I liked seeing the inside; personally i liked the basement kitchen best of all. Why not, while u r there?

Have a fun trip!

Maybe go to Lake Lure?

The Pisgah Inn on the parkway is a fabulous place for lunch or dinner. Also, I highly recommend the New Morning Gallery in the Biltmore Village, a shopping district outside the estate.

Other fav's are tubing or white water rafting and Mount Mitchell.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, after your trip to Ashville. We just came back from driving to and from Clearwater Beach, for our first time as "snowbirds", since we are newly retired. We think that in future years, we will take a week or so to drive back and forth, stopping in interesting and fun towns for a couple of extra days, each way. Ashville is one of those.

Biltmore guided tours are definitely worthwhile in my opinion and I'm not a big tour kind of a person.

The inside tour is definitely a must see. Agree with Mtn about the basement area, my favorite was the laundry! The gift shop in the garden, if it is still there, has wonderful vases and small kitchen implements on cords that can be used on a Christmas tree. I haven’t visited Biltmore itself in about five years but at that time the garden shop was outstanding. I am in that area frequently as some of our family live in Montreat. In fact we will be there the weekend of June 3rd and if I can talk DH into taking the tour I might do it again, although my favorite time is when it is decorated for Christmas.

If he's back up and running I would do a food tour with Stu Helm any day and twice on Sunday. A bike tour with Flying Bikes is a great way to see a lot and save your feet/legs on the hills. If you're doing Biltmore, do the inside of the house - well worth it - and don't skip the audio. Cocktails and appetizers on the terrace at the Grove Park Inn at sunset if you can manage it - spectacular. When you go to Craggy be sure you have a jacket and swing by the Folk Art Center on your way to or from there. I'm not familiar with the Big Butt trail but not sure I'd do it after a quick read. Check Romantic Asheville website (do not be put off by the title) for the best aggregation of things to do.

Ohhh you guys are the best. Great info. Have booked the Biltmore tour w/ audio — initially I was taken aback by the $80 tickets, I mean it’s not Disney LOL. It’s not the kind of thing DD is into but she’ll be fine.

Have added all of the above to my list!

Maire, the article linked in your list is about Nashville. I can’t find a recent article about Asheville on that site.

Y’all will really enjoy the Biltmore tour...I agree with whoever said above that even people who don’t like tours, enjoy it. Everything up there is just so beautiful! It takes your breath away that this was literally someone’s home! The audio tours are really nice...you can spend as much or as little time as you want in various rooms depending on your interest.

Dinner at the Grove Park Inn on the terrace is amazing. And while I am not a huge (iced-although we don’t call it that down here, lol) tea drinker...they literally have the best I’ve ever had. Really refreshing and not super sweet. I think it must be the mountain water.

Downtown Asheville has TONS of restaurants and tons of vegan/vegetarian options EVERYWHERE! There are also a lot of breweries. Dh used to like the Wicked Weed brewery there before they “sold out” (his words) to Amheuser-Busch. 😂 There’s tons others.

Enjoy!!

There is so much in Asheville. Of course Biltmore, the River Art District, Grove Park Inn. Nini is right, there are all kinds of restaurants and they are everywhere and every kind. Go to the artsy district and sit and people watch. There is an art school and I love to watch the people. You will see some wild outfits and hair! LOL So many outside activities. Pisgah National Forest, many waterfalls in the area, local lakes, trails, etc. We like the little town of Black Mt. which is nearby. Also along the river area is a huge antique place we usually visit. KSWL mentioned having relatives in Montreat, I love to just drive up through there and look at the houses and there is lots of mountain laurel in that area although it may have bloomed while you are there. I would consider driving into TN over the Smoky Mts. for a day trip if you haven't been to the area. Biltmore Village is nice also.

Sue - OH my - that's what I get for speed reading!!! I'll delete the post.

Thanks for pointing that out. But if you ever want to go fly fishing with beer and pizza in Nashville just let me know.

Maire

White Duck Taco is great and the Friday night drum circle is a blast!

Adding a vote not to miss the Grove Park Inn, it is a wonderful place to stay and has excellent dining. Our extended family stayed there a few years ago for a long weekend over New Year’s Eve and it was fabulous— big name stand up comedians, live oldies bands, and a disco with headphones that lit up according to the kind of music you were listening to of several available channels. People would come and dance with you if your light was the same colors as theirs. It was really fun. (You all have probably seen that many times, but in 2018 it was an absolute novelty to me.) They put such a lot of thought and planning into their special events.

