Voting is NOW OPEN for the 2025 Best of North Carolina Awards, chosen by NC Tripping’s readers and social media followers (aka YOU)!
This is our fifth annual Best of NC Awards, where we feature local businesses and destinations in North Carolina across four primary categories, including:
Jump to Vote For Your Best of NCPrevious Winners
Our readers and social media followers (aka you) nominated picks from November 10 to 30, 2025, followed by voting for the Best of NC Winners from December 1 to December 15, 2025.
You can jump to nominate your picks or read through the following sections first:
- Nominations
- Categories
- Best of NC Updates and Changes
The Best of North Carolina 2025 Vote
The Best of North Carolina 2025 Vote should load below. If you don’t see it, this secure link will take you directly to the survey.
Categories
Here’s the list of categories featured in the Best of NC Vote:
- Getaways Category
- The Most Romantic Destination in North Carolina
- The Best Family-Friendly Attraction in North Carolina
- The Best Mountain Town in North Carolina (BACK in 2025 after a pause, due to Hurricane Helene)
- The Best Beach Town in North Carolina
- The Most Underrated Destination in North Carolina
- Outdoors Category
- The Best Park in North Carolina (or Your Favorite State Park, National Park, etc.)
- The Best Trail in North Carolina (or Your Favorite)
- The Best Waterfall in North Carolina (or Most Beautiful)
- The Best Lake in North Carolina (or Your Favorite)
- Food and Drink Category
- The Best Breakfast Restaurant in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Barbecue Restaurant in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Ice Cream Shop in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Burger in North Carolina (Restaurant, Food Truck, etc.)
- Your Favorite Brewery in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Winery in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Cidery (or Cider-Maker) in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Distillery in North Carolina
- Community Category
- Your Favorite NC Sports Team in North Carolina(Pro, College, High School, etc.)
- Your Favorite Downtown in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Dog-Friendly Destination in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Annual Festival in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Museum in North Carolina
- Your Favorite Locally Owned Business in North Carolina
- NC’s Strongest Community in North Carolina
Best of North Carolina 2025 Updates and Changes
To continue improving The Best of NC, we made the following updates and changes to the awards for 2024:
- Best -> Your Favorite
- We wanted to make this more about you and your picks, so we changed the wording or added “your favorite” to sub-categories.
- “Getaways” Category
- Resumed “Mountain Town” after a one-year pause due to Hurricane Helene.
- “Outdoors” Category
- Added “Your Favorite Lake” after a one-year hiatus.
- “N/A” Option
- For alcohol-related sub-categories in the “Food and Drink” Category, we added N/A to keep those in mind who don’t drink alcohol.
Read More: The North Carolina Bucket List Book
More of The Best of North Carolina 2025
While we wait to announce winners of 2025’s Best of North Carolina, stay tuned for more adventures, articles, and social media posts from us.
You can also subscribe to receive our weekly email newsletter and support us by becoming a member.
We have featured these Best of North Carolina award winners and finalists in many of our NC Travel Guides. Here are some guides to help you explore this amazing state.
