Two Days in Asheville

*October 2024 Note. As someone who lives in Florida has been through numerous hurricanes, my heart goes out to everyone in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia (and more) who have been impacted by hurricane Helene. My sister has a home just outside of Asheville and while they were able to hear their home is mostly good, that is not the case for much of North Carolina!

My sister also recently moved from Augusta to Atlanta and she told me the devastation in Augusta as well! For anyone saying “they should have left” I can assure you that NO ONE thought it would be necessary. As someone who has been through hurricanes, I was not worried in East Central Florida and thankfully, though the wind did pick up quite a lot on Thursday night, it wasn’t too bad here.

However, Augusta sits about five hours by car north of me and they appear to have been hit much harder than even Atlanta, which was closer to the storm! So it just shows you that these storms can be very difficult to understand or predict.

Additionally, the storms lose strength once they hit land, so it’s normal for people in places like Georgia and North Carolina to simply wait out the storm as it’s commonly a non-issue.

I remember on Tuesday my friend telling me about the storm and I looked at the radar and thought it was ages away! It was a tropical storm on Tuesday over Cancun, Mexico. As this storm picked up speed on the warm gulf waters it hit category four in less than two days!

People in the line of the storm in Florida, up on the panhandle, would have evacuated. And if I lived there, I would have not blinked twice about evacuating.

Yet, if I lived in Georgia or North Carolina, I would have stayed and waited out the storm as I did in East Central Florida with no issues.

The devastation is unprecedented. I just finished watching a video and I cannot imagine what the people in these states are going through! It’s beyond comprehension to think that some of the places I visited only months ago are now washed out completely. And the loss of life is beyond comprehension and it has yet to even be totaled!

I’ve been through hurricanes and been without power and knowing people care does mean a lot. When they have recovered, visiting and supporting these communities, including Asheville, will be another way to offer support.

In the meantime, you all are in my thoughts and prayers.

There are many organization on the ground, so donating through them is an option if you don’t have family or friends you know personally.

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I’ve always been an ocean and beach girl, but there is something serene being in the mountains. It helps that my sister and her husband bought a vacation home up there.

Asheville area has a ton to offer in terms of hikes and I’d love to make that the main thing should I ever return. This trip however, was more an exploration since I was only there a couple days! Here is what I’d suggest for two days in Asheville! And since my sister is there often, I’ll mention some of her recommendations as well!

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Day One | Two Days in Asheville

Biltmore Estate

Are you wondering if the Biltmore Estate is worth it? Well, that was me a couple weeks ago, but my friend and I decided it’s worth it at least once so we sprung for the full ticket that included the audio tour of the home. House? Castle? I suppose castle is most appropriate. My ticket cost $85, so this is not a cheap activity.

Driving onto the property is beautiful! There are these gorilla looking trees set above a brown river or as I liked calling it the chocolate river. Sounds better and gave me Willy Wonka vibes. The property is beautiful with expansive green fields, corn fields, woods, and beautiful gardens!

My friend and I decided to have breakfast on property to make the most of our day. Food prices are not cheap and they weren’t that different from prices elsewhere. Though you aren’t paying an entry fee to other places.

I wouldn’t rate the breakfast high (it was typical), but if you want to make the most of your ticket like us, they do offer breakfast options. After breakfast we walked around a bit before our castle tour at 11:45AM.

Originally, I had wanted to rent an e-bike to explore the grounds, but that didn’t end up happening. It rained in the afternoon and my friend and I were spent by then anyway. I recommend doing things like that in the morning. The rentals are first come, first serve so keep that in mind as well.

Biltmore House Tour

We made our way to the house for our tour. Thankfully, we ended up timing it well by leaving a half an hour early. If you want minimal walking, do the park and ride so the trolley drops you at the castle. We drove on and parked in lot B and the walk from there was about eight minutes, though it seemed shorter.

We got in line about 11:40AM and the heat in Asheville on our trip was far more brutal than expected considering we were coming from Florida! Though the line didn’t last long, it felt brutal in the sun and heat. Once inside the house, it does not have AC, but the fans they have placed all around do help. However, we definitely did a lot of sweating at Biltmore.

They give you an audio device and you select the number as you enter area. The tour is interesting and the rooms are so impressive! However, it’s not short! I hadn’t really done research on how long the tour lasts and I lost count at the 90 minute mark. The website does say 1.5 to 2 hours and that is accurate.

