Tickets and Tours

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 Calendar for what additional tours and events might be available during your visit.

Ticket Purchase and Information

Begin your visit, and purchase passes at one of the Ticket Desks, located at the main entrance to the North Carolina History Center (529 S. Front Street), or at the Waystation in front of the Palace gates (610 Pollock Street) in New Bern, NC. 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.

In addition to purchasing ONE DAY PASSES onsite, tickets for ONE DAY PASSES are available ONLINE for advance ticketing up to 30 minutes prior to tour time. To reserve tour time and purchase your ONE DAY PASS ONLINE click HERE. Online ticket holders need to check in at Ticket Desk for physical ticket and information at least 15 minutes prior to tour reservation. 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.

With a Tryon Palace Foundation Membership, you can visit Tryon Palace FREE for a year!

One Day Passes including Palace Tours, Galleries & Gardens Passes, and Garden Passes are FREE for Tryon Palace Foundation Members. For more information on becoming a Member please click HERE

Children 5 & under are always FREE

Guest Rules – During your visit, please do not touch or lean on furnishings, or bring food, drink, candy, or gum into the historic buildings. Also, 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

Dixon House off Pollock St.

Your ONE DAY PASS includes a Tour of the Historic Dixon House. Dixon House tours begin at the Waystation, corner of Pollock & George Street. Tour Times: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; on the half hour (No tours from noon to 12:30 p.m. or 1– 1:30 p.m.)

In addition to purchasing ONE DAY PASSES onsite, tickets for ONE DAY PASSES are available ONLINE for advance ticketing up to 30 minutes prior to tour time.

To reserve tour time and purchase your ONE DAY PASS ONLINE click HEREOnline ticket holders need to check in at Ticket Desk for physical ticket and information at least 15 minutes prior to tour reservation. 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.

Palace Tours

After 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 become 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 who were not so pleased 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, 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 and how Tryon and his family may have lived while there.

  • Monday thru Friday: 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.*
  • Saturday: 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.*
  • Sunday: 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 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.

Military Encampment on Palace Grounds

  • Included with All Passes
  • Monday – Friday 10:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday Noon – 3 p.m.
  • 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.

MondayCoffee and Chow -Roasting Coffee and Cooking. See a rotating list of camp recipes each day, such as ash cakes, dumplings, and more.

TuesdayApothecaryMaking 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.

WednesdayCarpentry 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!

ThursdayWeaponry 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.

FridayDaily 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.

SaturdayAt 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 3:30 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!

Outlander – The Spark of the Rebellion

Join a group of time travelers at Tryon Palace, the colonial capital of New Bern c. 1770s, where you will encounter the Royal Governor’s militia at their encampment to learn the latest news on the Colony. You will also meet a local physic and surgeon who is an acquaintance of Claire’s, for consultation on some of his healing remedies and techniques.

  • Offered monthly, see Events Calendar
  • One hour long
  • Please arrive at Palace gates by 9:15 a.m., tour begins promptly at 9:30 a.m.
  • Separate Admission Ticket required: Adults $2

Outlander – The Storm of Revolution

The forces for independence have been unleashed and Governor Josiah Martin has ordered Claire Fraser to assist him as he plots to stop the Revolutionaries. Colonel James Fraser has joined local forces marching to the capital.

  • Offered monthly, see Events Calendar
  • One hour long
  • Tour takes place inside the Palace.  Garden Passes are included; ask Ticket Desk for garden hours.
  • Please arrive at Palace gates by 4:15 PM, tour begins promptly at 4:30 p.m.
  • Separate Admission Ticket required: Adults $20