Tell me about Asheville, NC area for vacation (1 Viewer)

[Horses Mouth]

My son is doing a week camp in Tuxedo, NC so we're thinking about getting a house for rent around Asheville, NC. We would want to be out in the country somewhere with amazing scenery, good hiking, good biking (I'm a road cyclist), and access to some entertainment should we want to drive in to a town. Wouldn't mind a lake house rental somewhere or in the mountains. We want some character. A friend mentioned Blowing Rock, NC as a good option, even though it is 2 hrs from Asheville, but I know nothing about the area. We will be sharing the house with another couple so we have 2 six year olds, and 2 three year olds so it would be important that there are things to do with them also. What I want to avoid is getting a place somewhere and once there discover that there was an essential area to stay in that would have made us 100% happy. I am hoping the collective brain power of FBG can lead me down the right path.

 

[Tecumseh]

Asheville is great. Don't know about cycling, but the hiking is gorgeous (Appalachian Trail), and you have the Blue Ridge Pkwy right there. Obviously Biltmore Estate is an option, but it's pricey, and not all that interesting for a kid. Downtown Asheville is wonderful. Plenty of great little shops, there's a little park that has performers and a drum circle every weekend.

There are also trolley tours that will take you all around, including the Grove Park Inn, which is an amazing hotel where a ton of luminaries have stayed through the years. Absolutely amazing views from the terrace, and you can just walk right in.

They also have ghost tours and pub crawls if you can ditch the kids for an evening.

One kid friendly option, depending on when you are going, is to head down to Franklin (about an hour away) for gem mining. It's very dirty work (you will get soaked, and filthy), but it's a ton of fun, and the kids can get buckets that are seeded with semiprecious stones. My daughter had a blast, and I found a sapphire worth about $700 once it was cut and mounted.

 

[Pantherz]

Check out the Lake Lure/ Chimney Rock area. About 45 minutes(30miles) from Asheville. Great views. http://www.romanticasheville.com/lake_lure.htmAlso Biltmore. http://www.biltmore.com/ETA: If it were me I would look to stay in the Lake Lure/Chimney Rock area. It's been many years ago now but I used to spend a lot of weekends camping and hanging out with friends at Lake Lure. There are many cabin rentals, bed and breakfast options as well as the Lake Lure Inn and a few other small Motels sitting on the creek at the mouth of the lake.

 

[NutterButter]

If you're a road cyclist, mind as well rent a mountain bike and hit up Pisgah and Tsali; some of the best mountain biking on the east coast.

 

[moleculo]

 

[Slapdash]

Asheville is one of my favorite places to stay but I usually stay near/in town to enjoy the great

 

[SlaX]

I definitely recommend Grove Park Inn. The place is beautiful. Since Gem Mining was mentioned, you can also do that in Spruce Pine, which is half way between Asheville and Blowing Rock. Also, near the same area, you have Linville Falls, Linville Caverns, and Grandfather Mountain - all of which can be found just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs from Asheville through Spruce Pine all the way up to Blowing Rock.When are you planning on visiting?

 

[JetMaxx]

Bump for an upcoming trip. Heading down from PA to Asheville at the end of next week for a long weekend. Good stuff in this thread, a couple of us are biking the auto road up Mt Mitchell and a couple are hiking the mountain. We're thinking of staying somewhere between PA and Asheville on the way down and back to break up the drive. Any other suggestions?

 

[Horses Mouth]

we ended up staying near Boone, NC. it was incredible. we didn't get to see Asheville but I would like to check it out seeing as we are thinking about leaving FL in the next 2-3 years and are looking hard at moving back to Austin, or possibly now considering NC. I am a cyclist and my wife and I both like to hike. We saw so many younger kids hiking around, getting outdoors and having fun, that it is hard to sit here in FL raising kids with limited outdoors besides the beach.

I would enjoy hearing more about the Asheville community from FBGs with young families.

