I've toured just about all of NC from Winston-Salem east, with a little bit of riding in some of the more westerly areas. For me, it is almost impossible to call one area a favorite as I like so many of them.

Riding along the coast is nice, particularly when you can avoid the busier vacation periods. The Outer Banks from Oregon Inlet south is better than the northern portions which are more commercialized.

A favorite can also depend on what you expect to get out of a tour. I suppose one of my favorites is riding n/s or s/n along what some call the "inner" banks, which is the very flat and historic area west of the tourism centered outer banks. There are a number of versions for this route, but one I enjoyed was a line roughly following Wilmington-Oriental-Belhaven-Edenton-Elizabeth City. It passes through some historic towns and you get to ride on a few ferries, which is always a nice bonus. Most towns are quite small with few places to spend the night, and campgrounds can be far apart. Some planning can overcome these obstacles so long as you don't expect to stay in a five star hotel every night. But being a one-way trip, it leaves you with the problem of getting back to your point of beginning (assuming you need to return from where you started.)

A favorite four-day circular trip is:
Day one: Begin early in Morehead City, stop for awhile in Beaufort along the waterfront, then ride to the Cedar Island ferry and take the ferry (about 2 hours crossing time) to Ocracoke for the night. Ocracoke is a great stay right on the coast, and not nearly as commercialized as most of the other parts of the banks. Really only accessible by ferry, so it's a pretty peaceful place with NC's oldest continually operating lighthouse.

Day two: Take the ferry across the Pamlico Sound to Swanquarter, (about 2 1/2 hours crossing time). Ride to Belhaven and stay at the River Forest Manor or someplace. Another peaceful, down east town with a few restaurants and a very interesting museum with just about everything (only open during weekdays). Not a very long day in the saddle mileage wise.

Day three: Depart Belhaven and take the Pamlico River ferry (about 1/2 hour crossing time). Stop in Aurora at the fossil museum and then ride down to Oriental, a delightful town right on the water. Also some good restaurants, and a couple of small hotels.

Day four: Depart Oriental and take the Minnesott Beach ferry (about 1/2 hour crossing time) past the Croatan National Forest. NC 101 can be a little busy, but not bad during non-peak vacation season. This will take you back to Beaufort and into Morehead City.

Of course, if your interests are more toward fall colors than historic coastal communities, then somewhere to the more rolling west may be more to your liking as that has more interesting topography and denser areas of hardwoods.

Being from Raleigh, you also could consider taking the Amtrak to Salisbury (lovely historic town with nice architecture, good restaurants and an increasingly lively downtown) and touring your way back. That should provide some nicely scenic views with color, especially if you select a route near the Uhwarrie National Forest. The early morning and noon Amtrak departures from Raleigh provide roll-on/roll-off bicycle service (no boxing!)at no extra charge (advance reservations required). (Unfortunately, the afternoon Amtrak departure requires the bike to be boxed and does not provide baggage service in Salisbury, therefore requiring you to go to Charlotte.) In fact, the more I think of it, this is the trip I'd recommend. Heck, I may even go ahead and make plans myself.

If you would like, take a look at a map of NC and pick out a few possibilities for routes, then contact me by PM and I'll do what I can to provide more specific information.