At first glance, it might seem odd that Asheville has a big piece of my heart — and that’s because Asheville is, without a doubt, unabashedly, unapologetically… odd. Quirky. Weird. Yes, it has an elegant and refined side, too, but as a more straight arrow myself, it’s not the first place you’d picture our family returning year after year. But we have (clocking our twelfth or so visit a few weeks ago!), and its magic has never waned. I’m excited to share our guide with you, just in time for a fall visit!

WHEN TO GO

We road trip to Asheville every year in the fall, and it is an absolutely lovely time to visit. If you’re hoping to see colorful foliage, schedule your visit at the end of October or beginning of November. (If you’re a little earlier in the fall, be sure to head to the Blue Ridge Parkway – with the higher elevation, the leaf switchover happens sooner!) A summer trip is also a great way to beat the Southern heat.

WHERE TO EAT

We often joke that our biggest puzzle when planning an Asheville trip is coming up with activities to slot between the zillions of meals we want to eat – ha! With an unusually large number of distinguished chefs for such a small town — being nominated for a James Beard award seems more like permission to play than a differentiator here! — readers who love to eat will not be disappointed. Whichever spot you decide on, you’re almost certainly guaranteed happy animals, locally-grown vegetables, and fair wage workers — that’s the Asheville way.

For a classic Southern meal, head to Tupelo Honey Cafe or Early Girl Eatery. As with most AVL restaurants, both often have a long wait, but that just gives you time to pop into a few of downtown’s charming shops — see below! I love the burger on Early Girl’s menu and the chopped egg and avocado sandwich on Tupelo’s — plus, the latter’s complimentary biscuits and jam are heavenly.

For barbecue, try Buxton Hall (in an old roller skating rink!) for Eastern style or 12 Bones (only open on weekdays).

Asheville has a robust roster of ethnic eateries, all with cheeky twists. Chai Pani dishes up Indian street food – my favorite is the chicken tikka roll, and we love getting the bhel puri to start. Bouchon has decadent French food and a delightful little patio to eat it on, and All Souls slings creative pizza in a humble, string-light-lit yard.

Last but in no ways least is White Duck Taco, without which a visit to Asheville is NOT NOT NOT complete. Our favorites include the buffalo chicken and lamb gyro, and their queso is never to be missed. Amen. (They have two Asheville locations; we prefer the River Arts District one because the location by the river is beautiful!)

For all its funk, Asheville of course has options for elegant meals. Katie Button is the queen of class in town, helming two standout tapas options: Nightbell (tapas Appalachian style – we loved the sumac roasted carrots and the smoked duck breast) and Curate (Spanish tapas). We also had a delicious meal around the refined and rugged table of chef John Fleer (formerly of Blackberry Farm) at Rhubarb. Both are perfect for special occasions.

If you’re still hungry after a meal at any of the above (and weren’t enticed by their respective dessert menus!), there are plenty of stand-alone sweet spots. Like any good destination, Asheville has a Kilwins, or there’s the pretty French Broad Chocolate Lounge (don’t miss their menu of drinking chocolates).

Finally, Asheville might shine most brightly in the morning, as evidenced by brunch menus all around town. Our favorites include Biscuit Head (where you can get a gravy flight with your biscuit!), Sunny Point Cafe (with an amazing garden to explore while you wait), and Hole Doughnuts (the cutest little shop that makes crunchy-on-the-outside, airy-on-the-inside donuts to order, an arm’s length in front of you). Warning: expect a wait at all of these spots – but it will be worth it!

WHAT TO DO

Downtown has a number of adorable shops to browse, which comes in handy when you’re waiting for a table. Our favorites include Curio (packed with charm for the littles!) and Asheville Bee Charmer (with a honey tasting bar!). Flora, a coffee/flower shop combo, and Well Played, a board game cafe (!), are on our visit list. I also enjoy poking around in the cavernous stalls of the Antique Tobacco Barn.

I’m probably the last person you should ask for brewery recommendations, but Asheville is well-known as a beer destination and so I’ll give it a shot! :) We loved our visit to New Belgium, which has a beautiful walking trail along the river. Sierra Nevada is supposed to have a great tour, and my sweet tooth would like to visit Urban Orchard, a hard cider tasting room.

The Grove Park Inn is an Asheville institution — the choice of visiting presidents! Even if you’re not staying the night, come to pull up a rocking chair next to the massive fireplaces in the lobby; sip a cocktail and watch the sun set over the mountains from the stone patio; or snag a day pass to the underground, rock-walled spa (only during the week if you’re not a guest!).

Speaking of Asheville institutions… there’s the Biltmore. The basic tour, while not inexpensive, is SO interesting and well done, and the gardens are not to be missed.