 

[NREC34]

I'm heading to Asheville for 3 nights starting Sunday. Can't wait. Any golfers have recommendations for courses? Want to play Grove Park one of the days and see Biltmore one of the days. Need one more course to hit. Def want to check out some craft beer Monday night and watch the finals. Best bar for that?

 

[AAABatteries]

Bump - we are staying in a cabin in Northeast GA - Asheville is about 1.5 hours away so thinking of doing a day trip.  Any new recommendations?  Any other locations in NE Georgia, SW North Carolina worth checking out?  We may drive over to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for a day also but I'm very familiar with those areas.

 

[IC FBGCav]

Bump - we are staying in a cabin in Northeast GA - Asheville is about 1.5 hours away so thinking of doing a day trip.  Any new recommendations?  Any other locations in NE Georgia, SW North Carolina worth checking out?  We may drive over to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for a day also but I'm very familiar with those areas.

There have been wild fires there.  Gatlinburg was evacuated around two weeks ago.  Might be okay now.  

 

[Slapdash]

Bump - we are staying in a cabin in Northeast GA - Asheville is about 1.5 hours away so thinking of doing a day trip.  Any new recommendations?  Any other locations in NE Georgia, SW North Carolina worth checking out?  We may drive over to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for a day also but I'm very familiar with those areas.

Wicked Weed is putting out some really great beer right now

 

[AAABatteries]

Couple of specific questions:

- How scenic is the Hwy 23 route - I'm assuming that would be best/fastest but open to other suggestions if there's a more scenic route that takes longer

- If we think there is enough to do in Asheville we may stay over one night in a hotel.  Any decent places to stay relatively cheap?

 

[IC FBGCav]

Couple of specific questions:

- How scenic is the Hwy 23 route - I'm assuming that would be best/fastest but open to other suggestions if there's a more scenic route that takes longer

- If we think there is enough to do in Asheville we may stay over one night in a hotel.  Any decent places to stay relatively cheap?

Asheville is like the San Fran of the east.  Expensive too.

 

[Slapdash]

Couple of specific questions:

- How scenic is the Hwy 23 route - I'm assuming that would be best/fastest but open to other suggestions if there's a more scenic route that takes longer

- If we think there is enough to do in Asheville we may stay over one night in a hotel.  Any decent places to stay relatively cheap?

Downtown Inn and Suites is a converted Days Inn right in the middle of town....It isn't nice, but it is usually very cheap. 

Last time I was in Asheville for my bachelor party we did an AirBnB on a nearby peak 

 

[NREC34]

Grove Park inn probably the best place to stay. Obama stayed there and played golf there. Donald Ross course. Prob too cold for golf now though. 

 

[McGarnicle]

Bump - we are staying in a cabin in Northeast GA - Asheville is about 1.5 hours away so thinking of doing a day trip.  Any new recommendations?  Any other locations in NE Georgia, SW North Carolina worth checking out?  We may drive over to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for a day also but I'm very familiar with those areas.

If you're near Blairsville:

Brasstown Bald -- highest point in GA is pretty awesome. You drive most of the way to the top, where there's a gift shop and ranger station. Then you can hike the remaining (really steep) 3/4 mile or take a shuttle. At the top they have a raised observation deck with a 360 degree view and a museum. The view is insane up there. 

Check out Pappy's Trading Post if they're open. Fun spot if you have kids (feed the chickens), good food, country store, fudge shop. Right down the street is Jim's Smokin' Que -- good BBQ spot.

Then there's Helen, GA which is a mock Alpine village. All the public buildings are Bavarian architecture and the theme of the whole town is German. Great restaurants and bars, lots of shops, and this time of year it's all decorated for Christmas. Just walking around the town is an attraction in itself. If you go there you definitely have to eat at Bodensee. YWIA.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Asheville is like the San Fran of the east.  Expensive too.

I didn't find it expensive, though I do live in the northeast.

 

[IC FBGCav]

I didn't find it expensive, though I do live in the northeast.

Relative to the area.  COL is higher than Charlotte and Raleigh.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Been thinking about going here also.