Patti’s Guide to Visiting Asheville

  1. LaZoom Tours – this is really fun. I’m not a tour person, but this is a good one. Very funny way to see Asheville. We put two curmudgeonly New Zealanders on it once and watched them laugh until they cried. Started by parents of one of Felix’s elementary school mates who are beautifully insane in the best ways possible. Hint: It usually features the dad dressed as a nun on a huge bike.
  2. If you’re interested to know about black history in Asheville, you might find this tour interesting. I haven’t gone on it yet, but it’s important information to the understanding of Asheville.
  3. Biltmore House – it’s something to see.And the juxtaposition of this to #2 is intentional. The history of it is fascinating, the house is HUGE and over the top, and the gardens are spectacular. You can treat yourself to lunch or dinner there too. And they offer outdoor activities too. As well as a winery, with tours and tastings. And you can stay on property, if that’s of interest. In Biltmore Village across the street from the Biltmore entrance, you can walk around and shop or eat at The Corner Kitchen where Obama likes to dine.
  4. The Grey Eagle (near/in the River Arts District) is a music hall that gets great acts. You might check the calendar for your dates.
  5. Grove Park Inn – with fireplaces in the lobby large enough to walk into, it’s a great example of Arts and Crafts style. F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed at the hotel for two years to write while his wife Zelda was in an insane asylum in Asheville. The rooms in which he stayed, 441 and 443, are available for guests. One is furnished exactly as it was during his stay in the 1930s. Ten presidents have stayed at the hotel, including Barack Obama. Great for a sunset drink on their verandah overlooking the mountains or a fabulous spread for their Sunday Champagne Brunch. It also has a subterranean spa that might be fun.
  6. Folk Art Center – the Southern Highland Crafts Guild represents really find craftsmen/women from this area and this shop is full of gorgeous hand-crafted items.
  7. Friday night drum circle – in downtown Asheville, there is Pritchard Park which is home to an impromptu (and often very large) drum circle on Friday nights.
  8. One of our favorite restaurants is Limones (great margaritas), and there are many other restaurants in Asheville you might like, including Curate, The Admiral, Plant (vegan fine food), Tupelo Honey is known for their for Southern food including a moonshine martini, Gan Shan Station is a hot new restaurant in a refurbished gas station, there are many more. Here’s a list of some others you might enjoy! And if you like ribs, here’s the place Obama goes when he’s in Asheville.
  9. The River Arts District is a great place to see artists at work and there are restaurants there too. If you go there, eat at White Duck Taco.
  10. If breweries are of interest, Asheville has tons of them. There is also one of those pub cycles where you can visit breweries and drink beer while cycling to the next one.
  11. Malaprops Bookstore is a well-loved independent bookstore in downtown Asheville and was independent bookstore of the year a few years ago.
  12. We love Dobra Tea on Lexington Avenue – it’s a tea house with many many teas to choose from.
  13. The Thomas Wolfe house downtown is a good literary tour. Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry are both buried in Asheville..
  14. The Arboretum will be beautiful in the spring if you want some outdoor time.
  15. Also outdoorsy – Pisgah National Forest has a lot of waterfalls, Graveyard Fields is a nice hike if you like waterfalls and don’t mind sweating and will give you a nice little drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are hundreds of waterfalls in this area.
  16. You might check the calendar at the Diana Wortham Theater for the time you’ll be here to see if there’s a show of some kind that would be of interest.
  17. This is a good overall site with suggestions as well.
  18. And here’s “36 Hours in Asheville” from the NYTimes.

Hope that gets you started!