Tryon Palace offers a ONE DAY PASS with Palace Tour, as well as GARDENS, or GALLERIES & GARDENS PASSES, every day of the week.
In addition to the daily passes, there are specialized weekly and seasonal tours, lectures and special events throughout the year.
See our Calendar for what additional tours and events might be available during your visit.
Ticket Purchase and Information
Purchase passes at one of the Ticket Desks, located at the main entrance to theNorth CarolinaHistory Center (529 S. Front Street), or at the Waystation in front of the Palace gates (610 Pollock Street) in New Bern, NC.If purchasing onsite, please arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your desired tour time, as Palace Tours are limited capacity and fill up quickly, especially on weekends.
If you wish to purchase tickets today, please purchase onsite.
To PURCHASE PASSES IN ADVANCE of your visit, please call 252-469-9047, during the hours of 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Our Ticket Desk staff will help plan your itinerary and provide additional information about the current gallery exhibits at the History Center, Tryon Palace tours, gardens and grounds. To fully enjoy your experience, please plan for a half day.
With a Tryon Palace Foundation Membership, you can visit Tryon Palace with a ONE DAY PASS FREE for a year! One Day Passes include Palace Tours, Galleries & Gardens Passes, and Garden Passes. For more information on becoming a Foundation Member please click HERE
Children 5 & under are always FREE
Guest Rules – During your visit, please do not touch or lean on furnishings. Please do not bring food, drink, candy, or gum into the historic buildings. Flash photography is not allowed.
North Carolina’s tax laws–N.C. General Statute § 105-164.4(a)(10)- Jan. 1, 2015: Tryon Palace must charge sales tax on admissions, programs, and special events. The tax applied consists of the current state sales tax of 4.75 percent and the current Craven County tax of 2 percent.
Cancellation Policy
Admission Passes to Tryon Palace and the NC History Center are not refundable once purchased.
Admission Tickets & Tours Available
Holiday Hours
Closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Break, and New Year’s Day
ONE DAY PASS
Adults: $20
Youth: Ages 6-14; $10
Offered Monday through Sunday
Admittance to Palace’s 21 acres of gardens and grounds, a tour of Tryon Palace’s first and second floors and cellar, a tour of the Kitchen Office, and admittance to museum galleries and exhibits in the North Carolina History Center.
Your ONE DAY PASS includes a Tour of the Historic Dixon House. Dixon House tours begin at the Waystation at the corner of Pollock & George Street. Tour Times: 11 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:00 pm, 2:30 pm, and 3:00 pm.There are no tours available from noon to 12:30 p.m. or from 1– 1:30 p.m.
Palace Tours
When Royal Governor William Tryon chose New Bern to be the Province of North Carolina’s capital city, he made plans to build a capitol that was to be one of the finest public buildings in the American colonies. The extravagant cost of its construction, regal size and elegance soon earned the new government building the nickname of “the Governor’s Palace” among NC colonists. They were not happy with the taxes levied on them to pay for it. Today you can tour the re-constructed Palace, built from John Hawk’s original plans. It is furnished and decorated as it may have looked when it opened in 1770. Costumed interpreters will guide you through its grand interior rooms, describing their purpose, the history of the Palace and its significance, and how Tryon and his family, and Governor Martin who succeeded him, may have lived while there.
Monday thru Friday: 11 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.*
Saturday: 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.*
Sunday: 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.*
Tours offered every 30 minutes
50 minutes long
Reservations of tour time required
Includes tour of the Kitchen Office (Monday – Friday: Noon – 4:30 p.m., Sat. 10:30 a.m.– 4:30 p.m., Sunday 12:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Purchase ONE DAY PASS: Adults $20; Youth $10
This tour involves climbing stairs. Please contact our Ticket Desk for options available should stairs be difficult for you.
GALLERIES & GARDENS PASS
Adults: $15
Youth: Ages 6-14; $8
Offered Monday through Sunday
Includes admission to museum galleries and exhibits at the North Carolina History Center, and the Palace gardens and grounds.
Does not include a Palace Tour.
GARDENS PASS
Adults:$10
Youth: Ages 6-14; $5
Offered Monday through Sunday
Includes admission to more than 21 acres of beautiful colonial revival gardens, including the Palace’s Kellenberger, Latham and Kitchen, and Wilderness gardens, and those of our historic homes.
