Plan Your Trip

Enjoy some virtual experiences in Western NC including outdoor video tours, fitness, meditation, museum tours, kid resources and more. 

Known as the sweetest little yoga studio in Asheville, this studio honors all paths of yoga and features multiple classes throughout the week, including Yoga Basics, Morning Vinyasa Flow, Yoga for Resiliency, Prenatal Yoga, Kundalini Yoga with a meditation and gong bath, and more. This small neighborhood studio is the original donation-based yoga studio. 

There are lots of options if you want to plan a few fun day trips while you are in Western North Carolina. Explore our favorite cool small towns in the NC mountains near Asheville, each with its own personality, local shops and restaurants, friendly residents, and relaxed atmosphere.

Take a self-guided, scenic tour of Hendersonville's apple country! Find many orchards with a big variety of fresh apples, pumpkins, cider, produce, baked goods, jellies, honey, and more at roadside many apple markets throughout Henderson County. Some orchards allow you to pick your own apples! Download the Crest of the Blue Ridge Orchard Trail for a full list, including harvest timelines.

Green River Adventures offers white-water rafting, white-water kayaking, and waterfall rappelling in the Green River Gorge area of southeastern Henderson County.

There are thousands of miles of hiking trails near Asheville, many of which are in pristine national forests or parks. We picked our favorites and created extensive guides for each with photos and details. Find hikes for all skill levels in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains.

This 3-day festival weekend features live music, arts, camping, and family-friendly activities in Hot Springs, NC. Camp for the weekend or come for a day. Click for ticket options and details.

Find the top retirement communities in and around Asheville. Choose from the community that best meets your needs whether you're looking for independent living, service options, continuing care, assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing.

Hike, bike and golf in the highest town in eastern America, and enjoy cool temperatures all summer long. Their 20-mile trail system is open year-round.  

(101 S Lexington Ave) Presenting a selection of flagship brews, as well as fun and unique small-batch brews, this brewery and restaurant offers a friendly atmosphere and is rumored to have the best burger in Asheville. Don’t miss brunch from 11 AM-3 PM on Sundays. Open daily. 

Create romantic memories of your big day on a mountain peak, by a waterfall or even at a brewery. Elopement and small wedding packages suit your personal style with custom vows, a short video of the ceremony, beer or champagne, photography, commemorative gifts and more.
Rate: From $495

Bike, jog and walk the 13.5 paved rail-to-trail path that connects the towns of Ruth, Rutherfordton, Spindale and Forest City - with plenty to see along the way.

This premier hot yoga studio in Asheville offers multiple types of hot yoga classes at 100-105 degrees, including Hot 26, a Bikram-inspired class. They also offer Inferno Core, a hybrid pilates and yoga class, which provides a full-body workout. Only in town for the week? Buy the visitor’s pass for $50 for a week’s worth of classes. This pass includes a yoga mat and towel rental.

Traveling with your dog? See our Pet-Friendly Guide to Asheville and the North Carolina mountains that includes lodging, hiking, Biltmore, kennels, dog parks and more.

This state park has a wide beach with a nice pavilion with changing rooms, open for swimming May-September. Also enjoy hiking, mountain biking, fishing and more.

Asheville offers a multitude of places to go for live music and dancing any day of the week.

Find your green home in Western North Carolina with focuses on sustainability, community living, and energy-efficient green built homes. 

Take in the Smoky Mountains while enjoying an open-air, private soaking cabana perched on the mountainside at Lakeview at Fontana! This unique wellness experience includes essential-oil infused soaking salts, Turkish towels, and robes.

A bee mural now covers two sides of the building housing Hands On! Children’s Museum. The mural, which is designed to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators, depicts honeybees, butterflies, and native flowers. Plants in the pollinator garden at the base of the mural provide shelter, nectar, and pollen. The mural is part of an international campaign by artist Matthew Willey called The Good of the Hive, which involves painting 50,000 honeybees in murals around the world. To see the mural, head east on Third Avenue from Main Street toward King Street and look to your left.

For a fascinating stroll through history, head to this sprawling cemetery near downtown Asheville, with 87 acres of rolling hills and flower gardens. The cemetery dates to 1885 and holds more than 13,000 burials and 9,000 monuments. It is the burial place of noted authors Thomas Wolfe and William Sidney Porter, better known as O. Henry.

