Fall in Asheville – Day 3 – Planes, Trains & Autos

Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in Asheville.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here & Day 4 here

On day 3, we spent the day at the beautiful and amazing Biltmore Estate.

We purchased our tickets online the day before we were wanting to visit as the weather had been calling for rain and we didn’t want to go if it was going to rain since the tickets were over $100 pp.

You can also purchase your tickets at the estate but I recommend purchasing them online if you need to book for a particular time slot.

You have to choose a time to enter the house so we chose 4:15 pm so we could spend most of our day on the estate exploring the grounds.

After eating breakfast from Biscuit Head, we made our way to the Biltmore.

We arrived around 9 am. The estate opened at 8 am but, I think, their hours may change depending on the time of year.

Click here to read more about their hours of operation

Their ticket pricing also depends on time of year as we paid $115 pp and as of now (Jan 2021), the ticket prices are as low as $54.

Driving along the road to the house…I believe it’s approx 2-3 miles to the house after you go through the main entrance.

After a few minutes of driving, we arrived to a huge parking lot. Thankfully, the lots were well marked so you could remember what lot you parked in.

After parking, we followed the signs to the house. It was an 8-10 min walk to the house from the parking lot. Usually, they have shuttles that will drop you off at the different locations within the estate but, due to Covid, they weren’t running so you had to drive yourself.

Click here for more Visitor information

Our first view of that amazing house!

The house was completed in 6 yrs (1889-1895). The house is 175,000 sq ft and is considered one of the most technologically advanced structures ever built. It has 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces.

Click here to read about the history of the house

They used some of Thomas Edison’s first light bulbs, boasted a fire alarm system, an electrical call box system for servants, two elevators, elaborate indoor plumbing for all 35 bedrooms and a relatively new invention called the telephone.

The house also included an indoor swimming pool, bowling alley and gymnasium.

Since we arrived so early, we took our time walking the beautiful grounds and enjoying all there was to see.

It was misting rain and a bit foggy when we arrived but the views from the house were still breathtaking!

I love the wisteria covered pergola! The wisteria was planted in 1895!

There are also grapevines that were planted by George Vanderbilt’s grandson, William A.V. Cecil in the early 1970s.

It was so nice to be able to just take our time and enjoy the views.

After walking around the outside of the house and taking tons of pictures, we decided to walk the grounds of the estate.

The estate encompasses 8,000 acres however, it was originally 125,000 acres but thousands of acres were later sold to the federal government to create Pisgah National Forest, one of the first national forests east of the Mississippi.

The gardens were created by the renowned American landscape artist, Frederick Law Olmsted. He also created Central Park in NYC.

If you visit the Biltmore, I highly recommend you spend a couple of hours walking the beautiful gardens!

During the fall, the Walled Garden hosts an array of fall mums that provide color from late September through the end of October.

Read about the different gardens on the estate here

The mums were in full bloom and so colorful!

There were hundreds of mums spread out over the gardens …the kaleidoscope of colors were never ending!

These oval shaped windows made for some neat shots!

We then entered the rose garden….there were a few roses still blooming.

More than 90 varieties of roses are grown in the rose garden.

After leaving the Walled Garden, we made our way to the Azalea Garden.

The Azalea Garden is filled with 15 acres of native azaleas and produces a second bloom in the fall.

Walking the paved path along the Azalea Garden….

The walk is so peaceful and the gardens are just incredible!

The azaleas were in full bloom!

We came up on a sign that pointed to the Bass Pond & Waterfall so we headed that way.

The views from the pond were breathtaking!

The pond offered a perfect reflection shot!

We crossed the bridge to the boathouse

The rustic boathouse overlooking the pond housed boats for the Vanderbilt’s guests to enjoy and provided a peaceful resting spot for their garden strolls.

The boathouse is a national historic landmark

As we continued our walk, we came up on this very tall bamboo forest.

We then arrived to one of the historic bridges, the Bass Pond Bridge …it’s one of 4 historic bridges on the estate. The bridge was featured in the movie, Last of the Mohicans.

Read here & here about other movies filmed at the Biltmore

The water was so still that it allowed us to capture a perfect reflection shot of the bridge along with the beautiful fall leaves!

As we continued our walk, we finally arrived to the Bass Pond Waterfall where many proposals have taken place.

Click here for the most romantic spots on the estate

After leaving here, we headed back towards the house.

More shots of the Bass Pond Bridge

We then crossed over the bridge and I was able to photograph it from a different view

We then found ourselves back on the paved walking path in the Azalea Gardens

We just had to stop for a picture when we came up on this huge cedar tree!

After arriving back to the house, we decided to check out the Conservatory. The Conservatory was completed in 1895 and highlights a wide variety of exotic plants.

It was full of colorful plants and flowers!

You can even rent out the space for your wedding!

After walking through the Conservatory, we headed back out to the Walled Garden to see the mums and roses again.

We then headed back towards the house

The views were better this time since the rain and fog were gone.

There are lots of statues scattered throughout the grounds.

We then headed into the Carriage House to check out the shops

They had the stores already decorated in Christmas decor.

After walking through the shops, we decided we were ready for lunch so we drove over to Antler Hill Village to eat at Cederics… a few of the restaurants were closed due to Covid.

On the drive there, we decided to stop off at the Lagoon.

The lagoon is a great place to have a picnic, hike or just spend some time relaxing.

Click here to read about the 22 miles of trails on the estate

At the lagoon, you can also capture some incredible shots of the Biltmore house.

What a perfect reflection shot!

After leaving here, we headed to Antler Hill Village..

Once we arrived and parked, we noticed they were featuring an exhibit called the “Gardens Railway” so we walked over to check it out.

The Biltmore is always featuring an exhibit…before this one, they featured the Downton Abbey.

The exhibit consisted of model trains, train stations, and more…it was very cool!

After spending about 30 mins at the exhibit we walked over to the restaurant but sadly, there was a wait and we didn’t have time to wait so we ended up having to eat at one of the cafes.

We ordered sandwiches and sat at one of the outside tables…

After we ate, we headed back to the house to get ready for our tour.

Click here to read about the tours that are offered at the Biltmore

After arriving back at the house, we got in line for our timed entrance….I took a few pics before entering the house.

Once we entered, we had to wear masks the entire time we were in the house.

I didn’t take as many pictures this time as we had just visited the house in Dec 2019 for Christmas.

Click here to book a stay at one of the hotels on the Biltmore Estates

Click here to read my blog post about our Christmas visit

A few more shots of the inside

I have visited the Bilmore house about 5 times and every time I visit, I am amazed! The house is so incredible…it was truly a modern marvel of it’s time!

On the terrace in our masks