Asheville, North Carolina, NC-USA Cheapest Hotels Motels Listed by Price
Encircled by a ring of interstates, and skirted to the east and south by the Parkway, modest ASHEVILLE , roughly 100 miles southwest of Boone, retains an appealing downtown core. It's also something of a New Age center, with ephemera stores, holistic healing sessions and a tradition among the region's farmers of growing medicinal herbs. Two miles south on Biltmore Avenue, the Biltmore Estate is the largest private mansion in the US (daily 8.30am-5pm; $33). Built in the late nineteenth century by George Vanderbilt and loosely modeled on a Loire chateau, it's a wild piece of nouveau riche folly, from the Victorian chic of the indoor palm court to the landscaped gardens. There are several upmarket places to eat , among them tiny Salsas , 6 Patton Ave, serving up an aromatic blend of Mexican and Caribbean dishes, though tables can be hard to come by. The Laughing Seed Café , 40 Wall St, has wonderful vegetarian food (check out the "meatloaf"), while Beanstreets Coffee , 3 Broadway, is a fun place to hang out. Although Asheville is small, there are enough students to keep a reasonable nightlife scene going; Barley's , 42 Biltmore Ave, is the best brewpub in town and offers good food and live music. Ashville Music Zone , 81 Broadway, is a very popular venue which caters to all sorts of music tastes, and Jack of the Wood , 95 Patton Ave, is an enjoyable pub.
Asheville, North Carolina, NC-USA Cheapest Hotels Motels Listed by Price
Pick up information on the numerous local summer music and craft festivals from the downtown visitor center , 151 Haywood St. August's Mountain Dance and Folk Festival features bluegrass and traditional dancing, while the hugely enjoyable Leaf Festival , a folk music and arts and crafts gathering held in mid-May and October in BLACK MOUNTAIN , fourteen miles east on I-40 (one bus a day), showcases Appalachian and world folk music, usually attracting major European and African musicians. There's little to do in Black Mountain otherwise, though the clear fresh air, pretty views and relaxed pace make a stroll worthwhile. The Monte Vista there, at 308 W State St ( $75-100), is a small, very comfortable hotel with regional decor, while the Town Pump , 143 Cherry St, is a tavern/music venue. Twenty miles southeast of the Parkway on US-64/74, the natural granite tower of Chimney Rock sticks out from the almost-sheer side of Hickory Nut Gorge (summer daily 8.30am-5.30pm; rest of year daily 8.30am-4.30pm; park stays open about an hour and a half past last ticket sale; $10). After taking the elevator to the top, you can clamber up and down steps and walk along protected walkways atop the impressive cliffs. Many of the climactic moments of The Last of the Mohicans were filmed here; you may recognize the mighty waterfall that drops 400ft from the western end of the gorge. From the top you can see Lake Lure , where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed.
Asheville, North Carolina, NC-USA Cheapest Hotels Motels Listed by Price
