The Blue Ridge Parkway

• The Blue Ride Parkway connects the Shenandoah National Park with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Asheville is one of the largest cities along it. Known as "America's Favorite Drive," a drive along the parkway is scenic and relaxing. In the spring, the Blue Ride is bursting with flowering trees, bushes and wildflowers. Along the Parkway, find the Museum of North Carolina Minerals, the Folk Art Center and the Parkway Visitor Center. There are also many lodges and restaurants scattered along the Parkway, including one year-round facility, the Peaks of Otter Lodge and Restaurant.
  
  

The Urban Trail

• Asheville's Urban Trail is a tour of the people and places contributing cultural diversity during the Reconstruction era. Eagle Street was one of the nation's most prosperous African-American commercial districts, with enterprises including restaurants, nightclubs, a tannery, blacksmith, funeral parlor and carriage factory.
  
  The tour begins with the Municipal Building, where you will learn about James V. Miller, a craftsman and chief mason. Cornucopias over a side doorway of the Municipal Building mark the site of an integrated public market. Other tour stops include Mr. Gene's Family Restaurant, which continues to serve fried chicken and fish, barbecue ribs, black-eyed peas and collard greens; St. Matthias Episcopal Church, home to western North Carolina's oldest congregation of black Episcopalians; and the YMI Cultural Center, built to demonstrate appreciation for the African-American men of Asheville, and which was once home to the city's black population's library, drugstore and funeral parlor.
  
  

The Biltmore Estate

• Asheville's famous Biltmore Estate, built as a country retreat by George Washington Vanderbilt in 1888, is America's largest privately owned home. The 250-room French Renaissance chateau boasts 8,000 acres of gardens, a winery, a working farm and a luxury inn.
  
  The estate is open year-round with indoor exhibits like 16th-century tapestries, Napoleon's chess set and Renoir paintings. Guests can also tour the estate's grounds---including the Rose Garden, Walled Garden, Shrub Garden, Spring Garden, and Azalea Garden---and visit the estate's winery and the River Bend Farm. They can also participate in outdoor adventures such as carriage rides, horseback riding, river float trips, fly-fishing, Segway tours and the Land Rover Experience Driving School.
  
  The estate sponsors a variety of seasonal experiences, including the Festival of Flowers, Summer Evening Concerts and Candlelight Christmas Evenings.
  
  As of June 2010, Biltmore Estate is open year-round, seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Adult ticket prices range (based on the season) from $33-$55.
  
  

The North Carolina Arboretum

• The North Carolina Arboretum is one of America's greatest Southern Appalachian public gardens, with exhibits blending the gorgeous surrounding landscape with local culture. Located in the Pisgah National Forest, the Arboretum sponsors many educational programs. One special exhibit is the Bonsai Exhibition Garden. There are nine trails, some for pedestrians while others are open to hikers and bikers; three-hour guided Segway tours are also offered.
  
  As of June 2010, the parking fee is $8 per personal motor vehicle, $30 for commercial vehicles, and $50 for tour buses.
  
  

Downtown Asheville

• Vibrant downtown Asheville is eclectic and unusual. Featuring local artists and street musicians, it is home to coffee shops, local clubs playing live music and more than 30 galleries. Boutique stores and charming restaurants add to the town's quaint atmosphere.