I took a break from my traveling Consultant job to travel to another place lol. My mom and I decided to take a relaxing fall trip to Asheville, North Carolina to see the fall colors and admire the mountains. Read below to see everything we did in the span of 4 days. I will also be posting a food recommendations blog for Asheville in the next couple of weeks, so look out for that too because the food in Asheville is honestly unmatched.
DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE |
Downtown Asheville is a lively, yet charming downtown worth exploring. They are seriously endless amounts of boutiques and stores to walk in and explore. I ended up buying an expensive (but super cute and worth-it sweater) from EDGE boutique that I wore to the Biltmore. If you’re looking to spend money and find cute one-of-a-kind items, shop in downtown Asheville.
There are also a lot of restaurants and dessert shops to try out.
RIVER ARTS DISTRICT |
The River Arts District is for all the art lovers. There are beautiful graffiti walls and murals all over this area of the city, plus tons of art galleries and warehouses to walk into to support local artists. I loved these clay balloon letters in one of the warehouses. There is also, just like the name says, a beautiful river that runs through this area that you can walk along or rent bikes to ride along.
THE BILTMORE ESTATE |
The Biltmore Estate is just a classic to Asheville. It is America’s largest home and is on 8,000 acres of land. The tickets are a bit pricey, but I really do think they’re worth it. Depending on the day and season you go, the price is in the $100s. You get access to the estate with a guided audio visit, Antler Hill Village, and complimentary wine tasting. If you would like to do wine tasting, you must reserve it early in the day. The wine was pretty tasty and we got to taste 5 different kinds.
Make sure to explore Antler Hill Village too, which is about a 15-minute drive out of the estate. This is also where the wine tasting is at.
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY/HIKING |
Since Asheville is right in the mountains, there are many opportunities for beautiful outlooks and hiking along the Blue Ridge Parkway. My best recommendation would literally be to just drive it and stop at the outlooks on your way. In the fall, the colors are literally stunning so then would be my recommendation on when to go. The Craggy Dome outlook, was as far as we went and I believe that’s the highest point of the mountains. That was a beautiful outlook and a great place for us to end our drive.
As far as hiking goes, we did one of the hikes along the way, close to the Craggy Dome outlook, and it wasn’t anything special if I’m being honest. I would research ahead of time to scope out a better hike.
DOUBLE D’S COFFEE & DESSERTS |
A double decker bus as a coffee shop… what else could you ask for? Since we went close to Halloween, they had it decorated for the occasion which made it even cuter. The coffee is delicious and the vibes are immaculate. The top of the bus is unfortunately closed for seating now because of wear and tear, but they have a ton of patio seating where you can enjoy your coffee and admire the bus.
They do only take cash, so plan for that if you visit!
Tayler Renee May 