Luxurious Asheville Itinerary: A High-End Mountain Getaway

The Flat Iron Hotel

Check Into an Artful Landmark

Check into The Flat Iron Hotel, a downtown classic reimagined with Art Deco soul and modern ease. Your room key doesn’t just open a door—it opens a little time capsule, with subtle nods to the building’s former office-era life. It’s the kind of detail Asheville does well: honoring what came before while making room for what’s next.

Dinner Where the River Arts District Gets Dressed Up

Head to the River Arts District for dinner at Crusco, a restaurant committed to thoughtful cooking and honest hospitality. The menu moves with the seasons, shaped by relationships with local growers and producers. If you want a little extra sparkle on night one, keep an eye out for the menu’s more luxe moments (hello, caviar + milk bread).

Nightcap Energy in Downtown Asheville

End the night at Sovereign Remedies, a downtown restaurant and bar known for craft cocktails and a refined-but-approachable atmosphere. This is the kind of place that makes “one drink” feel like a small ritual, with warm lighting, a lively hum, and a menu that’s easy to linger over.

Chai Pani

A slow morning in Northside: Liberty House Café

Start the day at Liberty House Café, a neighborhood favorite in Asheville’s Northside. It’s housed in a charming cottage with an on-site garden and a farm-to-table approach that keeps things fresh, simple, and quietly special. 

Downtown’s Art Deco heart, on foot

Join an Architecture & History Walking Tour of downtown with Asheville By Foot. Asheville’s Art Deco skyline stands today because the city chose a path few others took during the Depression: protecting what was here rather than tearing it down. Asheville by Foot’s founder Dr. Kevan Frazier is known for bringing that history to life through strong storytelling.

Lunch at a James Beard Darling

By midday, it’s time to step into one of Asheville’s most celebrated culinary spaces. Chai Pani, winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant, brings the bold, vibrant flavors of Indian street food to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The atmosphere is lively, colorful, and welcoming, just like the food itself. Dishes arrive layered with spice, texture, and tradition, from crispy okra fries to saucy chaat and creative curries. It’s a reminder that Asheville’s roots stretch far beyond the mountains, nourished by global influences and creative collaboration.

The Cradle of Craft, Behind the Scenes

Spend the afternoon on a curated studio tour with Asheville Art Experience, the kind of outing that makes Asheville feel like you’ve been let in. You’ll move through creative spaces in the River Arts District, meeting makers where the work actually happens. This is Asheville’s artistry in its natural habitat: hands busy, ideas alive, tradition and experimentation sharing the same table.

Dinner at Luminosa

Return to the Flat Iron Hotel for dinner at Luminosa, where rustic Italian traditions meet a modern Appalachian sensibility. Executive Chef Graham House brings a hyperlocal lens to handmade pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and seasonal vegetables, all touched by flame from the restaurant’s signature oven.

The space feels warm and inviting. Italian wines mingle with Asheville’s craft-driven beverage culture. It’s a meal that feels both refined and deeply comforting, a perfect reflection of the city itself.

After dinner, linger a little longer with a cocktail on the hotel’s rooftop, where city lights shimmer against dark mountain ridgelines, or slip into the hidden speakeasy Red Ribbon Society below, where Asheville’s past whispers through every glass.

The North Carolina Arboretum

A Morning at Rowan Coffee

Begin the day at Rowan Coffee, a downtown café known for its dark wood, moody tones, and thoughtful details. The atmosphere feels scholarly yet welcoming, a place where ideas could easily linger in the air alongside the scent of freshly roasted beans.

A Foraging Walk Through the “Green Wall”

From the café, you’ll trade brick and pavement for moss and leaf litter as you join Foraging Home for a guided walk in the woods. This is not a hike so much as a quiet conversation with the land. You’ll learn to recognize edible and medicinal plants, to meet mushrooms and wild greens, to see beyond the “green wall” into the intricate community of life that thrives here.

Check Into a Mountain Icon

In the early afternoon, check into The Omni Grove Park Inn, a century-old mountain retreat that has welcomed travelers since 1913. Built from massive granite stones quarried on site, the Inn rises from the hillside like a castle, overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Step into the Great Hall and you’ll be greeted by soaring ceilings, enormous fireplaces, and a sense of history that feels both grand and comforting. This is Asheville at its most iconic, a place where presidents, writers, and artists have all come seeking rest and inspiration.

