Wrightsville Beach is located at the end of I-40 about two hours southeast of Raleigh. It's the only beach in North Carolina within minutes of an interstate, making it highly accessible and very busy in the summer months. All parking on this island is metered, so if you aren't staying at a hotel or a rental house, be prepared to search long and hard for an available parking place after mid-morning and to run back and forth to your car all day feeding the rather pricey meters. The crowd at Wrightsville tends to be college kids or younger, so if a relaxing, quiet beach is more your scene, consider Topsail Island to the north or Bald Head and Oak Islands to the south. There are only a few hotels on Topsail Island (Holiday Inn Sunspree and the old Blockade Runner to name a few), it's mostly private upscale homes. There is a very nice Hampton Inn just off the island. The beaches at Wrightsville are quite wide, so there is plenty of real estate to spread out among others. I've personally found the wave action north of here on Topsail Island to be better, so if body surfing is your scene, you might prefer Topsail. One of the positive things about a Wrightsville vacation would be proximity to Wilmington (sister cities if you will). During the day you can hit the beach, and at night you can shop at the expansive Mayfaire complex along Military Cutoff Road (about 2 miles from the island) with all its chain stores, restaurants, and theatres, and of course the historic downtown Wilmington area (about 8-9 miles from the island) is a bit like a mini-Charleston or Savannah with loads of historic homes, ghost and pub walks, a quaint downtown area along the Cape Fear River with a boardwalk area filled with restaurants and bars, and of course the Cotton Exchange building with all its little shops. Wilmington also has the nice Airlie gardens to tour right off the Wrightsville island, and touristy stuff like mini-golf, a water park, and an old battleship. We regularly drive down from Raleigh and love to visit Wrightsville and Wilmington. Have fun!