Asheville walking tour & city guide

Downtown Asheville

Downtown Asheville has one of the finest collections of Art Deco architecture in the South, built during a boom in the 1920s. Highlights include the City Hall with its colorful tiled roof and the Grove Arcade, an early indoor shopping arcade. Pack Square is the town's central gathering place.

The Biltmore Estate

George Vanderbilt built the Biltmore, a French Renaissance chateau with 250 rooms, in the 1890s. The house, its gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and its winery can all be visited, and the estate looks especially festive at Christmas.

A classic downtown walk

Start at Pack Square Park, with views of the Art Deco City Hall and courthouse, and follow the Urban Trail, a self-guided walk marked by bronze plaques and sculptures. Walk up Biltmore Avenue and through Lexington Avenue, the quirkiest street in town, lined with vintage shops.

Continue to the Grove Arcade, then down to the River Arts District by the French Broad River, where artists work in old factory buildings and you can watch them in their studios. The walk is about 4 kilometers.

Visiting tips

Autumn, when the mountain forests turn red and gold, is the most popular season, especially in October. Spring is also lovely. The Blue Ridge Parkway passes right by the city, and Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, is about an hour away. Asheville was hit hard by flooding from Hurricane Helene in 2024; the River Arts District has largely reopened, but check ahead.