North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

The largest museum of its kind in the American Southeast occupies twin buildings in downtown Raleigh and admits visitors free of charge. Its halls display dinosaur skeletons, including a rare specimen with fossilized soft tissue, alongside live animals, an indoor tropical rainforest, and dioramas of the state's coastal and mountain habitats. A modern wing focuses on active research, letting the public watch scientists at work in glass-walled laboratories.