Biltmore · Museums · Gardens · Day trips
Biltmore & the sights.
How to visit Asheville's big sights, taken from each place's own website. Hours change with the seasons, so we link every one.
Photo: Biltmore House. Warren LeMay, CC0 · credits
Biltmore Estate
Plan a full day, and reserve the house.
From Biltmore's own website, read Sept 28, 2026. Biltmore is a privately owned estate; tickets and prices are only on its site.
- Open every day; hours vary daily across estate locations. Biltmore has an hours calendar on its site.
- Reservations are required every day for Biltmore House. You choose an entry time when you buy your ticket, and Biltmore suggests booking at least seven days ahead.
- GPS address: 1 Lodge St, Asheville, NC 28803. Biltmore says other addresses can send you to the wrong entrance.
- Allow the day. Biltmore recommends at least one full day, and 1.5 to 2 hours for the self-guided house visit.
- Getting around the estate: estate roads have no sidewalks and there's no free estate-wide shuttle; a paid shuttle and some free shuttles run. Taxi and rideshare drop-off is at the Park & Ride Building, 79 Old Shiloh Rd.
- In the house: no bags larger than 19 × 14 × 9 inches, and no food or drink except clear plastic water bottles. Leashed pets are welcome on the grounds but not in buildings (service animals excepted).
Biltmore House. Warren LeMay, CC0
Accessible parking with a free accessible shuttle to Biltmore House is in Park & Ride Lot E, and Biltmore says all its estate shuttles take wheelchairs and strollers. Accessibility →
In and around the city
Museums, gardens & the Parkway's front door
Hours and details from each place's own website (or the National Park Service), read Sept 28, 2026.
NC Arboretum fountain. anoldent, CC BY-SA 2.0The North Carolina Arboretum
20 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville · by the Blue Ridge Parkway and NC 191
- Grounds open 8 AM to 9 PM daily April to October, 8 AM to 7 PM November to March; the incoming gate closes an hour before closing
- Baker Exhibit Center and Bonsai Exhibition Garden: 9 AM to 5 PM
- Parking is $25 per personal vehicle (since March 1, 2026), with no other admission charge except ticketed events
- The Arboretum says many GPS units misplace it and recommends its own directions
- Leashed dogs on the trails, not in buildings
- Sept 28, 2026 only: the Arboretum said its front gate would be closed that day for tree work; enter by the back gate via Wesley Branch Road
Folk Art Center
Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 382 · east Asheville
- The National Park Service lists it as a Parkway visitor center, open 10 AM to 5 PM daily; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day
- Run by the Southern Highland Craft Guild
Asheville Art Museum
2 South Pack Square · downtown
- American art of the 20th and 21st centuries
- Open 11 AM to 6 PM; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
- Online tickets are encouraged; walk-in tickets are available
- Free for children under 6, active-duty military with ID and members
- No museum parking: use the nearby City garages or street parking
Thomas Wolfe Memorial
52 N. Market St · downtown
- The boardinghouse that Thomas Wolfe's mother ran, the setting of his 1929 novel Look Homeward, Angel
- Tuesday to Saturday, 9 AM to 5 PM; closed Sunday, Monday and state holidays
- Free admission; guided tours have a fee (see the site)
WNC Nature Center
75 Gashes Creek Rd · east Asheville
- 42 acres of wildlife habitats; animals include black bears, red wolves, otters and red pandas
- 10 AM to 4:30 PM, last admission 3:30 PM; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day
- Cashless ticket office; free parking
- Gashes Creek Bridge was lost in Helene: follow the Center's detour directions
Asheville Botanical Garden
151 W.T. Weaver Blvd, Asheville
- Plants native to the Southern Appalachians
- Open sunrise to sunset daily
River Arts District. Jonathan Geiger, CC BY 2.0River Arts District
West of downtown, by the river
- See its restaurants, breweries and galleries on our map
Day trips
Up the mountain, into the gorge
From NC State Parks, read Sept 28, 2026. Both were affected by Helene: check their alerts before you drive.
Mount Mitchell State Park
About 30 miles northeast of Asheville via the Blue Ridge Parkway (NC State Parks)
- At 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River, with an observation deck at the summit
- No fee for day use
- NC State Parks: reach it only from the Asheville side of the Parkway (the Parkway is closed north of the park), and there are no gas stations between Asheville and the park
- NC State Parks: "Old Mitchell Trail is partially closed" (the page shows no date)
- The park restaurant closed for the season from Aug 4, 2026; the summit concession stand is open 10 AM to 5 PM daily
- The park says the summit is often several degrees colder than the town of Burnsville below, and it may have frequent and prolonged winter closures
Chimney Rock State Park
743 Chimney Rock Park Road, Chimney Rock · about 25 miles southeast (NC State Parks)
- NC State Parks says the main access (the Chimney Rock attraction) is open 7 days a week, and timed-entry reservations are required
- Admission is charged per person at the attraction; tickets, prices and hours are set by Chimney Rock Management
- Closed when we checked on Sept 28, 2026 (the page shows no date): Eagle Rock Access, and the Weed Patch Mountain, Tunnel and Riverwalk trails
For the Parkway itself (Craggy Gardens, Mount Pisgah, Graveyard Fields and more), see Parkway & trails.