I'm not that familiar with Virginia Beach. If you want NC mountains though, you might want to fly into Charlotte instead, because flying into Raleigh will put you at a 3+ hour drive west before you got to any mountains. Charlotte you could do the drive in a couple of hours. Then there are lots of places you could stay in the mountains. I had a friend recently come back from a weekend at the Biltmore in Asheville. They had a great time. Had another friend rent a cabin near the Blue Ridge Parkway and did white water rafting, hiking, and mining for gems. Lots of experts here who could answer more specific questions about some of the mountain towns. I've seen lots of good info about Asheville lately so that might be a good base to consider. I personally grew up near Blowing Rock so I love that area. I'm sure others will also chime in with better/more info :) Good luck! :)

~Lisa

If your choice is between the two, Raleigh would be the best choice if you want something besides flat land. Raleigh is a couple of hours from the beach and a couple of hours from the nearest mountains. As mentioned above, Charlotte is a good option, and is a hub for US Air, and the prices going to Charlotte are probably better than Va. Beach or Raleigh. There is a lot to see in Central NC, just no mountains, they are in the western part of the state. Either way, NC is a beautiful state, with a lot to see.

Although I like Raleigh and Virginia Beach, I don't find either that naturally beautiful. I would recommend looking into Asheville, the outer banks, or Charleston/savannah for some naturally beautiful areas within this region.

I had to follow-up with a comment to the last poster: I didn't think Raleigh was naturally beautiful either... until we went to Rome last year for our honeymoon and came back! Of course Rome is now probably my favorite city in the world, but after being in a big city like that for a week, this area is quite lush and green. You can tell even when you're flying over it about to land... it's just a mass of trees down here haha.. As we were driving down Harrison Ave coming home from the airport, we barely recognized the road, though we'd been driving it to/from work every day for years-- it seemed like a country drive through rolling tree-covered hills. And it seemed everything had a green haze.

Granted...it's been a year now and things are back to normal.. Harrison is a major pain and the trees haven't been as green since.. But it was interesting seeing the area from a different perspective. So maybe someone coming from the flatlands of Texas WOULD enjoy it. Although I do agree there are definitely better places in NC for natural beauty. :)

Oh PS.. I wasn't trying to contradict anyone...just sharing my perspective experience because it was such a shock, having lived in NC my whole life and never truly appreciating the natural beauty until then. :)