Experiences in Asheville

I watched this one land from a porch in Candler. Here’s how to be in the basket instead.Read Ashe’s guide →

Hot air balloon rides

Asheville Balloon Company

Sunrise flights over the Hominy Valley, ten minutes west of downtown.

• $300 per person on a shared flight · $400 private
• 45–60 minutes in the air; plan on about 2½ hours door to door
• Sunrise only, most of the year, weather permitting (light winds, no rain)
• 6 and up; under 18 with a parent

Ashe says The balloons come down in the fields around Candler most clear mornings. I've watched them land from a porch — it never gets old. Book October early; fall color from 1,500 feet is the whole point.

Meet at the Ingles lot, 1572 Sand Hill Rd, Candler, NC 28715 · (828) 707-2992

Photo: Ask Ashe

Comedy bus tours

LaZoom Comedy Tours

The purple bus: Asheville history as stand-up, plus a haunted version, a beer run and a kids' show.

• From $52 (city tour) · from $44 (Ghosted) · from $57 (beer tour) · from $29 (kids)
• Roughly 90 minutes; varies by tour
• Daily, year-round; evenings for Ghosted and the beer bus
• 13+ city tour · 17+ Ghosted · 21+ beer tour · all ages Lil Boogers

Ashe says The one to put visiting parents on. If they've already done the city tour, Ghosted at dusk is the better second ride.

76 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801 · (828) 225-6932

Ziplines

Navitat Canopy Adventures

Mountaintop and treetop zipline tours in Barnardsville, 25 minutes north of town.

• Prices and age/weight rules on their site
• Allow a half day
• Spring through fall, Thursday–Monday, 9am–5pm; closed in winter
• Age and weight limits vary by tour — check before you book

Ashe says Go for the mountaintop tour if you only do one. Dress for the weather on the ridge, not the weather in the parking lot.

242 Poverty Branch Rd, Barnardsville, NC 28709 · (828) 626-3700

Wildlife park

WNC Nature Center

Black bears, red wolves, otters and red pandas on 42 acres in East Asheville.

• $16.95 adults · $12.95 ages 3–12 · $15.95 seniors · under 2 free (plus tax; City of Asheville residents $11.95 / $9.95 / $10.95)
• About 2 hours
• Daily, 10am–4:30pm, last entry 3:30pm
• All ages

Ashe says The most reliable kid outing in the county, rain or shine. City of Asheville residents pay less — bring proof of address.

75 Gashes Creek Rd, Asheville, NC 28805

Daytime or Candlelight? Here’s how I’d pick — and the booking mistake everybody makes.Read Ashe’s guide →

America’s largest home · gardens, winery, village

Biltmore Estate

The 250-room Vanderbilt house, 8,000 acres of Olmsted grounds, a free wine tasting — and from November 3, the whole thing dressed for Christmas.

• Priced by date · Christmas daytime from about $110 · Candlelight evenings from about $130 · online saves $10 a ticket
• About 4 hours: 1–1½ in the house, the grounds, then Antler Hill Village and the Winery
• Open daily, year-round · Christmas at Biltmore Nov 3 – Jan 10 · Candlelight Christmas Evenings Nov 3 – Jan 9, reservation only
• All ages; the house is a lot of walking for under-fives — Antler Hill Village and the farmyard are the kids’ part

Ashe says Daytime in November is the calm version: lower prices, the decorations fully up. Candlelight is the one people fly in for — book the slot nearest sunset and you get the house in the last light and then in the dark. Buy online; it’s $10 a ticket cheaper than the gate.

1 Lodge St, Asheville, NC 28803 · (800) 411-3812

Free to see — if you know which days they’ll let you in. Here’s the schedule, straight from the hotel.Read Ashe’s guide →

Free holiday display · National Gingerbread House Competition

The Gingerbread Houses at the Omni Grove Park Inn

The country’s biggest gingerbread competition, on display in the hotel’s halls from November 17 to January 3 — free, with a catch about weekends.

• Opens Tue, Nov 17
• Free to view · parking $35 self / $45 valet (Oct 1 – Jan 3)
• About an hour; two with a drink on the Sunset Terrace
• Nov 17 – Jan 3 · public: Sundays after 6 pm and Mon–Thu · Fri–Sat for hotel guests and dinner reservations · closed to the public Nov 26, Dec 6, Dec 23–26, Dec 30–31, Jan 1
• All ages

Ashe says Go on a Sunday after 6 or a weekday afternoon: do the display, then the Sunset Terrace with a drink while the sun drops behind Pisgah. On a weekend, a dinner reservation is your ticket in.

290 Macon Ave, Asheville, NC 28804 · (828) 252-2711

Lights, gingerbread and the estate in the right order. Here’s my holiday weekend, Friday to Sunday.Read Ashe’s guide →

Walk-through holiday light show

Winter Lights at the NC Arboretum

More than a million lights through the Arboretum’s gardens, November 13 to January 3 — priced per car, so fill the seats.

• Opens Fri, Nov 13
• Per car, not per person · three price tiers by date (value / standard / peak) · Arboretum members $5 off · more at the gate
• About 90 minutes
• Nov 13 – Jan 3, evenings · peak nights sell out
• All ages; strollers fine

Ashe says Tickets are per car — three price tiers by date — so a full car on a value night is the best deal in Asheville’s December. Buy ahead; the gate costs more and peak nights sell out. Dress warmer than you think. It’s a cold hollow.

100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC 28806 · (828) 665-2492