We’ve rafted twice with French Broad Adventures and would happily do it again – SUCH a fun activity for a group! The guide banter on the bus ride back is one of my favorite parts :)

Alright – that leaves us with the Blue Ridge Parkway, the spectacular marvel of public works industry and possibly our favorite attraction in Western NC. We’ve traveled it in all sorts of weather, and the view is never less than breathtaking. I hope to write an entire separate guide just for our favorite stops along the Parkway, but here are a few in the meantime: Sliding Rock (a natural water slide!), Craggy Pinnacle (an easy hike through a rhododendron tunnel with a great view at the end), Graveyard Fields, and Linville Falls.

Off the Parkway, we’ve loved visiting Justus Orchard (cider donuts and pick-your-own apples), Catawba Falls (a BEAUTIFUL hike to a lovely waterfall), Black Balsam Knob, Chimney Rock, and the botanical gardens.

WHERE TO STAY

We’ve stayed almost exclusively at Airbnbs on our trips and have been happy with all of them (including this one and this one). A friend has stayed at and loved the Inn on Westwood, and we’ve also stayed at the Aloft once downtown. No matter what you choose, it’s super important to book early for the best selection – we booked our October visit this year in March.

I know this guide only scratches the surface of all that this vibrant, ever-changing city has to offer, so please, if you’re an Asheville fan, leave your favorites in the comments! I’m going to add a few honorable mentions to kick us off. I’d love for the comment section to be a resource for readers just as much as my post! xo!

Previous Asheville posts:
Hiking in Asheville
Antiquing in Asheville
Eating in Asheville
The Blue Ridge Parkway

White Duck Taco photo by Map & Menu. Buxton Hall, Chai Pani, Hole Donuts, and Grove Park Inn photos from respective sources. All other photos personal!

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In order to offset all of the eating we did in Asheville, we went on several hikes! Being outside together in beautiful places is one of my and John’s favorite things, and Asheville in the fall certainly fits the bill. This year our hikes were waterfall themed, and as such, they were even lovelier than usual!

The first was Catawba Falls in Old Fort, NC, just a few miles outside of Asheville. You can find more info on this hike here and here.

This trail is ripe for discovering hidden gems. The little guy above right wasn’t even technically part of Catawba Falls, I don’t think, but was the loveliest tucked-away pool and small cascade!

Lower Catawba Falls is above. For most hikers, this is the end of the road. The trail is pretty much flat or gently sloped to this point, so it would be great for kids!

Being the adventurous sorts we are, John and I decided to hike the remaining distance to Upper Catawba Falls. And by hike, I pretty much mean rock climb, sans gear. There’s even a rope at one point! We didn’t take pictures the rest of the way up because things got even more precarious.

Cue the chorus of angels — Upper Falls!

There were two other gals enjoying the view when we arrived, and we were surprised to see a group of six middle-aged people arrive while we were resting. (Because of how challenging the description of the latter part of the hike was, and how challenging our ascent was, we hadn’t expected to see many other hikers.) The late arrivals had entered the pool in a different way than we had, which made us curious, so once we were ready to go, we set off the way they had come. After only a short (and fairly easy) distance, we joined up with our original trail. Cue face palm. We had taken a wrong turn at this point on the way up, bypassing this moderately difficult trail in favor of a much more life-endangering trail (really not exaggerating). Needless to say, the rest of our descent was uneventful.

If you attempt the hike to Upper Catawba Falls, make sure you stay to the left at every chance you get, and make sure you can always see the Falls/gorge – we got out of eyesight range when we took our wrong turn. (The only exception to this might be in summer, when there are more leaves on the trees.)

Our second hike was Crabtree Falls, at milepost 339.5 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was less taxing and a bit more dramatic than Catawba Falls, though I didn’t think quite as lovely. The hike is also oriented so you’re moving downhill on the out and uphill on the back, which is not my preferred mode.

For our hard work, we were rewarded with a moody sunset over the Black Mountains as we drove back down the Parkway.

I hope you enjoyed our Asheville adventures! If anyone has been to Asheville or Western North Carolina and has a hike to recommend, we’re all ears!

Note: Hiking around waterfalls is inherently dangerous. I’m sure it goes without saying, but do NOT attempt to hike directly up a waterfall, and use caution at all times whenever you’re in the vicinity of one. Also, even though we made the hike to Upper Catawba Falls more difficult than necessary, even the “easier” route is quite challenging, and should only be attempted by experienced, fit hikers.

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On our fifth visit to Asheville, John finally agreed to go hunting for vintage goodness with me. WAHOO! We compromised on one hour, and the clock started the minute we stepped foot into the Antique Tobacco Barn :) I had read about the Tobacco Barn on Trip Advisor, and from the reviews, I was prepared for an expansive space (77,000 square feet!), disheveled displays, and not bottom-of-the-barrel prices.

All of these things turned out to be largely true. The space WAS very large, and the displays were pretty jumbled. Usually this means great prices (like at a flea market), but unfortunately, the prices weren’t good enough to make me bite on this particular day, though there were several pieces that caught my eye. Granted, I’m pretty stingy, so some of you might very well have happily snagged some deals! Here are a few of the things that caught my eye:

The outside of the space (not really a barn) and some neat vintage-looking crown hooks – would be sweet for a little girl’s room!

