Besides the obvious group tour attractions, the area offers a wide variety of cool things to do to to enhance the trip. Find treasures in the mountain soil during a day of gem mining, take a calm water float trip down the river, explore the 19th Century world of George Vanderbilt, enjoy a girl friends get away, or create an original masterpiece in a creative lounge. These are just a few of the opportunities that await you in Asheville.
Biltmore Special Group Options
In addition to touring the house, gardens and winery, consider adding on an extra special option or two. Here is a sampling of what is available. Additional costs apply to these options and a minimum and/or maximum amount of guests may apply.
- Private Evening Tour
Available at/after 6:30 p.m. Tours are approximately 90-minutes to two hours and showcase the restored areas of the house. Minimum purchase of 50 tickets is required. This tour is available January through October. - Late Afternoon Guided Tour
The story of George Vanderbilt and America's largest home comes to life with a guided tour of Bitlmore Houses's restored areas. Tours are approximately 90-minutes long and include 20-25 guests. Available by special arrangements at 5:00 p.m. Minimum purchase of 20+ tickets. This tour is available January through October. - Legacy of the Land Tour
A 90-minute narrated tour aboard your motorcoach includes intriguing stories on estate life prior to the construction of Biltmore House. Available with advance arrangements. - Audio Tour - Updated edition debuted in April 2009
Build this into the price and your group will love you forever! This is like having a tour guide in your pocket. Tour the house at your own pace while enjoying commentary on the architecture, art and history of the Vanderbilt's home. $8.00 per person.
Special Events/Festivals at Biltmore
- Festival of Flowers - April-May
Usher in spring with elaborate Victorian floral arrangements in the Biltmore House, prolific plantings in the formal gardens and indigenous plants throughout the estate. - Summer Evening Concerts - July-August
Performances by well known artists, ranging from classical, rhythm and blues to contemporary and folk. - Christmas at Biltmore - November-December
Biltmore dons the sights and sounds of the season with candles throughout the house and luminaries lining the drive, holiday music filling the air and decorations from floor-to-ceiling. Reservations required.
A Docented Tour of 20th & 21st Century American Art
Be inspired by world-class special exhibitions and the Asheville Art Museum's outstanding collection, showcasing the very best of 20th and 21st century American art and the cultural heritage and contemporary art of Western North Carolina. This award winning Museum presents 14 exhibitions and hundreds of public programs annually and welcomes visitors of all ages.
Plan on bringing your group of ten or more to the Museum? The inquiry-based tours, which are lead by expert docents or Museum Staff, challenge visitors to hone their observation skills. Tours can be tailored to fit the needs and interests of the group.
Gem Dandy
Located a short drive from Asheville is Old Pressley Sapphire Mine where the 1,445 carat "Star of the Carolinas" was discovered. Open year round with motor coach parking available. Groups of 10 or more receive a discount with advance reservations.
Mine along the banks of the French Broad River just across from Biltmore with the Asheville Outdoor Center. Look for minerals, gemstones or fossils. Price includes Mining bucket, all necessary equipment for a fun filled special day of mining for real stones, fossils, and minerals.
Compliment your visit with a stop at the Colburn Earth Science Museum, located at the Pack Place Education, Arts & Science Center. Called "a mini-Smithsonian of gems" by the Washington Post, this museum offers insight into the fantastic shapes and colors of the mineral kingdom.
Why Paddle When You Can Float?
There are few things more relaxing than floating down a river on a summer day, especially if you don’t have to paddle, fix lunch, or worry about getting wet. Relaxation is inevitable when your only job is to breath in the sweet mountain air, and stare out into the calm, gentle water, and dense, green forest around you and maybe, just maybe, catch a glimpse of a Great Blue Heron, pileated Woodpecker, deer or a family of river otters.
Southern Waterways, and French Broad Rafting Expeditions offer calm-water "float" trips. A calm water trip offers all of the scenic beauty of a whitewater trip without the rapids.
A three-hour calm-water float trip caters to groups of all ages, from 8 months to 80 years young. Trips enable rafters to enjoy the scenery while a guide does maneuves the boat and answers questions ranging from what is that large prehistoric-looking bird perched atop that boulder to what is the population of the area?.
For a combination of adventures try the Raft and Rail by Wildwater Ltd. Rafting or the Rapid Transit by Nantahala Outdoor Center. Begin with a two-hour train excursion on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, followed with a picnic lunch. Then head tothe river for an 8-mile trip down the Nantahala River. Experience "easy" rated whitewater rapids suitable to senior tour participants.
Let your creative juices flow...
Here is a chance to stop looking and start doing at the Fired Up! Creative Lounge. Visitors tap into their artistic talents and take home, or have it shipped to them, the fruits of their artistic labors.
Ceramic pieces range in price from $2 to $40. Fired Up! can accommodate groups of up to 65 people and can ship finished pieces anywhere. Special group studio fee of $4 per person, includes use of all colors, brushes, a clear overglaze, and firing of each piece, available for reserved groups of 6 or more (2009).
Specialty Tours
Haunted Ghost Tours
Asheville Brews Cruise
Asheville Historic Trolley Tours
Gray Line Trolley Tours of Asheville
La Zoom Comedy Tours
Interactive Asheville |
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