Asheville in the Fall: a long weekend

The forest around Catawba Falls in Asheville North Carolina

UPDATED: 1/22/2023

Note: Some links throughout our site are affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission at no cost to you.

I had wanted to visit Asheville, North Carolina, for years based on things I’d heard and read. I finally got the chance during a mother/daughter long weekend getaway, and it didn’t disappoint. We arrived on a Friday evening and left Monday morning and found the long weekend time-frame fit nicely, though of course we could have seen more with a longer stay.

Asheville is a mountain town in two senses of the word: its downtown is hilly and the city is tucked closely against the larger surrounding mountains. Due to this location, there are gorgeous vistas in every direction. Whether it was unique to our visit or seasonal/geographical due to the mountains, each morning started out with low clouds that took several hours to burn off and each evening, low clouds began moving back in and stirring up a bit of a cool breeze.

One unique and, in my opinion, unpleasant noise-maker that made its way multiple times around the city was the Pubcycle. As its names suggests, this was a multi-person bike-esque vehicle for peddling while imbibing. It seemed like something straight out of a book by Dr. Seuss and also potentially serves as a warning to other small towns that become popular with tourists. You have to see it to believe it so here are some of their photos .

View of the Biltmore grounds in Asheville, North Carolina

On Saturday, we had a leisurely morning and tried two places for breakfast with long waits – one was 1 hour 15 minutes! – before locating a coffee house/bakery across the street from the hotel called Old Europe . In addition to an array of desserts and pastries, they offer some more breakfast-appropriate options like quiche and croissants. Both their quiche and coffee were an utterly delicious start to the day!

Next, we tackled three outdoor activities: the North Carolina Arboretum , the Asheville Botanical Gardens , and a hike near the town of Old Fort to see Catawba Falls .

The North Carolina Arboretum is absolutely worth a visit if you enjoy time outdoors. We spent probably about three hours there, including lunch at their slow but delicious cafe. The arboretum had a number of lengthier wooded trails, some cultivated gardens and lawns, a miniature train village with a train running on tracks for kids to watch, and a pretty unique bonsai exhibit. The drive to the arboretum was about 20 minutes outside of town, easy to find, and affordable with just a small entrance fee. The gardens were filled with various lights in the trees, so it looks like it would be amazing to view at night with them all lit up!

Model train at the North Carolina Arboretum

View from the Asheville Arboretum of the surrounding environs.

After the arboretum, Asheville Botanical Gardens was a let-down if you’ve ever visited a true botanical garden. This 10-acre plot next to the UNC-Asheville campus was essentially a park with a trail around it, and a stream running through the center. It looked unkempt, as if perhaps it used to be better maintained. It would be a nice lunch spot or for a short walk, but it is not something I’d categorize as a botanical garden at all. It was free, so that is an upside.

Next, we headed about 30 minutes west of Asheville to the Catawba Falls. As with most waterfall hikes, the hike is entirely up-hill for the first half and entirely down-hill the second. In this case it was a 3-mile roundtrip hike. The up-hill portions weren’t too steep and were shaded, which was nice on a warm day. The trail was fairly muddy and slick but a very nice moderate hike.

Worn out after about 7.5 miles of hiking and walking, we found a convenient restaurant for dinner right across from the hotel – Suwana's Thai Orchid. As a lover of Thai food, I found this to be very much on par with the normal taste, variety, and flavors I’ve had in other cities and would recommend it.

Sunday was an early reveille to explore the Biltmore estate and grounds, which deserve their own detailed post, which you can read here as well as our blog on tips for your Biltmore visit.

Before heading to the estate, we took the elevator upstairs in the hotel to their top floor rooftop lounge/restaurant called Capella on 9 for a hearty breakfast. Returning to the hotel after about 10 hours of walking and exploring Biltmore in the hot sun, we decided to end the day where we’d started it – this time eating tapas and drinking wine at Capella on 9 on the candlelit rooftop. Does life get any better than rooftop restaurants on a gorgeous night?

On Monday, we had a quick breakfast back at Old Europe before hitting the road. It’s amazing how much you can experience in one long weekend! We were incredibly fortunate to have beautiful and slightly hot weather. As we headed out of town, the temperature had dropped to the 40s and autumn was definitely setting in.

Click the image below to save this post to Pinterest!