48 Hours in Asheville: A Weekend Guide

A couple of weeks ago, Macy & I headed north for a fun 48 hours in Asheville. Maybe it’ll give you a couple of ideas for your next trip to Asheville. It’s the perfect long weekend getaway because it’s only a 3.5 hour drive.

If Macy & I said it once we said it two dozen times: “I bet this is so pretty in May or October.” The mountains were pretty as we drove up to and around Asheville but the trees weren’t so much. It’s probably beautiful with the fall leaves or when everything is blooming in the late spring & summer.

Asheville didn’t feel jam-packed nor did we come across traffic which we loved. Maybe that’s because it’s the off-season but I would recommend going when it isn’t the off-season. Or at least not as early in the spring as we did. We definitely want to go back when everything is blooming & vibrant.

Alright…let’s get started on this little recap of our 48 hours in Asheville.

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Day 1: Sunday

We didn’t stay near the Biltmore. The hotel was in what I’ve called a “neighborhood”. There were restaurants and shops around that we could walk to which we loved! It wasn’t super busy in that area either but it still had life. It felt comfy and cozy yet modern.

We got there around dinnertime so we walked over to Hickory Tavern. What we didn’t know about Hickory Tavern from their website & menu was that it is actually a game day bar. (You couldn’t see the restaurant’s entire sign from our hotel.)

And we went during March Madness.

It was fairly loud with a ton of TVs everywhere with allll the sports on so just a heads up if you go. This isn’t a place that we’d necessarily go back to but it was good enough for the first night/last minute “where should we eat?” situation. 🙂  Oh, their fresh baked chocolate chip cookies ARE really good!

Day 2: Monday

Today was Jam. Packed. We tried to squeeze in as much as we could & I think we succeeded!

We discovered the night before while trying to plan our trip to the Biltmore that we needed reservations for literally everything even for a tour of the house. (The travel agency the auction went through failed us on this one.) Plus, most of their activities are not even open during the off-season. Now, what months determine the off-season? Hard to say but March is definitely on the list. If we had planned much further in advance we probably could’ve taken the rooftop tour or backstairs tour but it was too late for us to do that. Oh well!

So we actually had a totally different plan in mind for today but it changed as soon as we discovered the whole reservation thing but let me tell you, it turned out for the best! We had a great day and got to do so much that we otherwise probably wouldn’t have had the day gone the way we originally planned.

Seriously though…we went to breakfast.

If you haven’t heard of Biscuit Head, then let me be the one to introduce you. It is super popular in Asheville. They have 3 locations in the area. Biscuit Head is loved in Asheville.

They have entire biscuits with all sorts of stuff on it that you should totally try but I got a biscuit & a piece of fried chicken.

That biscuit, y’all. One of the best I’ve ever had. And they’re huge. Huge! Macy & I couldn’t even eat all of ours.

Biscuit Head is definitely worth going to for breakfast. Beware…their “thing” is cats because of the cat head biscuit (that’s how big the biscuits are) so while they thankfully don’t have actual cats (I would’ve run out of there. Thank goodness for health codes & all that jazz) they do have drawings and photos of cats.

River Arts District

From breakfast we drove up to the River Arts District. There’s a mural of Dolly Parton that Macy wanted to take a photo with. Parking is free (for an hour) along the main street which was nice & a big change from things in our town. Haha We parked near Dolly and then walked up and down the street seeing if we wanted to go into any of the stores.

The River Arts District is somewhat of an eclectic neighborhood. I don’t know if I’d call it hippie. It’s just artsy and eclectic.

We got our photo with Dolly.

And then we started walking. We saw a mercantile store when we first drove into the district but it didn’t seem like our style. We changed our minds once we walked all the way down to the end of the street and decided to go inside because well, why not?

The mercantile is called Provisions Mercantile and it has some of the cutest stuff! Macy & I were having to stop ourselves from buying all the things!

This is actually where I got the Biscuit Head biscuit mix and some jams to go with it. The lady who worked there was so nice & friendly. Honestly, everyone we met and came across the entire time we were in Asheville were so nice.

Farmer’s Market

From there, we headed over to the WNC (Western North Carolina) Farmer’s Market. One thing you should know about my dad: he loves green tomato relish.

