Recs for a Family Fall Weekend in Charlotte

family fall weekend in charlotte

Charlotte is an easy weekend trip from Myrtle Beach and we love going in the fall. The weather is milder so you can enjoy more of the dozens of outdoor attractions. Plus we like to dip down to York County for apple picking and apple cider donuts too!

activities & attractions

In the fall it is a priority that we spend some time in York County because they have so many apple and pumpkin picking farms. Here is a guide to York County. It’s totally worth making a whole weekend there but if you do one thing down there then make it a trip to Windy Hill Orchard & Cidery or another one of their other agrotourism farms.

• Discovery Place Science | This is Charlotte’s kids museum. It’s a little dated and only a 3/5 for me but kids still had fun and it’s def one of the bigger kid-focused attraction in Uptown. An alternative to this would be the Museum of Illusions. It is a little pricer and, based on reviews, it seems most people only spend about 45 minutes in it so we decided the kids museum would be better bang for our buck.

• CLT Airport Overlook Park | This is a brand new and pretty busy park but we loved it. Planes take off about every minute so it’ll be a huge hit for kids who are into aviation. The playground itself is well themed and large. It has clean bathrooms, plenty of parking, turk grass area for picnics or running around and is just a great little place to pause. Note it’ll probably be very hot in the summer b/c there isn’t any natural shade!

• TRICKS & TREATS AT CAROWINDS | Carowinds has special fall fun for the kids on the weekends in September and October. We went last year and loved the decorations, the parade, Camp Snoopy and all the awesome kids rides.

We still have so much exploring to do in CLT so I get a lot of my recommendations from local mamas running accounts similar to mine. Here are some other spots on my list for a visit.

→ Mint Museum can’t wait for a full visit, for now I LOVE their gift shop

→ Best CLT Parks from House of Hensen

→ Indoor Activities w/Kids from House of Hensen

→ CLT Fall Bucket List from Charlotte Mama

→ Wildwoods Nature Play at Whitewater Center , Charlotte Mama

→ Ballantyne Area from Charlotte Mama

→ BILLY GRAHAM LIBRARY not sure how kid-friendly this will be but if faith is important to you then it’s a worthwhile consideration during your time in CLT.

→ SHOW AT THE BLUMENTHAL so many productions come through here. We keep an eye on their calendar for the best kid-friendly ones!

restaurants

The restaurant scene in CLT is intimidating and we’re not interested in getting into the hot spots with young kids so we opt for these tried and true spots: Bossy Beulahs, Flower Child, Tupelo Honey, or the many options of Optimist Hall. Lots more ideas for kid-friendly patio dining from House of Hensen.