Any dining downtown is good. Also check out the breweries like Highland or New Belgium.

Totally agree the inside of the Biltmore is a must-see.

Ohhh - gscience reminded me about breweries. I don't drink beer, DH does not drink at all but the Sierra Nevada Tour is fantastic and will hopefully be up and running next month along with their live music. It's right down the road from the airport so makes for a perfect first stop if timing works. The drive in is jaw dropping, the building is amazing (think modern, sustainable Biltmore) and the restaurant is excellent. Lovely grounds with trails and outdoor activities.

edited to add - here's a great video http://dishworththedrive.com/project/sierra-nevada-brewery-mills-river-nc/  And if you don't like beer, try their Otra Vez very cold, even over ice. Citrus forward, does not taste like beer at all.

There is also a beautiful basilica in downtown Asheville, the Basilica of St. Lawrence. Not the type of architecture you usually see in the south. The church is open during the days. It is smaller that what I would normally see in the northeast.

This is all great info, thanks so much! I now have a couple dinner reservations, Biltmore tour, bike tour, a plan for tubing, and a good giggle from Maire.

We were just there last month. I am glad you decided to do the interior Biltmore tour. We enjoyed it very much. Ugh, the thought of working in those basement kitchens with no ventilation...We also did a wine tasting at Biltmore, and were surprised that the wines were quite good. I even ordered a case of the Rose! We ate lunch at Cedric's tavern (near the winery) and it was delicious.

None of the brewery tours were running last month, but that might have changed. You also needed a reservation for the Basilica then. We did the trolley tour one day which was very informative and entertaining. I highly recommend it. You catch it at the visitor's center. We made a reservation in advance because they were limiting the number of people on board.

We stayed at a BnB in the Montford historical district. It was wonderful, and we enjoyed walking around to admire the homes. We also enjoyed the cemetery nearby-there is a guide as you enter to the well-known people buried there. We were most interested in William Sidney Porter's (O. Henry) grave because he also lived in Austin for a period of time.

We walked to Chiesa one night for dinner. It's in an old church, and the food was delicious. It's Italian food. We also ate on the patio of the Grove Park Inn and walked around the interior and grounds. The food was wonderful, and the property is gorgeous.

Have fun! I would go back in a heartbeat.

I have never been to Asheville, but my favorite chocolate shop is there (I order online) and they have tours of their chocolate factory.

https://www.frenchbroadchocolates.com/pages/tours

Might be something fun and different! And yummy!! lol

Have fun on your trip!

Thanks, texanjana! And Baylor, French broad chocolates is on my list!

I forgot to add all of the artist’s spaces and galleries near the river. We didn’t have time to do that, but it looked interesting. Yes to the chocolate shop! Yummy!

We were there most recently there for a brief trip about 3 years ago. We were scouting for a quick place for lunch downtown and noticed a Tupelo Honey restaurant nearby. It is a small southern chain but their food is really good and reasonable. I am fairly certain there are vegan options. We have eaten in several of their locations simply because we enjoyed their food.

I‘m glad you booked the Biltmore tour. You won’t be disappointed. DH, who usually can take or leave these things, is a good sport but he thoroughly enjoyed it our first trip there. We enjoyed the Arboretum too, and our local Garden membership card got us in free.

We should probably avoid the art galleries. We came home from Santa Fe with three paintings in 2019. We have no empty walls left!

Some pics:

Great photos! Glad you had a good time!

I went to an all girls summer camp in Arden and we canoed down the French Broad every year. Back in the Sixties we were allowed to bring our horses to Biltmore and do a riding weekend on the grounds in July. They had limited tours then, i think some of the family still lived there and it was not the big business it is now..

Sounds like a super time! I think it's very cool that you happened to run into that artist!

So glad you enjoyed your trip! isnt the parkway fabulous?! did you go in the big antique store in the river district? it is almost too big for me. we go to the area often; it is within 2 hours of us. in fact, we will be there a few days next month.

Sounds like a great trip and with good food and memories.

Tina, I think I saw the antique store but it was at a point where we were all tired and hot, so I decided to pretend it wasn’t there. 😉