For many, summer means visits to theme parks, beaches and baseball stadiums. However, if you are looking to travel to a family-friendly place that offers more than coasters, crabs and Cracker Jacks, head to Asheville, North Carolina.
Stroll through the picturesque downtown and you immediately sense that very few people have been able to resist the pull of this Blue Ridge beauty. After all, it’s not every day that you can immerse yourself in a city that boasts an eccentric hodgepodge of architectural styles that change from block to block. Asheville features everything from traditional southern homes with grand sweeping porches to Victorian townhouses and Gothic Revival buildings decorated with gargoyles. The awe-inspiring city, with its majestic mountains that cut into the horizon, makes quite an impression on the millions of visitors who travel there each year.
Most tourists flock to Asheville to live like royalty, if only for a day. You will feel like a king or queen when you tour the city’s crown jewel–Vanderbilt’s illustrious Biltmore Estate. When it was first constructed in the 1890s the Biltmore Estate was considered the most innovative mansion in the nation. Today, it still holds the title of largest private residence in the United States. During your summer trip to Asheville, take time to tour the massive home, which features 250 rooms filled with historical masterpieces by Renoir, Sargent and Whistler; priceless oriental carpets; and 50,000 other luxurious objects. When you complete your indoor tour, head outside to explore the estate’s 8,000 acres. Don’t miss the four-acre Walled Garden, which features thousands of summer annuals, as well as the estate’s All-American Rose Garden.
While the Biltmore Estate may be the crowning glory of Asheville, the incomparable beauty of the city itself also provides a stunning backdrop to other lesser-known attractions, most of which are located off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The 469-mile recreational road connects Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks and offers drivers a reprieve from blaring commercialism. The parkway is dotted with romantic offerings, including charming vintage farmhouses, tunnels carved into majestic mountains and steep climbs that provide breathtaking views of the valleys below.