Rosy Red crossing the Pamlico River on a ferry.
Katie and I took a mom-and-dad-only-mini-adventure in Rosy Red, our 1974 VW Beetle convertible.
Over five days and four nights, we traveled nearly 600 miles in the Beetle to explore North Carolina’s inner and outer banks, making use of many ferries and remote highways along the way.
We had some mechanical issues on the trip, though we made the loop. We visited historic coastal towns like Bath, Oriental, Harker’s Island, Ocracoke, Hatteras, Manteo, Stumpy Point and Belhaven.
We stayed in top rated bed and breakfasts, and we ate the best restaurants.
I’ve laid out in this post the complete itinerary of our journey, sharing everything you’d need to know if you wanted to take a similar adventure.
NC Outer Banks Road Trip Itinerary (5 days / 4 nights)
Here’s a full map of the road trip, and down below I break out our day by day itinerary with maps of the different legs of the adventure.
Day 1 – Wednesday – Raleigh, NC to Bath, NC
Rosy Red outside the Inn at Bath Creek
Total Drive Time: 2.5 hour drive from Raleigh to Bath on Hwy 264 (Leave Raleigh at 3pm)
Ferry: None
Dinner: Arrive in Bath about 6pm. Worth the few miles drive to Belhaven for dinner at Spoon River.
Stay the Night in Bath: Inn on Bath Creek
Day 2 – Thursday – Bath, NC to Oriental, NC
Rosy Red crossing the Pamlico River on a ferry.
Rosy Red at the Cartwright House in Oriental, NC
Total Drive (and Ferry) Time: 1.5 hour drive from Bath to Oriental with one ferry ride.
Breakfast: At the B&B.
Ferry: Leave Bath by 10:30am to catch the 11am Bayview-Aurora Ferry that crosses the Pamlico River (30 minute ferry ride. Free ferry.)
Dinner: Eat dinner in Oriental. Not many choices, but the best we could find was The Silos Restaurant.
Stay the night in Oriental: Loved the couple that owned and ran this place. Cartwright House B&B
Day 3 – Friday – Oriental, NC to Ocracoke, NC
Lots of wide open space in eastern NC, inland of the sound.
Total Drive (and Ferry) Time: 5 hours from Oriental to Ocracoke, visting Harker’s Island. Two ferry rides make up about half of the drive + ferry time.
Breakfast: At the B&B.
Ferry #1: Leave Oriental no later than 10:30am to catch the 11:00am Minnesott Beach Ferry over the Neuse River (20 minute ferry ride. Free ferry.).
Cape Hatteras National Seashore Visitors Center: On the trip to Cedar Island, it is worth a stop at the Cape Hatters visitors center on Harker’s Island.
Ferry #2: Leave Harker’s Island by 3:00pm to catch the 4pm Cedar Island Ferry to Ocracoke. Arrive in Ocracoke around 6:30pm. (2.25 hour ferry ride. Ferry requires a fee and reservation.) The ferry is a long ride, it many people bring out chairs and beverages for the cruise across the sound.
Relaxing on the long ride across the sound to Ocracoke.
Dinner: Dinner at Flying Melon.
Stay the night in Ocracoke: We wished we could have spent more time on Ocracoke. This B&B is highly rated though is more like a hotel instead of a quaint B&B. Castle on Silver Lake B&B
Day 4 – Saturday – Ocracoke, NC to Manteo, NC
Watching the charter fleet leave Hatteras on the early morning ferry from Ocracoke to Hatteras.
The White Doe Inn. The tower suite on the top floor, front left is a great room.
Total Drive (and Ferry) Time: 3 hours from Ocracoke to Manteo through Hatteras and along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Breakfast: At the B&B, though Dajio breakfast is apparently really good.
Ferry: Leave Ocracoke by 10:30 to catch the 11am ferry to Hatteras. (1 hour ferry ride to cross Hatteras inlet. Free ferry.) This was our plan, though we actually left much earlier so we could catch the 6:30am ferry to see the charter fleet heading out to the fishing grounds.
Lunch Stop: Arrive in Hatteras about lunch. Eat at Dinky’s. Explore the villages and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore before continuing 1.5 hours to Manteo.
Dinner: Dinner in Manteo. Pretty good and fresh southwestern at Ortega’s Grill & Wine Bar.
Stay the night in Manteo: The White Doe Inn. This place is great. Stay in the tower suite. It’s the most expensive room, though it has a luxurious private bath with a cast iron claw foot bath that Katie thoroughly enjoyed.
Day 5 – Sunday – Mateo, NC to Raleigh, NC
Total Drive Time: 4 hours from Manteo to Raleigh passing through Stumpy Point and Belhaven, taking the long way through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and around Lake Mattamuskeet.
Ferry: None.
Breakfast: At the B&B.
Lunch Stop: Leave Manteo by 10am to arrive in
Head home: After lunch, finish the last couple of hours back to Raleigh, NC, arriving before dinner.
Wow! Seeing your photos I can see that you had an awesome trip. I’ll definitely try this since I am from Raleigh too. Thanks for sharing.