A Journey Through Spanish Tapas

Lunch brings you to Cúrate Bar de Tapas, the beloved Spanish restaurant from James Beard Award–winning chef Katie Button. Plates of jamón ibérico, patatas bravas, and seasonal specials arrive in a steady rhythm, inviting you to taste widely and linger.

It’s a reminder that Asheville’s culinary culture thrives on collaboration and curiosity, drawing from faraway traditions while staying rooted in the local table.

Explore the Thomas Wolfe Memorial

After lunch, step into Asheville’s literary past at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. This preserved Victorian boardinghouse, immortalized as “Dixieland” in Wolfe's classic Look Homeward, Angel, offers a glimpse into the early life of one of North Carolina’s most influential writers.

As you move through its rooms, you’ll sense how this place and this city shaped Wolfe’s voice, another example of how Asheville’s story continues to echo through generations.

Wander Through the North Carolina Arboretum

Round out your afternoon at the North Carolina Arboretum, a 434-acre garden and forest sanctuary nestled against Pisgah National Forest. Wander through cultivated gardens of native Appalachian plants, explore the Bonsai Exhibition Garden, or simply follow a quiet trail into the trees.

A Pre-Dinner Pause at Antidote

As the afternoon softens into evening, slip into Antidote, where vintage charm and inventive spirits create a kind of gentle transition between day and night. Tucked just off downtown’s main pulse, the bar feels like a hidden refuge, with dark wood, softly glowing lamps, and shelves lined with bottles that hint at both old-world apothecaries and modern mixology.

Dinner in Montford

Then head to Tall John’s in Montford for dinner. This neighborhood favorite blends seasonal ingredients with simple, careful preparation, served in a space that feels both lively and deeply welcoming. It’s the kind of place locals love, and visitors remember.

Black Balsam

Blue Ridge Breakfast

Wake inside the stone walls of The Omni Grove Park Inn. At the Blue Ridge Restaurant, long windows frame the mountains as the day stirs awake. The buffet is abundant and quietly refined — fresh fruit, warm pastries, omelets made to order, and a spread that includes stations like a yogurt bar and gluten-free options. This is the kind of morning that asks nothing of you except to look up and take it in.

A Picnic Packed With Intention

Today, you’re heading into the Blue Ridge. On your way into the mountains, stop by The Rhu to pick up a thoughtfully prepared picnic. Their picnic baskets must be ordered at least 24 hours in advance, and when you do, you’ll receive a spread assembled with care — fresh salads, local cheeses, house-baked breads, and small treats tucked alongside still or sparkling water. It’s not just lunch. It’s a little piece of Asheville to carry with you into the wild.

Mindfulness Hike & Mountaintop Yoga

Book a yoga hike with Asheville Wellness Tours, which specializes in immersive outdoor experiences that blend movement, mindfulness, and the healing power of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With their expert guides leading the way, you’ll head toward Black Balsam Knob for a guided mindfulness hike.

At the summit, your yoga practice unfolds inside a full 360-degree panorama, where mountains ripple into the distance like waves and layers of wind, cloud, and sunlight drift across the horizon.

A Waterfall Journey by Jeep

In the early afternoon, meet Asheville Jeep Tours to continue your adventure. Riding in a custom-made Jeep, you’ll travel through Pisgah Forest to discover a series of hidden waterfalls, each with its own personality. Short hikes lead you to cascading veils of water, cool mist, and quiet forest clearings. 

Dinner at Vue 1913

Return to the Grove Park Inn just in time for dinner at Vue 1913, perched above the Blue Ridge. The room glows as daylight fades, and the view becomes part of the experience. The menu pairs classic European technique with seasonal ingredients in an American brasserie style, creating dishes that feel timeless and quietly modern all at once. Vue 1913 is also a consistent recipient of Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence (since 2016) and holds AAA Four Diamond distinction.

Music That Still Knows How to Gather People

End your evening downtown at Jack of the Wood, where Asheville’s weekly Old-Time Jam fills the room with fiddles, banjos, and the rhythms of Appalachian tradition. Locals and visitors sit shoulder to shoulder, pints in hand, as music rises and falls like breath.

The Golf Course at The Omni Grove Park Inn

A Morning on Legendary Greens

Begin with a quiet morning on the Donald Ross–designed golf course at the Grove Park Inn. Ross believed golf should follow the natural contours of the land, and here, fairways roll gently through the mountain landscape. Whether you’re refining your swing with a lesson or simply enjoying the rhythm of the course, the experience feels both focused and serene.

