New Bern is located in Craven County (of which it is the county seat) south of Greenville, between Kinston and Morehead City along US Highway 70 at confluence of the Trent River and the Neuse River near Havelock, Grantsboro, and the Croatan National Forest.

New Bern is the Birthplace of Pepsi Cola, Caleb Bradham a pharmacist, concocted the drink in 1898 and it is the site of North Carolina's Colonial Capitol and its first State Capitol.