This year-round resort town is nestled between the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. Asheville is very welcoming and probably the most original city you’ll ever visit in the country. With character as its signature, Asheville has been highly rated for its livability and its happiness quotient! Live music is the city’s claim to fame! From bluegrass to country, to opera, to alternative rock, many talented acoustic musicians call Asheville their home. This very diverse city also has a well known festival (party!) which is the BeleChere (www.belecherefestival.com), a 3 day music, food and art event. The nightlife here is small town atmosphere that is laid back and characterized by lazy cafes and independent pubs and bars, but they do have a couple energetic dance clubs that are a hit with the local college students, as well as a foxy lounge popular with young professionals. Asheville is also full of Art Deco architecture, hip local coffee shops, unique boutiques, galleries, antique shops, and a healthy dining scene with talented chefs specializing in vegetarian and organic cuisine. Most of all, you’ll be taken back by its gorgeous high elevation scenery, solitude, and recreation. Favorite outdoor activities include white water rafting & kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, and rock climbing. Numerous magazines rate Asheville as a top outdoor destination. Make sure to go to Chimney Rock (www.chimneyrockpark.com), you can either climb to the top, or take the elevator! The cities biggest must see and famous attraction is George Vanderbilt’s 250 room Biltmore Estate (www.biltmore.com) which is America’s largest home, a French Renaissance-style mansion that attracts a million visitors and named one of the top 10 architectural wonders. Asheville is also known as a premier spa destination and offers a great mix of treatments and services, and one of the East Coast’s only natural hot spring water sources (40 mile drive from downtown) with minerals that are known for treating a variety of ailments. Oh and one more thing, Asheville is known to be haunted! Haunted sites can be toured by bus or on foot.

So girls, if you’re looking for a unique, diverse destination focused on wellness and outdoor adventures, Asheville is perfect! We have fabulous accommodation recommendations but also want to mention that renting a cabin here is another option, which is popular among many tourists. The cabin rentals are only 10 miles outside of downtown and your cabin choices range from ultra affordable rustic cabins, to simple cottages with kitchenettes, to luxurious log cabins. If interested in cabin rentals, check out the following sites: www.asheville-cabins.com, www.ashevillecabinrental.com, & www.cedarcreekcabinsnc.com.

At note about the pools at the resorts in the area: Due to the coldness in the winter, the outdoor pools typically open in April and close in October.

If you’re flying in, you have a few options. If you want to fly into the closest airport you can fly into Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) which does have a few major airlines that fly in here, and is about 20-30 minutes outside of downtown. After that, the next closest airports are as follows: Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) which is about a 1.5 hour drive to Asheville, Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) which is about a 2 hour drive to Asheville, and Knoxville McGhee Tyson (TYS) which is about a 2 hour drive to Asheville. Beyond that, there is also Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) in Greensboro, NC, and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), both of which are about a 2.5 hour drive to Asheville. Even if you fly into Asheville, a rental car is highly recommended for this destination, and if you fly into any other airport you will of course need to rent a car!



Asheville’s spa and wellness reputation dates back centuries and has been attracting people since the 1700’s. Even today the area is a premier spa destination with a diverse spa menu that is typically unheard of outside of a big city. The spas at two of the above listed hotels (Grove Park Inn & Inn on Biltmore Estate) both come highly recommended. Remember that as stated above, the spa at the Inn on Biltmore is exclusive for Inn guests only. Besides the two hotel spas, the following spas come recommended as well:

www.sensibilities-spa.com – Rated as “Best of” in recent years.
www.spatheology.com – A downtown premier day spa.
www.spaatbiltmorevillage.com – Luxury day spa in historic Biltmore Village.
www.shojiretreats.com – Asheville’s only Japanese outdoor hot tub day spa

If you’re staying in a cabin, you can have amazing spa treatments brought to you! Appalachian Spa Ventures (www.appalachianspa.com) has excellent mobile spa services. If you want to take the beautiful drive to the Natural Hot Springs (www.nchotsprings.com) it’s about 40 miles from downtown. At the intersection of the historic Appalachian Trail, this Natural Hot Springs wonder is famous for legendary healing powers that come out of the crystal clear, carbonated, mineral water that is heated deep within the earth.



Downtown Asheville is nicknamed “Paris of the South” and has quirky, unique shopping that could only flourish in Asheville. There is a great mix of malls and districts with many specialty shops. People make Grove Arcade (www.grovearcade.com) their main shopping destination. This 1929 vintage public market features boutique shops, antiques, local crafts and incredible dining. Asheville’s other main stop is Mast General Store (www.mastgeneralstore.com) which is anything but general! This one of a kind store is full of quality goods, unique clothing, traditional wooden toys, and super tasty old fashioned candies! If you’re into music you should go to Voltage Records, which has around 50,000 vinyl records. If its art you want to see, head to Woolworth Walk (www.woolworthwalk.com). This building which was the areas 1938 Woolworth store showcases about 160 artists and they have recently resurrected the original soda fountain. For more art, you can check out Asheville’s west side where you’ll find the up and coming River Arts District (www.riverartsdistrict.com) where old factories along the French Broad River are displaying work from local artists. Another highly regarded local store that is a favorite is Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café (www.malaprops.com). Asheville also has the Historic Biltmore Village (www.biltmorevillage.com), a charming shopping area with interesting boutiques, galleries and elegant restaurants. This village is the entrance to the Biltmore Estate, and is known as one of the South’s most unique shopping destinations.