A Sanctuary Beneath the Mountain

Then, it’s time for one of Asheville’s most coveted experiences: The Spa at The Omni Grove Park Inn. Tucked into the mountainside, this subterranean retreat feels like a secret world with stone walls, cascading waterfalls, and mineral pools glowing beneath fiber-optic “stars.”

Arrive early to soak in the pools, slip into a eucalyptus-infused steam room or dry sauna, or simply rest in the fireside lounges.

A Change of Scenery: The Inn on Biltmore Estate

Late afternoon brings a graceful transition to The Inn on Biltmore Estate. As you check in, Blue Ridge Mountain views stretch out before you, ushering in a new chapter of your journey shaped by Gilded Age elegance and quiet grandeur.

A Culinary Jewel in West Asheville

Dinner takes you back into the creative heart of the city at Neng Jr.’s, one of Asheville’s most celebrated restaurants. In this intimate space, Chef Silver Iocovozzi's Filipinx heritage meets Appalachian terroir through dishes that feel personal, inventive, and deeply expressive.

An After-Dinner Stroll Through West Asheville

If the night still calls, step into Character Study, a literary-themed cocktail bar just down the street, or wander along Haywood Road, where murals and indie shopfronts set the scene by day, and cocktail bars and cozy hangs carry the neighborhood into the night.

Biltmore Estate

A Slow Morning at the Inn

Wake to soft light over the hills and enjoy breakfast in the quiet elegance of your room. The day ahead is rich, but there’s no need to rush. (In-room dining at The Inn offers breakfast service.) 

Explore the Biltmore House

Before you step through the doors of Biltmore House, it helps to understand what you’re entering.

Biltmore Estate is America’s largest privately owned home, built in 1895 by George Washington Vanderbilt as a self-sustaining country retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. Designed by renowned architect Richard Morris Hunt and surrounded by landscapes created by Frederick Law Olmsted (the same visionary behind New York’s Central Park), the 8,000-acre estate was conceived as a place where art, architecture, agriculture, and hospitality could exist together in harmony.

Today, Biltmore remains a living estate, where historic rooms, formal gardens, vineyards, forests, and working farms come together in one continuous experience. Visiting here isn’t just a house tour. It’s a full immersion into an era when Asheville was emerging as a mountain refuge for America’s cultural and creative elite — a role the city still plays today.

During your self-guided house visit (which spans three floors and the basement), you’ll move through the soaring Banquet Hall, the library lined with books, and the ornate salons where George and Edith Vanderbilt once entertained. The stories of the house unfold room by room, with architecture, art, and ambition woven together into a place that still feels alive. 

Lunch in the Historic Stables

Just outside the house, Stable Café offers a relaxed midday pause. Set inside the estate’s original horse stables, the café serves Appalachian comfort food including house-smoked meats, Carolina barbeque, grilled burgers, and other Southern favorites, rounding the experience in warmth and simplicity. 

Gardens Designed for Wandering

Spend the afternoon exploring the gardens of Frederick Law Olmsted, from the Italian Garden and Walled Garden to the lush Conservatory. Each space offers a different perspective, a different rhythm, a different kind of beauty.

Horseback Through the Estate

Later, saddle up at Deerpark Carriage and Trail Ride Barn for a guided horseback ride across Biltmore’s sweeping trails. Meadows, forests, and quiet paths open up around you, offering a slower, more intimate way to experience the land.

Dinner at The Dining Room

As evening falls, return to The Inn for dinner at The Dining Room, where white linens, fine china, and sweeping views of the estate set the stage for an unforgettable meal. Estate-raised and local ingredients shine in dishes that feel celebratory without ever feeling stiff.

Asheville Botanical Gardens

A Market Morning, the Asheville Way

Before your journey home, visit the North Asheville Tailgate Market, a Saturday-morning tradition and one of the best ways to feel Asheville’s food culture in motion. You’ll find local farmers, bakers, and makers gathered on UNC Asheville’s campus, with stalls full of seasonal produce, breads, cheeses, honey, plants, and prepared foods—more “choose your own adventure” than checklist. The market runs Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. 

This is Asheville's Foodtopia in its natural habitat—not in a single restaurant, but in the relationships that connect kitchens to fields, and people to place. 

One Last Walk Beneath the Trees

If time allows, wander through the Asheville Botanical Garden, just up the road from UNC Asheville, for a final quiet moment among native plants and shaded trails. The gardens are open daily from sunrise to sunset, and admission and parking are free (donations encouraged). 

Then, with the mountains still echoing in your senses, make your way to the airport—carrying Asheville with you in ways that linger long after the journey ends.