Biltmore Estates
 

We are planning a one day trip to visit Biltmore Estates. I know we will not be able to see everything but hope to see enough. Also would like to know how expensive the eating places are on the property. What would you suggest trying to see in just one day. I am a senior and walking fast is a bit of a problem.

I was there last month. The Biltmore's main tour is $39 and includes the mansion (well a significant portion of it anyway), the gardens, the winery and stables. You drive to the parking lot and then have to walk about 1/2 mile to the house but there is a bus at the front of the parking area for those needing assistance. Going through the house is a lot of walking too. You then can walk to the gardens and walk around but it's a long walk back to the car so I suggest you get your car first because the parking lot for the gardens is right on the way to the winery/stables which is 3 miles from the house so you have to drive there anyway. There are other tours (rooftop, behind-the-scenes, etc.) you can purchase also but I think if you see the main tour, you can spend most of the day.

There is a restaurant, a sandwich cart, bakery, and ice cream shop just outside of the mansion. I believe the restaurant was about $10 or $11 for a sandwich lunch. I didn't look any further because we decided to go to the sandwich cart. I got a huge bbq sandwich for $4.50. They also had some large lunch salads for about $6. There is also a restaurant at the winery but we didn't look there at all.

Go to www.biltmore.com
It answers all your questions and even shows full menus for the four or five dining choices on the estate.

It seems to me that when we were there, the person who "triaged" the tours set up a special group for people somewhat less agile than others -- would walk slower and have access to elevators not usually used for tours. Suggest you call ahead of time or ask when you get there to see what's possible. There are a fair number of staircases and cobble stones, and you might want to make sure you've made it easy on yourself.

Also, just going to the main webpage doesn't give you an obvious link to the restaurants -- you need: http://www.biltmore.com/plan/dining/dining.shtml to see the list, and there are no prices there. The dining room will be the most expensive, while you can probably survive for much less money eating from the various concessions in the front yard and the Conservatory Cafe. We were quite happy with the Bistro -- moderate prices, decent food -- and disappointed by the Stable's buffet, which had copious amounts of food but some of it was a bit "tired." Nice view from the building, though.

Enjoy the visit.

IMO, the behind the scenes tours are well worth the time and money. We've did two the last time were there. For they enhance our visit. The tours are not fast paced and one of the tours is of the grounds in a small tour bus.

In one day, you should definitely be able to see the main house and the adjacent gardens, along with the winery. If you do not do a "behind the scenes" house tour, be sure to rent the headphones. They are $7 per set, but well worth it. They made the house tour incredibly interesting. Also, the Bistro at the Winery has very different menus for lunch and dinner. The lunch menu was fairly moderate, but the dinner menu jumps considerably, with one or two $18 entrees and everything else $24 or higher per entree. We ate dinner there, and it was very good, but we experienced a bit of sticker shock, because we had only seen the lunch menu and didn't realize the dinner menu would be so much pricier.

We spent the equivalent of a full day at the Biltmore. We arrived in the afternoon and had time to do the main tour with the $7 headphones (it took about 2 hours - highly recommended). The next morning we took the "Behind the Scenes" and "Rooftop" tours. I think these tours were about an hour or so each. We had a half hour break in between. These "specialty tours" are excellent and provide a great deal of additional insight. However, there is A LOT of walking up and down stairs. We spent the rest of our time walking the gardens on our own (a must do) and continuing down the trail to a pond on the estate grounds. If you are a shopper, allow time for that too as there are several interesting shops at the estate. We skipped the winery and the restaurants as you can do that anywhere.

I second the suggestions (or third them?) that you inquire about tours that will allow you to avoid stairs if you have any problem with them at all. Also, the tour of the winery is really not worth the time, and you have to be willing to tolerate some less than mediocre wine to make the wine tasting worth the money -- only a couple of their "reserve" wines are good. But the Bistro is probably the best value for dining on the property, esp. for lunch.

Thank you all for all the information. It has been a great help.