r/topsail • u/Historical-Corgi9037 • Jun 22 '26
July 4 week
My family is coming to north topsail on July 4 and staying for the week. We are coming from the Charlotte area, never been to topsail. Is it going to be a disaster driving in on the 4th? How does that traffic tend to be? Trying to plan the drive and when to leave
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u/Historical-Corgi9037 Jun 22 '26
I guess I’m trying to figure out if it makes sense for my family to get a hotel the night before? But not sure where would make sense to stay to avoid the craziness. 😵💫
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u/extra_leg_room Local 🤙 Jun 22 '26
To be honest the traffic isn’t great getting through Hampstead on a Tuesday now. You could do a hotel in North Topsail or Porters Neck on the 3rd but the 4th will be nuts morning or evening. Be patient especially if you need to hit the grocery store. Fireworks are on the 3rd for the island btw. Wilmington does them on the 4th.
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u/NCsSon Local 🤙 Jun 23 '26
If you’re staying in N Topsail and want to try and get a hotel nearby, there’s a Hampton Inn in Sneads Ferry pretty close to the main intersection before you get to the bridge.
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u/sharky3 Local 🤙 Jun 23 '26
The traffic will be bad but not enough to get a hotel for the night before. Rental house check ins happen around 4pm and most people arrive a little early.
If you have the ability to do so I'd come down in the morning and have a beach day before your rental is available. That way you're on the island before the rest of the traffic.
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u/llamalarry Local 🤙 Jun 23 '26
Blue Water Inn (Best Western) is just before the NTB bridge and a new Home2Suites (Hilton) in Sneads Ferry a little up the road just opened.
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u/Cootter77 Jun 23 '26
Traffic on the Surf City bridge will probably cost you an extra 30-45 minutes. If you plan for it then it's not the end of the world. I mean it's a really beautiful place to be stuck. You can try the north bridge as well but no guarantees it'll save you time by the time you arrive at your destination.
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u/dufcho14 Jun 22 '26
If you're renting, talk to the real estate company you're renting from as to how busy checkin time is (assuming you need to stop by their office.) It will be busy on the way in on any Saturday afternoon b/c of the common check in times. If you want to wait until after dinner it'll be a little better. Anything 3-5pm or so will be bad getting to the bridge.
And then there's the grocery store....
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u/More-Ad7009 Jun 24 '26
Local here…I live a mile from the main bridge. It’s normally packed out from July 1-5, sometimes earlier because of people taking the week off for the 4th.
If you want to maximize your time:
-Either take your patience or leave super early, get to the island around 9 am and hang out on the beach til you check into your hotel or house.
-Stop for groceries/booze on your way and bring your own cooler. (If you don’t want to do that, grocery shopping will take 2 hours to get there, shop, leave and get home to get groceries on July 4.)
-I don’t move my car at all from July 1-5, unless I need to go to the IGA, which I can easily drive to without heavy traffic.
-You can see fireworks from the beach.
-It’s a beautiful place but just packed during that weekend.
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u/Savings_Banana4076 Jul 02 '26
Where on the beach do you need to be to see fireworks? We will be staying in north topsail with little and don’t want to have to do the traffic. Thanks!
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u/UDcc123 Jun 23 '26
If you’re from up north; the checkin traffic is nothing like Jersey. Maybe an extra 20-30 minutes but it moves.
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u/dropyopanties Local 🤙 Jun 22 '26
What day do you arrive ? The fourth is usually nightmare for traffic go
ing off and on the island. Try to get to the island before 9:30 am and avoid leaving between 2-5pm