture.

The sculpture is of a large male human head composed entirely of stainless steel plates. It is nested in a gorgeous fountain outside an office building.

Now, we arrive at my favorite chapter of Charlotte's public art: the murals!

Many of Charlotte's best murals are concentrated in one alley called Luminous Lane. If you've been to Ann Arbor and walked through Graffiti Alley or The BELT in Detroit, Luminous Lane is just like those!

Except... I like Luminous Lane the most of the three!

If S Tryon St is uptown Charlotte's busiest street, I would say S College St is its second busiest. This public art center is located between 3rd St and 4th St off S College St.

Luminous Lane is also one of Charlotte's newest attractions, having been completed in 2023! It didn't even exist when I first visited back in December 2021!

Dangling above the heads of visitors to Luminous Lane are criss-crossed fairy lights, which add some ambiance to the alley.

Below are some of my favorite murals down Luminous Lane.

There is also a scavenger hunt you can do around uptown Charlotte called ArtWalks CLT. This gives you the opportunity to simultaneously explore more of the city and see more amazing murals throughout the city!

Here are my favorites from ArtWalks CLT:

As a city explorer, I spent nearly all of my time in Charlotte's uptown. Let me show you further all that uptown Charlotte has to offer!

Uptown Charlotte has plenty to do

What is highly convenient is a majority of the best things to do in uptown Charlotte are in very close proximity to one another.

For a place to stay right by the things I'm about to recommend, I would suggest the Hilton Charlotte Uptown, which is located about three minutes away from Luminous Lane! It's the hotel I stayed in during my last visit.

If you join the Hilton Honors Program, which is free to join, and accumulate enough points, you can stay in this hotel and other hotel chains under the Hilton umbrella for free. Click below to get started!

🏨 Sign up for Hilton Honors today! Click here to join the program!

Located on the Levine Avenue of the Arts, a street which intersects both S Tryon St and S College St, is the stimulating Sonic Runway, as pictured above!

You can technically do Sonic Runway during the day too but, honestly, it is far more fun at night! The rings you walk through change color in rhythm to the music and the music is louder.

Sonic Runway is located between Mint Museum Uptown and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art-- both which are great museums to visit!

Just like how now Charlotte is one of my favorite cities in the U.S, the Mint Museum would also make my list of favorite five art museums!

Mint Museum Uptown has mostly just paintings. Very colorful paintings, at that! Included are some of my favorites!

Mint Museum Uptown costs $15 for an adult ticket, unless you visit on a Wednesday from the hours of 5PM to 9PM. Then, the ticket is free!

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is across the street from Mint Museum Uptown. Like the Guggenheim in Manhattan, I think the exterior of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is pretty cool to gaze at, with its orange hue.

As a reminder, this is the museum behind the famous Firebird statue.

Entry to this museum is $9 for an adult ticket.

There are two public parks to check out in uptown: The Green and Romare Bearden Park.

The Green has a theme centric around classic literature. One sculpture at the end of the park looks like stacked books, with classic titles like Don Quixote written one one of the spines of the books.

There is also this pole with signs pointing toward a town called Edgar, a town called Allen, and a town called Poe.

Charlotte is beautiful to walk through and explore at nighttime too, as many of the skyscrapers and buildings are colorfully lit up.

For more museums and places to check out in uptown Charlotte, check out my article about those extra things to do by clicking here.

The weather is lovely

I first visited Charlotte in Decemeber 2021. The temperature during the daytime reached a high of 73° F. In December. Living in Michigan, where the temperature would be much colder, I really appreciated this!

In March 2024, the temperature was about the same. Clear skies, sunny, and warm.

There are some cities in the U.S, like Seattle and Portland, which are known for less favorable weather-- that being rain. Or Chicago, for being windy. Charlotte's weather is great-- though I hear like many cities in the south, summers can get a bit hot!

As you'll see in the image above, there are green trees planted all around uptown. So, unlike the downtowns of many cities, Charlotte isn't a full concrete jungle.

Charlotte has an amusement park

Having grown up in relative close proximity to Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH, it was cool to learn that Charlotte has an amusement park too!

Just like Nickelodeon Universe inside the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Charlotte has Carowinds.

Granted, I don't spend much time in amusement parks anymore due to getting motion sickness on my most recent rollercoaster rides. I don't know if maybe I should just eat more beforehand or be better hydrated or what.

Since I heard many locals in Charlotte speak highly of Carowinds, I am including it in this article, despite having not personally gone.

When I do come to Charlotte again, I'll visit Carowinds briefly. Hopefully, I don't get ill and can have some fun!

Conclusion

Considering Charlotte's art scene, museums, natural beauty of the city, great weather, and having an amusement park, Charlotte is a wonderful city to spend a weekend!

Have I inspired you to visit Charlotte soon? Let me know because I love hearing from my readers! And you know what? People have really taken up the opportunity to contact me after reading my articles!

I hope I've helped provide a satisfying 'yes' to the question 'Is Charlotte Worth Visiting?'. Thank you for reading!


Thank you for reading! Like... seriously. So many people just skim sh*t and don't read anything past the headline. You're one of the good ones!

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