My friend and I took a five minute break for photos of the view, but the second half of the tour we weren’t finishing the audio or doing the bonus audio. It’s interesting but by that point we were losing interest. The home is beautiful to see regardless!

Lunch at Biltmore Estate

We went to lunch after the tour completed by driving to Cedric’s Tavern on the Biltmore grounds. They had a kitchen issue which resulted in a limited menu, but the Reuben was delicious! At this point, I was still thinking we’d do the e-bikes, but it rained so we officially scrapped that idea.

After lunch we headed to the winery. We walked down this cool hallway which was eventually lined with lights and looked so beautiful. When we finally reached the end, we walked up the stairs and into the wine shop. It was a bit of a letdown from the hallway, which built up the anticipation. In the shop you can get in line for the free wine, but neither my friend or I had enough interest to wait.

We ended our time at Biltmore by driving to the gardens that sit behind the Biltmore House. The greenhouse was so beautiful and even had a banana tree thriving and growing some bananas. A tropical oasis in the greenhouse which was so beautiful and worth a visit! The rain reappeared so we didn’t make it for a walk in the actual garden. However, driving into the parking area for the garden, we did see it!

Overall, Biltmore Estate is beautiful! It’s lush, historic and will definitely tire you out exploring the beautiful property.

Dinner at the Airbnb

After Bilmore Estate, my friend and I were exhausted. We decided the next day, our last day, we’d enjoy a slow morning so we stopped at the grocery. We each got something light for dinner, and sorted our breakfast and coffee for the morning.

We were staying at an airbnb with beautiful mountain sunsets, and happily enjoyed the views as much as we could for our two days in Asheville. The prior day (our arrival day), we got takeout at Gypsy Queen again because we wanted to enjoy the sunset. I really enjoyed what I ordered and overall I’d say Asheville has a lot of good food gems!

If you are not staying somewhere without good sunset views, I heard that the The Omni Grove Park Inn has a good sunset view.

Day Two | Two Days in Asheville

We enjoyed the morning at the airbnb and our first stop of the day was Hole Donuts! I had these one other time back in 2020 and HAD to have these donuts again! They are the best donuts I’ve ever had! There are three consistent flavors and one rotating flavor. I got all four to try and it cost just under $13 for one of each.

We had to stop here first as they close at 1PM and despite the fact they only serve donuts and coffee they stay busy. It wasn’t crazy when we were there around noon, but there seemed to be a steady flow of people.

If you like donuts, make sure to visit Hole Donuts!

We had the rest of the day to explore Asheville and get lunch before having to make our way to the airport.

Asheville, North Carolina Additional Food Recommendations

Asheville gives hippy vibes with a small dash of Southern charm. There are plenty of good coffee shops and restaurants to choose from! There’s an Anthropology and Urban Outfitters as well as some smaller, local owned stores. Some are genuinely cute and worth visiting!

You can easily spend half a day exploring Asheville, grabbing coffee, and enjoying a meal. My sister is a bit of a foodie so I gathered options from her. One of the spots we were interested in, Huli Sue’s BBQ and Grill, was closed, but we ended up eating at White Duck Taco. I enjoyed both tacos I ordered, but my friend only enjoyed one of the two.

Baba Nahm – Middle Eastern Street Food looked good and it’s downtown near the BBQ place mentioned above. In general, downtown Asheville has plenty of options from Indian, Mediterranean, sushi, tacos, and of course barbecue! Whatever your mood, there is an option!

On our arrival day, we stopped at Old Europe Pastries and had delicious desserts! If you have a sweet tooth, it’s worth a visit! We had also attempted to visit Mother Bread + Wine, but it was closed during the days we were there, but it looks so good! It’s not downtown but could be worth a visit!

How to Get Around

As with most cases in the United States, except for a few major cities, you need a car! The best way to get around is by car, however, if you stay in downtown Asheville, you can walk around easily and simply uber/lyft to places like Biltmore Estate.

Depending on what you want to do, two days in Asheville can be a perfect little getaway. Time for hiking might require more days or replace a slow morning with views like I had for a hike with views! Asheville has plenty of good food spots to choose from and you will not lack good coffee options!