My husband is a big fan of craft beer, so I decided to give him a trip to Asheville as his Christmas gift! I actually don’t drink beer at all, but I still loved it and had such a great time! Asheville is really such a cool place. It has everything from wineries and nice restaurants to hiking and run-down (but cool) bars. Here are some of the things we did and loved!
Places to eat:
Breakfast:
Biscuit Head // Hole Doughnuts // Sunny Point Cafe
Biscuit Head is a must! I was a little intimidated by the line at first, since it was well out of the door and around the side of the building, but it went pretty quickly and was definitely worth it. They serve biscuits, obviously, but all different kinds! I went with just a biscuit and eggs, but Dave got a mimosa fried chicken biscuit and a maple bacon latte, so you can get as creative as you’d like. We loved it!
Hole is a really cute doughnut shop that we stopped at the morning we were going home. The people there are SO nice and they only have a few doughnut flavors, but they are made to order and are delicious!
Lunch/Dinner:
All Souls Pizza // Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company // Thirsty Monk // Jack of the Wood // Stable Cafe
Every restaurant we went to was great! The Stable Cafe is part of the Biltmore house and, I have to say, it was probably my favorite place we ate! It was really pretty and the food was great! I also loved the food at Jack of the Wood- their fries are amazing! Based on our experience, you really can’t go wrong because the food was great and really affordable everywhere we went.
Dessert:
Maybe I shouldn’t admit this haha, but we went here three nights in a row! I’m a pretty big dessert fan. I really wanted to try the vanilla cake and the first two nights we went, they had completely sold out of it! On our last night, we decided to go one more time and they had it! Everything there is delicious and I would definitely recommend going at least once. 🙂
Things to do:
I don’t think anything I write can do this place justice. It is amazing! There is so much to do that you can easily spend an entire day here and even more if you have the time. You can tour the house, visit the gardens, go to the winery, shop, eat at their many restaurants and even visit the farm. It is spread out across 8,000 acres, so that gives you an idea of how big it is and how much there is to do. We were on the fence about going because the tickets are on the pricier side, but it was 100% worth it!
Just a little tip- if you buy your tickets online, make sure you print them out before you get there. It will save you a ton of time and you’ll get to go straight into the grounds rather than stopping at the visitor center and waiting in line. 🙂
Like I said, I’m not a fan of beer, but the brewery tours were my favorite thing that we did, aside from Biltmore. Sierra Nevada was definitely the prettiest and had a really nice restaurant. They also have a great outdoor area, which I’m sure is amazing in the summer! This tour was about 45 minutes.
This was actually voted the best brewery tour in the U.S. the day before we went and I can see why. It was so fun! This one is a bit longer, about an hour and a half, but you would never know it because it flies by! You actually start out the tour by going down a slide. If you’re a beer drinker, they do give out samples throughout the whole tour. The story of how New Belgium started is just so cool. I promise you will have fun here even if you don’t like beer!
I’m not totally sure why this Western Carolina sign is hanging up here, but I thought it looked cool and you look at it while you’re waiting to go down the slide, so perfect photo op ha!
This is a really fun place to stop that has a little bit of everything. If you followed along on Insta stories during our trip, you may have seen the row of candy barrels that I shared from here. So fun! They also have clothes, food and all sorts of cute things for your house. I had to get my mom some maple praline syrup when I saw it there!
Asheville Outlets (speaks for itself) 🙂
We actually didn’t get to do any hiking while we were there, but we heard of so many great places that we’d like to go back to someday. We had hoped to get to Mt. Mitchell, which is the highest peak in eastern North America, but it was about an hour away and we didn’t have time. It looks amazing though if you are able to get there!
Bars:
Greenmansion // Highland Brewing Company // Burial Beer Co. // Thirsty Monk // Dirty Jack’s
You can also have a great time just walking around downtown. There are a lot of cute shops, including the Mast General Store, restaurants and even a few cool murals like this one.
Thanks so much for reading!
If you have any Asheville favorites, feel free to add them in the comments!
XO,
First… What a gorgeous site! I’m so excited to try out these places in Asheville the next time we go. We usually just hit the same old places – and I hadn’t even seen most of these, so thank you!
Thank you so much! ❤️ It was our first time there, but what a cool place! I hope we can go back sometime and try a few more places! 😊
Looks like a fun and beautiful place. Love all the photos thanks for sharing
It is so fun! Thank you, Susie! 😊
Those flower are so beautiful, Ashville sounds amazing
Aren’t they?! It’s such a beautiful place! 😍
Lovely review, Ashville looks like a lovely holiday spot
It’s such a cool place! A little bit of everything 😊
Looks like it was a great trip. I LOVE that pillow!
I love it too! Thank you so much! 😊
So charming! I wanted to move there in the worst way but it didn’t pan out.
Oh no I’m sorry! It is such a great place. I hope you can still make the move someday!
This looks like an awesome place to visit! I will have to go someday! PS: that pillow is adorable!
Thank you so much! I love it too. 🙂 You’ll have to get there! It’s so fun!
Looks like fun! My sister in law used to work at new Belgium in Fort Collins. They have amazing beer!
Oh my gosh so cool! I’m sure it’s beautiful there too! I think my husband would die if we ever got there haha!
Ahhhh, Ashville is so high up on the bucket list. Looks like such a fun weekend. thanks for all the details!
It is such a fun place! I hope you can get there soon! 🙂
I miss Asheville! I went to college 20 minutes East of Asheville and it was always fun to go into town and do stuff. I really like Battery Park Book Exchange. You should try that next time. And the Chocolate lounge is soooooo good! I always get their chocolate creme brule!
Ahh that is so cool! I’m sure you loved it! We definitely want to go back, so we’ll put that in the list for next time! Thanks! 🙂 And I’ll have to try that creme brûlée!