Thinking about going to the Biltmore for a weekend vacation. We would fly in and stay a couple of nights. Any suggestions, ideas. Figured we could stay at the Village Hotel on site. How is the winery, gardens, which tour is best?
Here are 2 books on Biltmore
The Grove Park Inn is another great historical hotel in Asheville.
https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park
Reading about the estate really helped my enjoyment of the house. We’ve never been on a tour but you must rent the audio tour. You would miss so much without it.
The Chihuly exhibit starts on May 17th. I saw the Chihuly installation at Cheekwood in Nashville several years ago and think it will be even more impressive at the Biltmore. Almost worth the effort of going back. We enjoyed the wine tour and just wandered the gardens at our leisure.
The Chihuly installation is one motivation to go - saw his NY botanical gardens exhibit last year and have been to his Seattle museum.
We did a long week-end in Asheville last May, including 1 day at the Biltmore. Unfortunately, it POURED rain that day. I mean buckets, all day. Which worked out to be great for touring the inside of the estate, but… we didn’t get to walk the gardens. But still SO worth it. Our young adult S and D were with us, and we all very much enjoyed it. Agree you must rent the audio tour. We drove through the village and past the winery, but didn’t get out because of the drenching rain. Didn’t really seem like we were missing much, looked kind of touristy. Lots of other things to do in the Asheville area in place of spending time there. Personally I would not center my whole week-end on just the Biltmore Estate, but ymmv. Have heard wonderful things about Grove Park but didn’t get there. We did a VRBO.
The “Glamour on Board: Fashion from Titanic the Movie” exhibit ends May 13 - we visited Biltmore in early March, and enjoyed seeing the costumes on display. Unfortunately you won’t be able to see both the Titanic exhibit and the Chihuly exhibit since they don’t overlap.
No need to stay at the park hotel to enjoy the estate… Asheville is great with lots to offer outside the estate.
All parts of the park are fun though–definitely do the house and downstairs tour. All the tours are great and interesting.
Haven’t been on the tour of upper floors but heard great things about that too.
The gardens are beautiful.
The wine tour and tastings are great fun…now I want to go back!
Just be ready for a good time!
The Chiluly installation is a great draw especially if you haven’t experienced his artwork before.
DO rent the audio–totally worth it.
And yes, you can spend all or most of a weekend at the Biltmore but then you’d miss Asheville – just decide right now that you’ll need to go back!
And–don’t know how this works these days–
If you want AAA tickets or some other discount–get them BEFORE you leave. You won’t find any discounts once you arrive.
Echoing @Embracethemess suggestion to not spend all your time at Biltmore. We did a great walking tour of three Asheville breweries. Highly recommend tapas at Cúrate. The Asheville Tourists are a minor league playing in a cool ballpark that serves fried moon pies at the concession stand.
I went to Asheville just to see Biltmore. I was taking a landscape history class at the time and wanted to see Olmstead’s creations. We stayed at the Inn on Biltmore–there’s a free shuttle that takes you to the estate. We did one tour that focused on the landscape and gardens–Legacy of the Land. We did the roof top tour as well as a guided tour of the estate (led by a docent)–it was a tour that took you behind the scenes (where servants lived, laundry, kitchen, etc). We went to the winery for a wine tasting too. We were there for four days and had dinner in Asheville every night. I only remember one restaurant–Curate (it was a tapas place that was very good).
We went to Asheville but skipped Biltmore. Agree with @yauponredux about Curate. We hope to make it back to that area again, including Biltmore, which I’ve heard is fabulous. I am not sure I’d spring for the price to stay there, but 1 person did say is was “fabulous” to stay on site.
I’ve stayed on site at Biltmore, but I enjoyed the Grove Park Inn mentioned above far more.
One year I drove out to NC to pick up D1 after finals and move her back home for the summer. We stayed at the Biltmore and toured the entire estate and just loved it. If memory serves, we were in the middle of our Downton Abbey phase, and the whole thing reminded us of that. I think we took one of the audio tours, but I don’t remember for sure. We asked a passerby to take our picture in front of the estate, and I sent it to D2 (she was still in high school and had a different end date). She thought we had gone off to Europe!
Staying on site is really nice and the grounds of the estate are gorgeous! Cedric’s Tavern (on the grounds) is yummy! The farm area has lots of fun stuff to see! Definitely try to make time to see the Grove Park Inn and enjoy a drink in their beautiful lobby! Tons of great restaurants in Asheville also, one place we love is the Corner Kitchen!
I am thinking of not staying on site - have narrowed it down to a marriott downtown (AC Hotel) or a marriott in the biltmore village (grand bohemian). Any opinions on these location or hotels?
We stayed at a Homewood suites near downtown and loved it – big rooms, plenty close. True confession – we didn’t know about the Biltmore! Saw in it March and were practically the only people there, plus discount tickets!
@kiddie , the Grand Bohemian is amazing and has beautiful artwork all throughout the hotel! Wonderful lobby bar and super peaceful atmosphere!
Another vote for the Grand Bohemian. It was a lot of fun and the restaurant was very good.
Just got back from our trip and it was great. I highly recommend a visit to Asheville/Biltmore. The house and gardens are beautiful (the Chihuly exhibit is wonderful - did a nice job making the art fit the garden). We luckily caught the roses in bloom. Used the audio on the tour (and bought tickets in advance to save money). Stayed at the Cambria and the location was perfect - walked to everything downtown. Most attentive hotel staff I have ever experienced. Had wonderful meals everywhere (Laughing Seed, Tupelo Honey, Bouchon, Cedric’s Tavern, and the cute soda fountain place in the old Woolworth building.) Enjoyed the shops (very unique local crafts everywhere). Great weekend getaway!
What a coincidence! I just booked a two night stay in Asheville for a birthday trip, and then saw this thread. Glad you had a great trip @kiddie . And glad to hear you liked Homewood Suites @greenbutton . I booked it this afternoon before seeing this thread We are planning to go to Biltmore, New Belgium Brewing, look around downtown . Good to see some restaurant recommendations!
How funny - I have a meeting in Asheville I was trying to avoid. I’ve been there before and was not impressed by the section I was in near the hospital. I was going to send others in my place, but I think I’ll go and make sure I get by the Biltmore.