Outerbanks Question from Out of Stater??

trish80

My husband and I are looking for a family vacation spot in the Outer Banks.  Neither of us are really familiar with the outer banks (I went to Ocracoke with a family friend many many years ago).  Which island would you recommend going to and do you have a hotel/house/b&b that you would recommend?  Thanks for any help!

elissaann26

We love going to Kill Devil Hills and have rented our houses through vrbo.com and Kitty Hawk rentals.  We like this area because it is a bit more built up so grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and activities (movies, putt-putt, etc.) are more available.  But it is not built up close to any of the northern beaches, like the Jersey Shore.  It is still very relaxed and family oriented.  Also, Kill Devil Hills beaches are dog friendly (a big plus for us) and have lifeguards (a big plus if you have kids).

Jules_NC

We went to Nags Head for a week long vacation last month.  It is one of the more developed areas, but it wasn't as busy as other NC beach towns.  We rented with Village Realty and LOVED it.  Our house was in a community with ample beach access points as well as a large pool and sound access (Village of Nags Head).  Their website is great for browsing: http://www.villagerealtyobx.com/OuterBanks/VacationRentals/  They also have a great YouTube channel (we may have helped make one or 2 of their videos...)  Also, I found a lot of great info on other OBX spots on another message board - OBX Connection - http://www.obxconnection.com/  and I still visit this message board - http://www.obxconnection.com/outer-banks-message-board/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Good luck!  It's a great place to vacation.

CurbsideProphet

My family enjoys going to Corolla. We rent a house from Carolina Designs

It is a little bit quieter up there, but there are still some shops/stores/restaurants.

shro08

My husband and I went for the first time this year (we're both transplants to NC).  We stayed in hotels because we just spent a long weekend and most of the house rentals tend to want you to rent for a week or more at a time.  Most people rent houses though and there are plenty to choose from.  We stayed in Buxton for a couple of days and then headed North to Duck for a couple of days.   The more northern areas of Kill Devils Hill/Nags Head are definitely busier areas.   We liked the southern areas that were a little slower paced.  Duck was nice too.   There were definitely more activities in the busier areas and restaurants were open longer hours, etc.  Some of the southern places closed at certain times during the day and reopened later which may have been because we went the weekend before Memorial Weekend but could be a trend most of the time too.   We did a lot of searching through TripAdvisor for stuff to do and talked with people who had been there.  I hope you have a great trip!

shro08

Sorry I forgot to add the hotels we stayed at. . . In Duck we stayed at the Sanderling Inn.  It was wonderful but definitely on the pricier side.   In Buxton we stayed at The Lighthouse View Hotel.  This was a more basic hotel but it was right on the beach and we had an ocean view room which was awesome.