Are you then driving to Williamsburg? To me you have made your trip backwards because to drive from Asheville to Wmsburg is a long and boring drive basically. I think I lost the thread here.

Here's what happened...since we are flying on AA,we are limited to particular airports. So, I'm skipping the OBX and, unfortunately, Williamsburg. Flying into Knoxville, seeing Cades Cove, Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains, Asheville, Blue Ridge Parkway, Biltmore, on to Charleston, Savannah then out of Jacksonville Fl. Thankyou, GoTravel, for the suggestions for the places to stay in Asheville...they look heavenly, but beyond my "Slurge Reserve." To HauntedheadNC, any suggestions you have would be great. So far our plans include part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and The Biltmore Estate. Other suggesttions for places to see and eat would be welcomed. We are spending 3 nights in Asheville if that helps.

Sorry to be getting back to you so late, clk, but here are my top suggestions for what to see and do in Asheville. I'm cutting and pasting here from a post I wrote back in May for another person with questions about the "Paris of the South," except that I've edited it just a bit. Plus, it includes the Blue Ridge Parkway, which you're already planning to see. Biltmore Estate isn't on there because that other person was planning to see it anyay -- people often only see Biltmore without venturing out to see all the other attractions of this magical little city, and that's a real shame. I'm glad you're going to be in town for a few days to take in the sights!

"You'll have plenty of things to keep you busy in Asheville! I hope you'll have a wonderful time in my town -- here are my top five picks for things visitors mustn't miss while in the area, excluding Biltmore Estate of course.


1. Hickory Nut Gorge

This wooded canyon is located southeast of Asheville and is home to the villages of Gerton, Bat Cave, Chimney Rock Village, and Lake Lure. Towering above its namesake village is Chimney Rock, a natural granite monolith that is the centerpiece of Chimney Rock Park, a thousand acre nature park with waterfalls, caves, hiking, and lots more! East of Chimney Rock Village is Lake Lure, a beautiful little town at the head of the lake from which it takes its name, centered around an historic resort hotel and a beautiful public park with a beach.

2. Blue Ridge Parkway

This road snakes from Virginia to Tennessee, via the mountains of North Carolina and is rightly called America's most scenic drive. You can hop on the parkway in Asheville and go in either direction for unbelievable views on a clear day of distant ridges, peaks, and lakes. If you head east, you can access the Folk Art Center, which houses a museum and commercial gallery of very high-quality handicrafts, including quilts, pottery, and furniture. Keep going east and you'll reach Mt. Mitchell, highest peak in the East, as well as other spectacularly beautiful areas such as Craggy Gardens.

3. Asheville Urban Trail

Slightly more than a mile and a half long, this is a walking trail through downtown Asheville that employs thirty beautiful sculptures and other artworks to tell you a tale of the city's past and future. Some of the city's abundance of truly spectacular architectural jewels are also featured on the trail, including the Drhumor Building with its frieze of writhing mermaids, dragons, and angels. The trail also takes you past some wonderful shops and restaurants, as well as emporiums like those in the Kress Building and at Woolworth Walk, both crowded with first class, locally created art, and both located in historic department store buildings.

4. Asheville's historic neighborhoods

Asheville boasts many more historic buildings and homes than you'd find in towns many times its size, and this is the best way to see them. Biltmore Village, just outside the gates of Biltmore Estate; Montford, home to Riverside Cemetery with its ornate sculptured tombs, just northwest of downtown; downtown itself, for those architectural jewels not on the Urban Trail such as First Baptist Church, modeled on the Florentine Duomo; Grove Park, surrounding the must-be-seen-to-be-believed Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa -- those are just a few!

5. Pack Place

This is a museum complex in the heart of downtown, and Station 1 on the Urban Trail. Here you'll find the Asheville Art Museum, the Colburn Gem and Mineral Museum, the Health Adventure, the Diana Wortham Theatre, and YMI Cultural center. The Health Adventure is geared toward children, but has attractions that adults might find interesting as well, while the YMI Center is a museum dedicated to African-American history and art. I seem to recall reading that the Health Adventure is moving to much larger quarters north of downtown, near UNC-Asheville, but I'm not sure if they've moved out of Pack Place yet, but it really is more for children anyway. You'll find the Colburn, YMI or Asheville Art Museum more interesting anyway.

It's hard to stop at five attractions when there's so much more to see and do! I haven't even mentioned the NC Arboretum, on the edge of Pisgah National Forest or the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, up at UNCA. Then there's Dupont State Forest, down between Brevard and Hendersonville, plus the downtown shopping districts of both those towns, plus the towns of Black Mountain and Saluda..."

I had listed them more as footnotes to those other attractions above, but I do highly recommend a visit to the arboretum or botanical gardens, if Biltmore doesn't quell your appetite for exquisite gardens. Not included in the list above were the Grove Arcade, which is a wonderfully beautiful shopping mall built in the 1920's, in the heart of downtown Asheville, and the WNC Nature Center, which is geared toward kids but has an interesting zoo of animals native to the Western North Carolina mountains. There's an awful lot to see and do here, much more than you'd find in nearly any other city Asheville's size. I hope you have a wonderful time here!