A ginger gar vase has been on my running “flea market wish list” for awhile, but this one seemed a little steep at $28. I thought the giant metal stars would make neat Christmas decor!

Also on my flea market list: a natural container/basket to hold our Christmas tree. The one on the left was not quite the right size, and was a bit too much at $65. More on this search next week – I might have a lead. The colorful, oversize (about 12 inches tall) metal letters were awesome, but they were also $35 each.

I loved both of these wooden storage pieces! I thought they’d be perfect for a craft room, where there is no end to the little bits and pieces that need to be filed away. The one on the right was $295, and the one on the left was $175.

A pineapple lamp is also on my wish list, and the Tobacco Barn had quite the collection. A pair was $200, which seemed expensive to me, but maybe in retrospect isn’t so bad? I also loved the bittersweet wreaths, but we just don’t have a place to store one in our apartment in the off season – they’re a little wild and crazy.

One thing that frustrated me about the Tobacco Barn is that I would assume some of these prices were negotiable, but very few stalls seemed to have proprietors in the vicinity (unlike at a flea market), so I wasn’t sure how to go about bargaining. Boo!

Once we had left the Tobacco Barn empty-handed, we drove down the road just a minute or so to visit Oddfellows Antiques and its sister storefronts, all lined up on a loading dock just off the road (you can’t miss them). The Tobacco Barn reviewers had recommended this group as having more reasonable prices and better merchandising (an interesting combination). I found the merchandising to be true, but I’m not so sure about the prices. We moved pretty quickly through these shops, and the only thing that really caught my eye was the lovely 4×6 wool rug above right, priced at $235. The tag said it was hand-knotted in Afghanistan. I don’t think the price was too bad, but since we’re likely going to be making a major change in our living quarters in the next few months, I don’t want to buy any major pieces before we know what the new space looks like.

For those of you that have been to Asheville, any antiquing recommendations to pass along? Fellow flea market connoisseurs: what do you think of these prices?

P.S. Vintage shopping in Virginia

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John and I have a tradition (three years strong!) of heading out to the North Carolina mountains one weekend every fall. We usually stay in the Asheville area, though last year we tried Boone with dubious results (totally not Boone’s fault, though!). Besides the gorgeous leaves and beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, one of our favorite reasons for venturing west is the food. Asheville has a plethora of delicious eating options, and I wanted to highlight the four we sampled on this trip!

First up was the White Duck Taco Shop, which we heard about through our friends Meredith and Michael. White Duck offers up some of the most delicious (if not the most delicious) queso dip I’ve ever sampled, and their salsa isn’t too shabby, either. Of course, the tacos themselves are the stars, and they don’t disappoint. Get ready for creative and unexpected combinations like lamb gyro, buffalo chicken, BBQ carnitas, thai peanut chicken, lump crab, and mole duck. John and I tried six tacos between us, and a surprisingly small amount of food went uneaten. Happily, there’s Cheerwine on the menu with which to wash everything down!

Saturday night we had dinner at Chai Pani, which bills itself as serving “Indian street food.” Since neither John nor I have visited India, I can’t vouch for the authenticity of Chai Pani’s street food claim, but I can attest that everything we tried was delicious! We split samosas, then I ordered the Sloppy Jai (a twist on the Sloppy Joe!), and John ordered the Thali, or daily special, which was Butter Chicken when we visited. I wish we had been able to sample more of the menu, because it all looked so interesting! Think shrimp and grits Indian style, tamarind short ribs, and raspberry lassi cheesecake.

Samosas from Chai Pani’s Facebook page

We saved just enough room for a post-dinner treat from the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. The line snaked out the door and up the sidewalk when we visited around 10pm, and though we waited for about thirty minutes, I’d say it was worth it. They even had an acoustic jazz trio playing inside, so that helped the wait go by more quickly! I ended up ordering the theros olive oil chocolate cake with strawberry sauce, which was good, but in retrospect, I wish I had ordered one of their signature hot chocolates (which come in flavors like lavender and honey, cayenne and cinnamon, and masala chai!). John ordered a tea and the mint chocolate chunk brownie, and found both to be satisfying.

Our last stop of the weekend was at an old favorite of ours, Early Girl Eatery. John uncovered this gem while researching our first Asheville trip years ago (I think he spotted it in the NY Times travel section), and we’ve returned every visit since. Odds are good that John will order the BBQ pork sandwich with ginger coleslaw and the cucumber and onion salad, and I will order the cheeseburger with basil mayo and fries. (I know what you’re thinking — cheeseburger?! — but this one is AMAZING!) Everything is extraordinarily local and seasonal, and you really can taste the difference.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that no visit to Asheville is complete without a visit to Early Girl… at least not for us! Two tips for your next trip: 1) Stick around even if they give you a long wait time at the hostess station. We were quoted 30-35 minutes, but ended up being seated in 4 due to no shows! 2) If there’s any sort of cobbler on the menu, order it.

I’ll be back with more soon on our hikes (waterfalls!) and antiquing adventures!

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