Fall is a magical time in Asheville. The city and surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains offer one of the longest fall color seasons in the world—giving you ample time to explore! A guided tour can be the perfect way to experience the stunning fall foliage in unique and unforgettable ways.
Mountain Hike Tours
Connect with your mind, body, and spirit while embracing the nurturing energy of the Blue Ridge Mountains with Asheville Wellness Tours. Take a 2-mile round-trip hike along an easy to moderate trail to a mountain summit with stunning views, then breathe in relaxation during an hour yoga session suitable for all levels.
Get to know the local trails with the guidance of hiking experts and naturalists on a guided hike from Blue Ridge Hiking Company. They offer private half and full-day hikes, sunrise and sunset outing, as well as overnight trips. Groups can join a half-day waterfall hiking tour or a nighttime forest and fireflies hike.
Waterfall Tours
When graced with autumn color, waterfalls become even more enchanting. Tumblestone Waterfall Tours will transport you to at least three impressive cascades, making stops along the way to take in the remarkable beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Most tours involve only three miles of total hiking on easy-to-moderate trails. Public tours are limited to seven people max and private tours are available upon request.
Relax and reconnect with your body, mind and with nature on a waterfall micro retreat with Namaste in Nature. This three-hour guided experience includes an easy hike to an epic waterfall and guided meditation and yoga amongst the colorful fall foliage.
River Tours
For a different perspective of Asheville's fall foliage, standup paddle down the French Broad River with Wai Mauna Asheville SUP Tours, with options ranging from peaceful sunrise “Dawn Patrol” tours to scenic 4- and 7-mile guided paddles past the River Arts District and Biltmore Estate. Wai Mauna is open throughout October, which is a quieter time on the river.
If you're trying to decide between a river tour and a brewery tour, Cedar Rock Adventures offers a floating bar crawl that combines both. The guided raft tour of the French Broad River takes in three stops where you can sip local brews in between a relaxing float down river.
Food & Beverage Tours
Asheville offers a number of tours to tickle your tastebuds. Companies including Eating Asheville and Asheville Food Tours offer a good introduction to the city's thriving restaurant scene. No Taste Like Home takes you into the woods for a foraging adventure.
On the beverage front, multiple companies offer brewery tours. Blue Ridge Wine Tours offers downtown walking and driving winery tours, as well as a downtown craft beverage stroll. The Eats and Drinks tour with Asheville Detours combines a scavenger hunt experience with tastings at six downtown restaurants and bars. And Asheville Coffee Tours takes guests to six stops throughout downtown, where you can taste coffee from various local micro-roasters and learn about the history and craft of coffee in Asheville.
Photography Tours
Experience how to capture the fall colors with your camera thanks to expert photographers in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Asheville Photo Tours and WNC Photo Tours will guide you all the way.
Tours on Wheels
Get up early and enjoy autumn's glory with a delicious cup of joe! Asheville Jeep Tours offers a guided sunrise jeep experience, where guests can enjoy locally-roasted coffee while they discover some of the best secret viewing points in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They also offer a backroads tour to waterfalls in Pisgah National Forest, a Blue Ridge Parkway tour, and a waterfall hike excursion.
Easily explore the city’s charming character and history on an electric bike. The Flying Bike Tour will give you the chance to learn about Asheville’s noteworthy architectural gems and a couple of its historic neighborhoods.
Take to the sidewalks and streets of downtown Asheville with See Asheville Segway Tours. The two-hour tours are an unforgettable way to tour a large area while learning fun tidbits and historical facts about the city. Tours are limited to six people.
Adventure Center of Asheville’s Adventure Mountain Off-Road Tours in Barnardsville is Western North Carolina’s newest off-road driving experience. Drive or ride in four-person Off-Road Vehicles (ORV) on 200 acres of scenic mountain trails, climbing up 1,400 feet on Adventure Mountain. Start in a training area to develop your off-road skills, then follow their guides for hours of fun on narrow trails, rock and log obstacles, hill climbs, and spectacular views of three mountain ranges.
Haunted Tours
LaZoom's Ghosted Comedy Bus Tour gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "scared silly". The 60-minute ride led by ghoulish guides is packed with tongue-in-cheek comedy while sharing tales of Asheville's strange and sometimes sordid past. Another roving tour focused on Asheville's dark history is Gray Line Trolley's Haunted History & Murder Mystery Tour, which includes ghostly lore, unsolved murders, and more.
For chilling tours on foot, two companies offer guided walking ghost tours downtown. Haunted Asheville Tours has been developed by a renowned paranormal expert and TV personality, Joshua Warren, who also shares about ghost hunting and how paranormal activity is tested. Asheville Terrors offers several walking ghost tours, including a haunted pub crawl.
Art Tours
Experience the creative art culture of the Asheville area with the help of expert guide Sherry Masters of Art Connections. With 30+ years of experience in the art community, Sherry consults with clients, then builds a studio tour based on what they're looking for. These custom tours are for serious collectors and those shopping for that special investment for their home or office. It's a service that helps narrow the options and connect with the makers, some with private studios.
Asheville is full of vibrant murals, and you can see 17 of them packed into Asheville's South Slope. Take them all in during a journey along the self-guided South Slope Mural Trail. It's a walking distance of about two miles total, but there are plenty of opportunities to rest and enjoy a beer at one of the area's many breweries. If you want a curated experience that takes in more of the city's murals, check out Mountain Mural Tours, which offers both private and public excursions.
Rooftop Tours
Take in views over the city and fall-painted mountains beyond with an Asheville Rooftop Bar Tour, which take in three to four Asheville rooftop bars/restaurants. The tours also incorporate history with photos from the 1800s and early 1900s for an Asheville then-and-now perspective.
Biltmore Tours
For an expansive view of the nearly 8,000-acre Biltmore Estate, add on the Rooftop Tour to your visit. On this guided excursion, you’ll get a closer look at the design and construction of Biltmore, in addition to enjoying the amazing views.
Other Biltmore excursions include an exclusive 90-minute tour of Biltmore House that takes you into rarely accessed areas, a Backstairs Tour offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse of rarely seen domestic staff areas, and a Farm to Table Tour and tasting that looks at the estate's agricultural operations.
Aerial Tours
Soar through a fall-studded canopy on a zipline tour. The Asheville area offers some of the best zip line canopy tours in the nation, including Navitat Canopy Adventures, Adventure Center of Asheville, French Broad Adventures and The Gorge Zipline.
