Our family of 4 adults is heading to Asheville for a long week-end after picking D up at school in NC. We are staying in a home up in the mountains, with gorgeous view and hiking available in the home’s community. We have tickets for the Biltmore on Sunday, and will spend a good part of Saturday tooling around the city of Asheville. Any recommendations on what to see, do and eat in the city that day? Where to park and start our exploration? H and S will enjoy visiting some breweries, other than that we have no agenda other than getting a sense of the place.
Tupelo Honey is a great spot for a bite downtown. We love exploring downtown and also checking out Black Mountain a cute village close to Asheville. The River walk arts area is worth a stroll. There is one artist there who has created some really unique potter using antique lace. Lots of art studios and glassmaking. Its still a work in progress but totally worth checking out.
Thanks @Veryapparent; we are staying close to Black Mountain and will stop there for lunch and grocery shopping on Friday, before check-in at 4.
I was just there in April. My in laws live in Black Mountain. My teens love roaming around there!
Another vote for Tupelo Honey. We really enjoyed our lunch there.
The Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway is always a fun place to stop.
This is a bit of an outlier -but if you are history nerds or like goats -consider the Carl Sandburg Home. It is about 40 minutes out of Asheville. I like it -it is kind of quirky It may not be for everyone. His wife knew that they would be donating the house -so they didnt’ change a thing when he died. Same box of kleenex and everything.
https://www.nps.gov/carl/index.htm
If you want to shop Biltmore Square has REI etc…
I always enjoy going to Mast General Store downtownhttp://www.mastgeneralstore.com/
Restaurant recommendation Tupelo Honey. My favorite is the fried chicken:::::::swoon:::::::
Luckily we have one here in N. Va. too.
You will not have enough time this trip but if you make it back and like hiking and/or waterfalls, drive to Gorges State Park just a bit past Brevard.
If you like ice cream, Ultimate Ice Cream Co has some nice flavors…
Have fun!!
Wicked weed is a fun place to eat/drink
If you like tapas, go to Curate. If you like chocolate (candy, pastry, drinks), go to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Both are in downtown Asheville.
I second going to the arts district. We were fortunate that they had an open studio weekend when we were there.
Strongly suggest you get to Biltmore when they OPEN. And pay for the cassette tour if you want to know more about the house as you tour. The days where they do free guided tours and have people falling over themselves to tell you about things is long gone. It gets crowded as the day goes on, much more enjoyable early plus you should get to park closer to the house. So much to see and do there and if you have time, there’s the winery and Biltmore Village on property (drive there after doing house/outbuildings/gardens). Keep your eyes open while on property, you might be surprised at what animals you can spot - much of the land is in it’s natural wild state. Drove in before 9am one morning and just after the ticket building we came across a mama brown bear and her 2 cubs gamboling beside the road! Neat to see and not a threat, but reminded us how vast and unspoiled much of the acreage is. We made reservations (additional $) for an architectural tour that was wonderful. Got us behind the scenes and on the roof. Son in HS loved it. Also did a Segway tour that was mostly off road and had a blast (we’ve done tours in SF and other places so the off road aspect was appealing).
Another vote for the river arts district. And the area is a craft beer capital. Enjoy.
A number of years ago (9?, 10?), the Philadelphia Art Museum Craft Show, which is an absolutely top-notch, high-end juried craft show, had as its special focus artists from the Asheville area. I was blown away by the quality – I got the sense that it was a really vibrant community. If I were going to be around there, I would definitely figure out the best way to see current work by local craft artists.
I would second the recommendation for the tappas restaurant in post #10. I went there with my D (who studied in Spain) and we both loved the food at Curate.
We did two special tours that were worth the extra $$. One was a Behind the Scenes tour–you get to view rooms/areas not on the regular tour like the kitchen/food prep areas and others. If you have any interest in the history of the land (I did because I was taking courses in landscape design/history) do the Legacy of the Land tour. You take a trip by bus all around the property and hear about the history of it all.
If you stay at the inn on the property (forget the name) your admission fee is included in the price of the room. There is also a free shuttle from the inn to the property.
We had a killer lunch at sunnypointcafe.com. Salads and pie direct from the garden in the yard.
Another vote for Curate (great jamon iberico), River Arts District, Wicked Weed and French Broad (try the liquid chocolate). I also recommend Chestnut and The Admiral for dinner.
One of my favorite haunts is the charming Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar - because what could be better than books and champagne in a cozy setting with a few truffles from The Chocolate Fetish thrown in?
If your feet are tired from walking, stop in at the Wake Foot Sanctuary in the Grove Arcade for a relaxing foot soak.
The Biltmore is a must see - but like mentioned go early as it can be very crowded. Also, visit the pinball museum. Great Americana and a trip down memory lane if you like pinball.
Other than the Biltmore itself (which is a must see) and maybe the winery, I’m not a fan of the Biltmore Village area. To me, it’s like a Disney version of Asheville. Downtown Asheville/River Arts have much more personality. Both areas are compact and easy to explore. Lots of micro-breweries, restaurants, interesting local shops and galleries. If you’re a shoe lover, visit Tops downtown.
Loved the Biltmore house and tours, loved Tupelo Honey. Nice, walkable city.
Not in the city, but nearby is Lake Lure. Lovely! We had a fabulous boat tour around the lake. Famous for films, including Dirty Dancing. https://www.romanticasheville.com/lake_lure.htm