My dad’s one request for this trip was that we go and buy some relish at Coates Produce. They have just about everything. Jams, extracts, relish, pepper jelly, salsa, fresh produce, and so much more!

I somehow got absolutely no pictures of the entire market but trust me when I say that you need to go there. We hadn’t planned on getting anything fresh so we went today but knowing what we know now with all of their fresh produce (& even a plant nursery at the market) this would probably be our last stop before hitting the road home.

Before we got there though we drove on back roads and saw some of the cutest houses! And thanks to missing a turn, we got to see even more. Haha My point of telling you this is that it’s okay to get lost or miss a turn sometimes! We never would’ve seen that area of town had 1) our day gone how we originally planned it/wanted it to go and 2) if we hadn’t missed a turn.

The piece de resistance!

The Biltmore! It was finally time! There is literally SO SO SO much that I can say about the Biltmore and maybe I’ll do an entire post on what you should know though I know Macy & I hardly even scratched the surface of that place.

We chose to do the audio guided tour and that was the best decision! It was so neat getting to hear the stories of each room and facts about each room & the house itself. Macy and I would listen at the same time on our separate devices & would turn and look at each other as we learned something cool/crazy/jaw-dropping/new.

I don’t think the tour would have been as good or enjoyable had we just walked the house by ourselves.

It was a long tour. It took us about 90 minutes and we were tired by the end. We did our shopping beforehand & took all of our Biltmore photos before the tour but we hadn’t seen the gardens yet.

Our feet were so tired by the time we were done with the house tour that we didn’t even walk the entire garden. Naturally, their spring blooms at the Biltmore didn’t start until April 1 so most things weren’t quite in bloom yet and you could tell that very easily just walking down the start of the path. Maybe it’s for the best that we didn’t walk the entire garden…? Though it still probably would’ve been impressive.

You could see some of the tulips popping up and they looked so pretty.

Next time we go, we’re doing the garden tour first!

Day 2: Night

Macy & I were only wanting to eat at local places during our 48 Hours in Asheville. With there being a few restaurants that we could just walk to (loved this!), we decided to order from 2-3 different places and just do a little buffet style situation for dinner.

It was so much fun! We both had a little bit of everything we got.

One of the restaurants we ate at was 131 Main Restaurant. It’s more of an upscale restaurant that focuses on steak & seafood. I got the Linguine Limone & it was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve had. I practically devoured it.

One of the others was Luella’s BBQ & we got some mac-n-cheese from there because Macy really wanted some and it was really good. It wasn’t fancy with your breadcrumbs on top or fancy cheeses which was exactly what we didn’t want. It was just good, homemade mac-n-cheese. Oh, it also smelled so good in there…I bet their BBQ is great too!

We ended up ordering cake from the restaurant downstairs, Forklore, and it was good too!

Day 3: Tuesday

Our last day & we didn’t want to leave!

We drove around downtown Asheville to find a mural Macy had heard about. It’s a chicken mural and actually has kind of a sordid past. It’s a cute mural though so we drove by and got a photo of it.

Then, we drove back towards our hotel where there’s a donut shop nearby. 2 things I feel like Asheville is known for: donuts & breweries. So we stopped by Ava’s Donuts and got a half dozen of assorted donuts to try.

This is the point when Macy looked at me & said “This has really been a food trip for us.” Yes, yes it was. We were alllll about the food on this trip! Haha

They were all so good but I think the blueberry cake & double chocolate cake donuts were my favorites. And isn’t the box cute?!

We initially thought we might stop & hike somewhere on the way home but we just weren’t feeling it that morning so we bailed on that plan. We ended up stopping in Greenville at Falls Park at the Reedy for a quick walk to stretch our legs.

And then after a bunch of traffic as we came back into Atlanta, we finally made it home!

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That was our 48 Hours in Asheville!

That’s it! We had a fun time & can’t wait to go back one day.

I hope you enjoyed my little recap of the trip & maybe found something new to do or somewhere to eat next time you’re there!

Love,

P.S. Looking for other trip guides? Here are my other 2: Dahlonega, GA & Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.