Asheville, NC

[tinkerbell615]

So you all have always come to my rescue when I am taking not only Disney vacations, but some others as well. This year, we aren't able to visit Disney, but are thinking about a short family trip to Asheville, NC at the beginning of August.

Does anyone know this area or visit Asheville, that might be able to help with information on the best place for a larger family (8-9 of us) to stay, or things to do that would be reasonably priced? I would really appreciate any information. We would like to stay somewhere our smaller grandchildren would enjoy.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[lovin'fl]

Lake Lure is nice. Asheville is hippy dippy...just FYI. But there is a neat resort on Lake Lure which is close to Asheville...https://www.rumblingbald.com/ About 30 miles from Asheville
In Asheville we stayed at ...Marriott hotel. I need to go look it up, it was nice.

 

[SouloTravlr]

So you all have always come to my rescue when I am taking not only Disney vacations, but some others as well. This year, we aren't able to visit Disney, but are thinking about a short family trip to Asheville, NC at the beginning of August.

Does anyone know this area or visit Asheville, that might be able to help with information on the best place for a larger family (8-9 of us) to stay, or things to do that would be reasonably priced? I would really appreciate any information. We would like to stay somewhere our smaller grandchildren would enjoy.

Thank you in advance for your help!

We used vrbo for our trip to the Asheville area. We stayed in Pisgah Forest and loved the place we stayed. It was so quiet and peaceful. We spent a day at Lake Lure zip lining and walking around down by the river, eating and checking out the shops.

 

[tinkerbell615]

Lake Lure is nice. Asheville is hippy dippy...just FYI. But there is a neat resort on Lake Lure which is close to Asheville...https://www.rumblingbald.com/ About 30 miles from Asheville
In Asheville we stayed at ...Marriott hotel. I need to go look it up, it was nice.

I did not know about your FYI. I appreciate your response. As I mentioned, we are looking for something different for a few days. We are not 100% decided as of yet, but this is the most popular choice by everyone so far.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We love touring the Biltmore Estate, but it is pricey and would be expensive for a family of 9. You can get tickets at a little bit of a discount from AAA ahead of time.

 

[KTSMOM]

I've been to Asheville many times as my dad lives in a neighboring city. I agree that I would VRBO with a larger family. I would consider a day trip to Dupont Forest or Pisgah Forest. There are waterfalls in both locations and great walking trails (both are free). If your family likes smaller downtown areas with stores I would suggest Brevard and Hendersonville. Both are relatively close to Asheville. Downtown Asheville has a lot of neat architecture and stores to visit as well as a lot of restaurants to choose from (they are kind of known for that). Also there is an art district that is fun to walk through. We took my DD and her friend to make a blown glass ornament (it was about $50 a person). If your family likes beer there are numerous breweries to visit and a lot are child friendly. You can go to the Biltmore Estate to see the gardens (no cost to see the gardens, but there might be a parking fee). Depending on when you are going you might be able to tube down the French Broad River. There is a fee for that, but I don't remember it being too expensive.
I hope that helps!

 

[tinkerbell615]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I really appreciate it.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I just took a trip to Asheville last month! It was beautiful and we had a great time. I too would suggest an Airbnb or VRBO. There are a lot of them in the area. We didn't do any hiking, but there's plenty of shopping and restaurants in town as well. The Biltmore is obviously incredible. Unfortunately, you cannot just see the gardens for free. You do have to pay full price admission at the entrance to the grounds in order to see any part of it. It is well worth the price though!

 

[KTSMOM]

Sorry, DisneyMandC may be right about the gardens. We went with my dad in the winter. He may have had some type of discount as it didn't cost us anything to go to the gardens.

I hope you enjoy Asheville. We always have a great time when we are there

 

[tink fan]

The Biltmore offers group rates for 10 people or more. It was a pretty good discount—$48 with tax vs. $75 no tax at the door (this will be in October—peak rates). You might want to call group sales and find out the particulars.

 

[friend2Figment]

Biltmore has a promo in the summer, that 2 kids under 16 get in free with each paid adult until Sept 3. This could help the budget. If the adult tickets are purchased online they are cheaper also.

 

[4kids4karen]

Just searched Disboards for Biltmore and found this thread. We are looking at going August 2019 or March 2020.

I Am looking for the things to do (must see, can’t miss) for older teens. The making a glass ornament sounds nice.

What should I add to my list of activities not to miss?

 

[jjjones325]

We went over Labor Day and found the Asheville Pinball Museum to be wonderful. They've got a ton of pinball machines and old video games (picture Pac Man, Galaga, Centipede). You pay like $15 a head to get in, and all the games are free once you pay the admission. Can't wait to go back.

 

[robinstrip]

Just searched Disboards for Biltmore and found this thread. We are looking at going August 2019 or March 2020.

I Am looking for the things to do (must see, can’t miss) for older teens. The making a glass ornament sounds nice.

What should I add to my list of activities not to miss?

Do they enjoy water activities? Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest outside of Brevard is a lot of fun. It costs $3 per person, but the water is chilly so it would not be a good choice for a March trip.

 

[NinaBella]

We went over Labor Day and found the Asheville Pinball Museum to be wonderful. They've got a ton of pinball machines and old video games (picture Pac Man, Galaga, Centipede). You pay like $15 a head to get in, and all the games are free once you pay the admission. Can't wait to go back.

My son would probably like that!

 

[NinaBella]

Do they enjoy water activities? Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest outside of Brevard is a lot of fun. It costs $3 per person, but the water is chilly so it would not be a good choice for a March trip.

I will add it to our list. I don't like cold water myself, but for $3 we can say we did it. LOL.

I'll have to see how far this is from the Biltmore. I don't know the area.


Also, we may go to Oak Ridge, TN on this trip, so fun things to do between Ashville and Oak Ridge would be nice to know. I have a relative in Oak Ridge which would be the only reason we would head that way. My son went to the Smokey Mountains a few years ago with his brother. They hated the drive through Pigeon Forge. LOL. Too touristy. We may not go to Oak Ridge this trip. Just depends how many days we have to spend. Maybe a great swimming location on the way there, or somewhere pretty to stop and take pictures.

 

[LovesTimone]

We stayed in Hendersonville, and rented through Homeaway, with a beautiful view. Hot tub and fire pit, out-door kitchen with plenty of room for the kids to run around. With our rental we did get a one free entrance into the Biltmore and the second ticket was half off... then we found a groupon for the rest of the group, ahead of time. Also for big groups they offer a reduced rate... We were 1 short to get the rate. There were some other perks that went with the rental. I really don't remember, something with zip lines and another for horseback riding, like buy one get one free deal or something along those lines, We had planned on the horseback riding, but I had just gotten over injury to my back, so I did not want to aggravate it.

Dollywood is really not that far... we got a groupon deal, for our group ahead of time, and there is some good outlet shopping over in that area.