Trip to Asheville, NC in mid-April

Grove Park Inn is worth stopping by, even if only to have a couple of drinks and enjoy the view.



We also enjoy breakfast at Tupelo Honey.

Two most popular places to stay are the Grove Park Inn and the Kimpton Arras Downtown. The Grove Park is a Beautiful historic hotel, but is not in the center and would require driving everywhere. The Arras is in the center of Downtown so you have a lot of walking options.

TONS of breweries and they all, normally, have good food. Sierra Nevada is worth the drive. Amazing facility. Curate, 12 Bones, Tupelo Honey, LA Bodega, Salsa's.

I would drive the Blue Ridge Parkway up to atleast Mount Mitchell (Highest point East of the Mississippi). The Biltmore is nice and is a full day if you do the gardens. If you don't stay at the Grove Park, it's worth either eating at a restaurant there or getting a drink. The view and the hotel are something to see.

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Kimpton Arras Downtown

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Stayed there for a week last May, and it was a great central location to walk from. The AC Hotel across the street looked like another good choice.

The Asheville Art Museum is right there, but it's just okay, enough for an hour or so. The Folk Art Center along the Blue Ridge Parkway is not too far and well worth a visit if you like art/history.

Asheville's River Arts District is full of artist galleries, workshops, restaurants, etc. It's more of a drive or Uber from downtown. We walked there, but it was about 2 miles.

North Carolina Arboretum, a short drive, was great in May. Lots of easy walking paths to view incredible gardens. You can just stroll the main section and see the flowerbeds and such, or hit the trails for a few miles in the woods. Not sure how the blooms will be in April but worth checking.

Basilica of St. Lawrence is a beautiful old Catholic church within a medium walk from downtown. Limited hours to visit, only a few hours a day M-Thur, but well worth scheduling it for a history buff.

Curate: Highly rated tapas style restaurant. Right down the street from Kimpton. Make reservations. I think they let you do so 3 months out, and it books fast.

Bull & Beggar was also a nice meal. Had reservations well in advance.

White Duck Taco Shop: Multiple locations, but one is near the center of downtown. Great variety of creative tacos for a casual meal.

We walked to many of the taprooms around town. Asheville Brewing Company-Downtown may not be the hippest, but it was my favorite for combo of good beers and great pizza slices.

Rankin Vault Cocktail Lounge: This was near our hotel. We never made it there, but I will next time. We walked past it several times, and it was always hopping with a lively crowd, even in early hours.

One World Brewing has a small, basement bar/tasting room just across Patton Ave. from the Kimpton Hotel. No cover and live music every night when we were there, with open mic on Monday for all forms of entertainment. It became our place to have a couple beers and enjoy the show at the end of the night.

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What are some suggestions for places to stay, places to eat, and other things to do in Asheville.

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NC PBS Video about Curate
The video is 4:40.

The last time we went to the Biltmore, 2019 I think, we did the rooftop tour. The tour guide takes you to some upper floors where you cannot go with the base ticket.

We stayed at The Residences at Biltmore which is about a mile from the Biltmore Estate entrance.

If you drive the Blue Ridge Parkway stop at the visitor center just east of Asheville and get information from the ranger.

There are a couple of chocolate shops in downtown Asheville that most women I know like a lot; The Chocolate Fetish and French Broad Chocolate.

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Wicked weed for lunch and beers. Great food and drinks.

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x2 on Wicked Weed. Also try Biscuit Head.

If you are a fan of sours - Wicked Weed Funkatorium is a must visit. Great food too!

I know you said this trip wasn’t for hiking, but the tallest peak visible here (close to the right edge) is Mt Pisgah, which is an easy hike and about 30 minutes from Asheville.

I have a good work rate at the Doubletree not far from the Biltmore gate so we always stay there. The Grand Bohemian is closer to the gate and nicer. They have a great lounge. Also in the Biltmore village area is Hillman Brewery which is underrated for beer and bar food.

About Biscuit Head, they have three locations. I prefer the one in West Asheville and we try to get there before 9 so we don’t have to wait as long. If you’re like me and prefer breakfast tacos/burritos to biscuits (I prefer my grandmother’s biscuits) then Taco Billy in West Asheville is your place.

So wanted to bump and update as we just returned today.

Really enjoyed the trip and are planning on going back sooner rather than later to squeeze some more things in.

We ended up staying at the Hilton Asheville at Biltmore Park (was about $200 a night). Room was nice, service was smooth. Being in Biltmore Park we were just about 15 minutes from the Biltmore entrance where we spent two days of the trip and a short trip to downtown Asheville. Biltmore Park also was a really nice area with lots of places to eat and drink within walking distance of the hotel. We'll likely stay there again on a return trip.

Food and drinks:

- White Duck Taco was delicious. Loved the fusion tacos. Had a greek taco with falafel and the General Tso. Fiance has the Korean Beef Bulgogi and General Tso as well.

- The Thirsty Monk was within a walk of the hotel so we stopped in there and met up with some friends from the area. Had some good beers from Green Man brewing there. Smoked Trout Spread as good.

- Wicked Weed was as good as advertised. I'm probably ruined forever on sour beer now.

- Nine Mile was a Carribean-inspired place just around the corner from us and we loved it. Had a Mahi Mahi dish over linguine with coconut ginger sauce and grilled veggies that was great. Fiance had a Jamaican Jerk chicken pasta dish that enjoyed as well.

- Luella's BBQ we ate our first night and it was just alright. Not the best BBQ I've had but also not the worst. Solid sides but BBQ was a big dry. I had a burnt end sandwich and the execution was just off a bit. Fiance had pulled pork and pulled chicken and while he enjoyed the vinegar based BBQ sauce the meat was also dry for him.

- We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Fork Lore, most mornings and it was pretty good.

- Drinks at the Grove Park Inn was also everything that was advertised. Beautiful scenery.

Biltmore Stuff:

- Ended up spending two days at the Biltmore because of the timed entry of the house and the Chihuly exhibit we had purchased for Sunday (got the two day grounds ticket). Went on Saturday to check out the gardens and it was gorgeous weather. We missed the tulips in the Walled Garden by about a week but the Azalea Gardens were in full bloom.

- The house was really nice and they covered quite a bit with it just being the basic audio tour. We plan to go back in the future and check out some of the guided tours. Fair warning though, if you can't do stairs you'll miss part of the tour since the elevator only goes to the second floor (third floor and basement don't have guest elevator access). Someone in our entry group was throwing a huge fit over it. Takes about an hour and a half to cover the house. But worth it.

- The Chihuly exhibit was fantastic. I've seen a few of his outdoor pieces when they've been purchased by companies locally (like Maker's Mark) but never had seen a full exhibit of his. It really is breathtaking what he and his team can do with glass. The exhibit runs through January 2025 and highly encourage folks to check it out if possible.

Definitely have plans to go back in the next couple of years. Maybe looking at a visit in the fall since we caught the Spring bloom.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Check out Connemera, Carl Sandberg's home in Flat Rock. It's just south of town and a great place to visit.