Some of our garden pathways have uneven terrain and may be difficult for persons with disabilities to navigate.
Explore an 18th century military encampment and observe the living history of a soldier’s life. Learn the differences in living quarters for soldiers and officers, the defensive weaponry used in camp and on foot, the handmaking tools and demonstrations of those tools in use, and be tempted by the savory smells of meals prepared from their limited rations cooking over a campfire. Occasionally the roar of a musket firing can be witnessed when interpreters demonstrate the loading of this period weapon. During inclement weather, activities are moved to the NC History Center.
Daily Activities & Demos at the Encampment
Times: 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m.
Monday – Coffee and Chow -Roasting Coffee and Cooking. See a rotating list of camp recipes each day, such as ash cakes, dumplings, and more.
Tuesday – Apothecary– Making Medicines and Tinctures. Come learn what 18th-century medicines were made from and the processes used to make them. This takes place at the Apothecary building behind the Kitchen Office.
Wednesday – Carpentry and Woodworking. The camp provides its own woodworking needs, as well as items required by other living history demonstrations. Interpreters make pegs, shovels, rakes and other items. Come see what they are making today!
Thursday – Weaponry of the Times. Interpretations of period bladed weapons and flintlock firearms, ranging from officer’s swords to knives and pistols to muskets. Throughout the day there will be scheduled firing demonstrations using a reproduction French Charleville musket. Musket firing occur throughout the day and end at 3:30 p.m.
Friday – Daily Chores of Civilian Camp Life. On Fridays the camp focuses on civilian activities. Demonstrations will vary but may include making bandages, cleaning pots with ash, dyeing, spinning, candle making, and more.
Saturday – At the Camp: Morning to Night. Learn about life in an 18th-century military camp from fire-starting to sheltering.
New! Maritime History at the Camp – In the 18th c. New Bern was a major port. Learn about the life onboard ship, from boatswain and deckhands to captains. Their clothing, food, daily responsibilities, and tools of the trade. Offered every fourth Saturday of the month.
North Carolina History Center
The NC History Center was established in 2010. It is a LEED certified building adjacent to the Tryon Palace grounds. Within is the Regional History Museum showcasing exhibits that highlight much of Eastern North Carolina’s remarkable history from colonial times into statehood, through the centuries thereafter into modern times, with exhibits and collections of artifacts. The Pepsi Family Center entices young people to discover what it was like to be living in a North Carolina coastal town in 1835. Other galleries, including the Duffy, Guion and Cannon offer special exhibits and collections for viewing.
Open Daily – Monday to Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday; Noon to 5 p.m.
Included with ONE DAY and GALLERIES & GARDENS PASSES
Other Tours Available
Life on the Lesser Stairs Tour
“Life on the Lesser Stairs” highlights the lives of the men, women, and children, both enslaved and indentured, who worked to make this large and important household function. The tour covers the Palace, Stables, and Kitchen Office first floors to shine a light on the individuals who also called the Palace home but whose lives were often overlooked.
Offered every Thursday at 4:15 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for Youth. Ticket includes a Garden Pass, but not the NC History Center galleries, nor a full tour of the Palace. Space is limited This tour involves walking and climbing stairs.
This tour can be arranged as a Private Tour. Call 252-639-3524, for more information.
Special Garden Tours
Special garden tours that take you through the gardens of our historic homes and into the Palace colonial revival gardens including the Latham, Kellenberger and Kitchen gardens, followed by a visit to the scenic Wilderness Garden behind the Palace can be arranged in advance for an additional fee. Learn the history of each garden, and some of the changes made to them over time. Explore significant plants found throughout the grounds, and learn what’s blooming now, ending with a visit to the Nursery Yard. Be prepared for some walking with this tour. Group & Private Tours are available for a fee. Check Ticket Desk for more information or call Group Tours at 252-639-3524.
Outlander Tours
Offered once monthly, these themed tours are a favorite! Jamie and Claire Fraser visited with Governor William Tryon not too soon after arriving in the Colonies. On these tours you can experience what they might have encountered at Tryon Palace and in New Bern pre-Revolution. There were whispers of discontent and unrest among the colonists, as many opposed the building of the Governor’s “Palace” and the taxes imposed upon them to build and the British rule without representation. At first Jamie Fraser supported Governor Tryon and the Crown, but later changed his mind. Discover why!
Directions
1-800-767-1560