Looking for some family fun in or around Asheville, North Carolina? Check out our list of the top family-friendly outings for exploring Asheville with kids! Western North Carolina is a virtual outdoor playground with parks and gardens, kid-friendly hikes, whitewater rafting, ziplining, biking, and more.

Browse Sylva’s main street with independent shops and galleries for unique finds, a variety of restaurants, and four walkable breweries that host weekly events like live music, trivia, and even yoga. Also find a variety of ways to pamper and relax, including spas, a meditation center, and even guided forest therapy walks!

On the southside of downtown, explore the fast-growing "Brewery District" with eight breweries and a growing number of restaurants and shops, transitioning from sleepy industrial warehouses to a hip neighborhood. 

Stay two nights at this mountaintop inn on 100 acres, just 10 miles from downtown Asheville, and enjoy a unique falconry experience complete with Rocket Girl (in pic) flying to your glove.
Rate: $600

Tucked into a bend of the Mills River, North River Farms occupies 1,450 acres. The farm partners with DB bar D Outfitters to offer guided hunting and fishing trips on the property. Full-day and half-day fly-fishing trips with an expert guide are available along more than four miles of private-access water.

Enjoy live music, food, and beer at this big outdoor concert in downtown Asheville. Free admission, 5-9 PM.

This is the coolest town on our list for temperature (highest town in the eastern USA at 5,506 feet elevation). While it's very popular for skiing and snowboarding each winter, they have an impressive trail system for hiking and mountain biking in the summer. Summer golf and scenic chairlift rides too. Each fall, follow the yellow brick road at Autumn at Oz.

Travel back in time with historic cabins, crafters, old logging equipment, guided tours, movies, food and shopping. Home of the first forestry school (opened in 1898) in America. In Pisgah National Forest. Open mid-April through October.

Looking for fun things to do with the family? Head to Hendersonville’s Main Street packed with lots to explore with the family including gem mining, aquarium, children’s museum, pinball museum, and more.

Active military receives 15% discount on any room and suite rates at this luxury, log-constructed mountain lodge, offering private balconies and breathtaking views of the valley, just 12 miles from downtown Asheville.
Rate: From $169/night

Scenic mountain beauty and a pleasant climate provide a magnificent setting for a day of golf in Asheville and nearby towns and resorts. Lush fairways, sprawling bent grass greens, cool breezes and a gently undulating terrain.

So many things to do - art, train excursions, heritage sites and more! Includes the towns of Cashiers, Cherokee, Dillsboro, Sylva, Balsam, Cullowhee, Glenville and Sapphire. 

(2-40 miles, easy, moderate, strenuous) This state park near Morganton has 40 miles of hiking trails. Our favorite is High Shoals Falls 2.7-mile loop trail to a beautiful 60-foot waterfall. Combine several trails for a much longer hike.

Find the perfect places for holistic wellness and self-care, whether it’s a week-long wellness retreat or a one-day experience. From the high concentration of experienced, certified, world-class yoga teachers and licensed and insured massage therapists and bodyworkers, Asheville is home to some of the most gifted holistic practitioners in the nation. 

Downtown Hendersonville’s most iconic building, the historic 1905 courthouse, is now home to the county museum. Learn how Hendersonville was founded and has evolved over the decades with interactive exhibits that depict what life was like for early residents. Open Wednesday-Saturday 10 AM-5 PM and Sunday 1-5 PM. (100 N Main St)

Of hundreds of waterfalls near Asheville, we picked the most spectacular falls that are easy to find. Some can be enjoyed with a short walk or even roadside. Others require a scenic hike. See full descriptions for each, with plenty of photos! Also see Waterfall Drives & Maps.

Within 15 minutes of downtown Hendersonville, Jump Off Rock is one of the most easily accessible overlooks in WNC. On a clear day, peer into four states and watch the sunset over the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky mountains. 

Celebrate a anniversary, birthday or special occasion with your sweetie at this Chimney Rock landmark. Includes a couples massage, breakfast, bottle of wine and dinner certificate.
Rate: $380 plus room cost

This 2-day Arts & Craft event showcases a 3-D winter wonderland scene and holiday decorations in two large exhibit halls featuring over 80 local artists and crafters selling handmade jewelry, pottery, ornaments, home decor, soaps, garden art, and so much more. Also, enjoy an array of baked goods and the center’s boutiques and shops. Friday, 10 AM-6 PM. Saturday, 9 AM-5 PM.