Asheville, NC Travel Guide!
This year, Jesús and I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary back in the city where we got married 3 years ago - Asheville, NC! The two of us share a mutual love for Asheville that began well before getting married - a love which grew even stronger after the incredible wedding weekend that we spent there surrounded by family and friends. The memories are sweet, the nature is breathtaking, and the food’s incredible. We were excited to visit again this summer with the sole intention of soaking it all in together, relaxing over the course of a week, and documenting it along the way. I’m excited to finally share a comprehensive Chez Núñez Travel Guide to Asheville in honor of this special place that we love so much.
Take a look at the list below for advice and recommendations, as well as the corresponding Google Map that I created HERE! This map has all our spots plotted out in advance to hopefully help in planning your next visit!
Special thanks as well to our dear friends Christa, Marti and Kari for sharing lots of incredible recommendations with us this trip - which we visited, enjoyed and added to our on-going list of favorite places around town. We love you guys!
GENERAL ADVICE
1. You really can’t go wrong with the time of year. I’d recommend visiting in spring, summer or fall - although we mostly visit in the summertime to escape the FL heat. Asheville’s weather is so wonderfully mild, and the mountains are so pretty, that as long as you aren’t visiting in the dead of winter, you’ll be able to appreciate something lovely and true to the season at hand.
2. Most great hikes are around a 1-2hour (perhaps longer) drive from the city center of Asheville. If you have your heart set on a specific hike, be sure to give yourself enough time to get out there and enjoy the experience to the fullest that day.
3. In the summer, you’ll see a lot of scattered rainstorms as the day progresses. It’s best to check the radar that day, and hike in the morning to have a better shot at clear skies. If it does rain while you’re out on a trail however, fear not, the storms are usually pretty isolated and shouldn’t last too long.
4. Pack picnics for hiking!! There’s a Trader Joes in town that’s perfect for stocking up on fun trail snacks and fresh produce before heading out for the day. We did this almost daily.
5. Bring a swimsuit. If you’re visiting in the summertime, don’t miss out on the chance to chill out in natural swimming holes on a hike, and sit under or slide down some waterfalls. There are a ton of opportunities for this around Asheville and we tried to soak up as much of them as we could in a week. Just remember to be super safe!
6. Rent a car. Although downtown is pretty walkable, a lot of things are going to be spread out, especially if you plan to hike.
7. Stay near downtown or in West Asheville if you want to be close to lots of great food/shops. We stayed just outside of West Asheville in this airbnb. Some other areas that we’d recommend checking out are any of the other neighborhoods around West Asheville, near downtown - Montfort and Five Points are super cute and historic in particular. The Biltmore Village area gets bit touristy but is also lovely!
8. Or embrace nature and stay out in the mountains! For this, we loooove the areas of Montreat, Black Mountain, Burnsville (where we held our wedding) or Spruce Pine.
RECOMMENDATIONS!
FOOD
Breakfast/Brunch:
Over Easy - a must visit. I love their omelettes!
Biscuit Head - Asheville classic and a must-visit
Sovereign Remedies - check to see if they’re offering brunch in collaboration with OWL on the weekends!
The Rhu (Rhubarb’s more quick and casual cafe concept)
Lunch/Dinner:
Rhubarb - we had our anniversary dinner here and loved it!! Their menu changes constantly and their locally sourced ingredients are incredible.
White Duck Taco - Jesús’ favorite ;)
Jerusalem Garden Café - perhaps our favorite. We ate here twice in one week!
Curate - keep in mind that they’re closed on Monday’s and reservations fill up well in advance!
Picnics for lunch, baby! Especially in summertime.
BBQ:
Luella’s BBQ - the best spot for bbq in our opinion!
Sweets:
OWL Bakery- Please get their cardamom bun in my honor. It’s heaven in a pastry. They have great coffee here too! Perfect breakfast spot.
COFFEE
DRINKS
Sovereign Remedies - beautiful place downtown and great cocktails!
Wicked Weed - my favorite brewery
https://sierranevada.com/visit/north-carolina/brewery-tours/ - what I imagine a beer theme park feeling like ha. Not a super hipster spot, but the vibes are great and we love chilling out on the lawn here.
5 Walnut Wine Bar - visited this spot during my bachelorette party and loved it.
SHOPS
Flora - florist meets cafe… so cute!
Garden Party - elevated smoke shop
HIKES
Downtown
BimBeriBon bowl - eating outside at White Duck with Jesús!
Jesús loves White Duck Taco… ha
