Published December 22, 2024

The top highlight from my girls’ weekend in Asheville, North Carolina was a visit to The Biltmore Estate.

The Biltmore Estate

A 10-minute drive from the front gate where we scanned our ticket led us past rolling open fields and into the dense shaded woods. Mighty trees blotted the sky with their limbs. Walls of bamboo creaked in the breeze. Finally, signs directed us to multiple parking lots. A trolley-looking bus rounded the bend and brought guests up to the estate.

We parked and walked the sidewalk and brick-lined path alongside the woods. Stepping through an ornate gate and up an incline to a lookout was the flat lawn of The Biltmore Estate.

The Biltmore Estate looked like a castle from Bridgerton. A fountain stretched from the center of the lawn, which is lined by trees. We walked in the shade of the left-hand path and looked down onto additional fountained gardens. White wedding tents and vendors were setting up for a wedding that would happen in front of The Biltmore that evening!

I was astonished with the estate’s detail and scale. It was at least three stories high, with tours from the topmost roof, which reminded me of my travels in Florence.

A constant line of visitors looped in front of the estate. We were also early for our tour time and decided to wander The Biltmore Gardens before our check-in. The Biltmore Estate totals 8,000 acres! I knew we wouldn’t be able to thoroughly explore everything we wanted, but we started first with the terraces.

Library and South Terraces

Permanent greenery with their twisted trunks grew up between the stone of the terrace to the left of The Biltmore Estate. Guests rested on shaded benches. We followed the terrace to the railing, which had wide steps down to an open lookout for the backyard.

Backyard is the wrong word. This was a forest with a clear view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Estate was so high up that the full-size trees looked like shrubs.

It was a breathtaking view with ample space for guests to line the concrete wall and take pictures.

The Biltmore Gardens

Check out this map to see the grounds of The Biltmore Gardens.

The Shrub Garden

Down wide staircases and onto the gravel, past the wedding tents, are the winding pathways of The Shrub Garden, which is a 1/3 of a mile loop long.

The garden beds along the pathways feature trees, flowers, and shrubbery of all textures, colors, and sizes.

We turned right, away from The Spring Garden and into the Walled Garden.

The Walled Garden

Cascading stairs of red herringbone bricks led to a pergola-style tunnel. Long luffa-like plants dangled from the top and were interwoven with dried grape vines.

Windows and archways in the lattice led to brick walkways throughout the circular garden beds. Purple, red, and pink plants and greenery layered like tiers in each of the beds. I especially enjoyed the carpets of purple and pink flowers that looked like they were from a Dr. Suess book.

The Conservatory

We crossed down through The Rose Garden to The Conservatory.

Lion fountains and carved wooden sculptures in between an explosion of plants greeted us from the open doors.

We followed the narrow brick pathways as if stepping through a jungle. Surprisingly, all of the plants within the conservatory grew in pots and draped along the floor or tables at different heights.

We crossed in and out of the open doorways, visiting several rooms in the conservatory without a clear map. The conservatory must’ve had thousands of plant species. I snapped a few pictures of my favorites, but I could honestly see a full-day being spent just exploring the nine Biltmore Gardens.

There was even a section of the conservatory dedicated to irises!

A Gardener’s Place Shop

A drink cart and outdoor tables lined the back of the conservatory. Couples lounged with glasses and viewed the flowers through the open doors. I thought it was a clever idea to have a seating area with drinks in a quiet and beautiful location.

There was even a garden-focused gift shop down a flight of stairs underneath the conservatory. The outside of the shop had lawn and garden decorations, like these concrete Alice in Wonderland characters.

Since we visited The Biltmore Estate and Gardens in mid-September, The Gardener’s Place Shop was decorated for fall. Pumpkins, trucks, and honeybees were highlighted in their displays. Candles, Biltmore sweatshirts and souvenirs, as well as gardening-focused gifts and home decor were available for sale.

We could’ve spent several more hours wandering The Gardener’s Place Shop and the other areas of the Biltmore Gardens. However, we wanted to ensure we had enough time to trek back (uphill) to The Biltmore Estate to meet our tour time.

Thus, we retraced our steps back up into The Shrub Garden. Soon, The Biltmore came into view with grey storm clouds gathering behind it. It screamed gothic literature to me, and I was excited for us to start our tour of The Biltmore Estate.

Stay Tuned!

Our tour of The Biltmore Estate is coming soon to the blog. In the meantime, catch up on other travel recommendations and food reviews here.