I live in North Carolina. Honestly, I am not familiar with the driving from Williamsburg to the NC coast because I live around Raleigh. However, I completely agree with those who said the Outer Banks will take you too far out of the way on this trip. I also thought of Wilmington as a possible stop that is more accessible to you. Personally, I would just head on to Charleston this time. It is my favorite smaller American city. Plan on at least 2-3 days there. If you don't want to miss beaches, there are good ones very close to Charleston at Isle of Palms and Sullivan Island. You could easily stay at the beaches there and then drive into town in no time as an option to staying in Charleston itself. Take a look at my two Charleston travelogues at www.oneeyed.homestead.com for lots of tips and photos.

There are many beautiful waterfalls south of Asheville, and they are particularly nice during the peak foliage season. Most are right off the road, making it easy to see many in a single day. I would also make it a point to see Biltmore House. One very helpful book is the Kevin Adams book - "North Carolina Waterfalls: Where to Find Them, How to Photograph Them."

I think I'm late in my reply to this since you have already made reservations, but I would definately not change my travel plans based on expected leaf peak. 3rd week Oct, may be the standard answer, but you never know. Last year, they didn't really turn until up in Nov. and this year we are having the weirdest (rainiest) weather I've ever seen, so who knows.

It is ALWAYS beautiful in the Blue Ridge, so don't sweat the leaves.

Not to further complicate things, but I would stay the hell away from Gatlinburg and PIgeon Forge if I were you. Awful, tacky, crowded. Just enjoy the beauty of the Smokies as you drive through them on the way to Asheville.

Could you START in Jacksonville so you do the beaches while the weather is warmest and work your way up to Knoxville, giving the leaves time to change?

Litespeed Chick has a real good point--with all our rain it may be a late fall color season. And she is right on about Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge--ick, ick.

All of you have been terrific. HauntedheadNC..that was quite some information you provided. Looks like we might have to plan a second trip to Asheville to see all the sights...my it sounds lovely! So, I'm kinda getting the picture of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, but I'm trying to come up with a comparable site I could relate to. Sounds as if there might be lots of miniature golf, amusement park rides, tee shirt shops, video arcades etc? Our plane actually will arrive in Knoxville around 2 pm, not 5 as I previously thought, so...what should we do...drive through Cades Cove? How late is that open? Drive through the Great Smoky Mountains and on to Asheville the first night? That doesn't seem like it would be enough time to see anything. I certainly don't want to be driving through the mountains in the dark...nothing to see but tail lights then. Also...what are the temps like in the Asheville area in mid-Oct?

To Dan..I've gone to your website and am really enjoying reading about your Charleston trip. It's got lots of useful information...but it's late and I'll have to read the rest of it tomorrow. By the way, your experience at Wrecks sounds strangely similar to one my husband and I had at the "No Name Restaurant" (I'm serious) in Boston in 1980. It was practically impossible to find, supposedly the best seafood in Boston and frequented mostly by locals who were "in the know." It was sooooo shabby, almost scary, out at the end of an industrial pier, and the only indication of it being a restaurant was a garbage can in front of the entrance...as I said...NO NAME. Anyway, the inside was completely devoid of any enjoyable atmosphere and the food was nothing to remember. Give me Red Lobster over the NO NAME anyday. I digress...sorry. You have taken some gorgeous waterfall photos and I can't wait to see such lovely sites near Asheville.

Don't let people scare you away from Pigeon Forge and/or Gatlinburg!!! You will enjoy yourself in the Great Smokies. Again, if you don't want to stay in either of these towns, stay in Townsend, Tennessee..It is closer to Cades Cove than PF or Gatlinburg anyway.

I'm with Litespeed Chick and Gretchen about Pigeon Forge. You need a very high tolerance for kitsch. Of course you can't say you've seen everything the world has to offer until you've been to the Elvis Museum.

Hello,
Last August we drove from Boston to Atlanta to drop our daughter off at Emory, and made a vacation out of the trip. Our first stop was VA Beach; then we drove to Charleston (took 8 hours.) It is absolutely beautiful!! Went on a horse-drawn carriage ride during the day and a haunted tour at night. Also went to Magnolia Plantation House and Gardens. Drove to Savannah (only 2 hours) and stayed in Mulberry Inn, very close to the riverfront. The "Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil book tour" was a lot of fun. We went back to Jack Leigh's photo gallery after the tour(photographer who took photo on cover of the book), met him and made some purchases. Both cities are lovely! You will enjoy both. If I can remember names of restaurants we went to, I will let you know.

If you go through the Park toward Cherokee and want a lovely old mountain inn, go to Bryson City and stay at the Fryemont Inn or Hamilton Inn. Then it will be about an hour drive to Asheville from there. And I certainly said NOthing about the Smokies--I did say a lot about Gatlinburg and PF. I went to camp in the Smokies near Gatlinburg when the Gatlinburg Inn was the ONLY hotel. That was when Gatlinburg was beautiful. If you need a place to stay on the Knoxville side before going through the Park you might try Marysville.

Sounds like Gretchen has a good idea. Bryson City is not touristy and would be a good stopping point after driving through the mountains. Asheville would be about an hour away.

While you are in Bryson City, you might consider white water rafting on the Nantahala River. Lots of outfitters near by. I assume they are still doing trips in early Oct...you would need to be cold-hardy.

I hope you're coming in on a weekday. Otherwise, get ready for serious traffic moving slowly as you drive through the park.

Get ready for serious traffic anytime in October, but especially on the weekends.