Everything to See During an Asheville Christmas – Asheville NC
Asheville is a great town surrounded in art and they take that to a new level with Christmas. They are known for the Biltmore Estate and the Christmas events the Estate puts on but there is more to do in this town to celebrate the season! I highly suggest having an Asheville Christmas at least ONCE it's just magical!
Everything to See During an Asheville Christmas – Asheville NC
While in town I suggest staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel they decorate for Christmas and have lots of activities right on the property and even a place for kids to write to Santa!
Biltmore Estate
From their big tree raising ceremony in November for their famous huge tree in the dining hall to their over 55 Christmas trees. The Biltmore Estate at Christmas is something to see.
During the day you can do your normal tour of the estate and I suggest buying the Audio tour it's so worth it! Then at night, they have a candlelight tour where the house is all lit up. Your ticket gets you into Antler Hill Village which is an experience all on its own.
Antler Hill Village
Once done with your Biltmore Estate tour you can head to the back of the property where Antler Hill Village is. There is a small museum there, shops, the winery, restaurants, a petting zoo, and the lodging.
They decorate the whole area up from the village green to the Inn and even off to the side I found the treasure pictures above. They had hanging light from a group of trees. They included places to dit and even a place for a small campfire (smores anyone?!)
Biltmore Village
Heading across the street from where the Biltmore Estate is, there is Biltmore Villiage this is where many people who worked the grounds lived and the church they all attended is here as well.
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Now, this is a shopping area with some great restaurants like The Corner Kitchen.
During and Asheville Christmas they decorate up the streets and buildings and even have a tree up. It's just beautiful to walk through at night.
Downtown Asheville
I loved driving the historical districts and seeing all the home homes decorated up. But you can up just about any neighborhood for lights. Make sure you drive downtown. They have light displays set up along the main areas and parks. I was expecting it and ending up circling downtown several time (and almost going the wrong way down a one-way road!)
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Holiday Performances
There is no shortage of holiday performances throughout the season in Asheville. From the dance shows like the Nutcracker to many classic plays like the Charle Dicken's a Christmas Carol to many new ones you will love as well.
Related: Everything to See During an Asheville Christmas
North Carolina Arboretum Lights
The North Carolina Arboretum has 400+ acres and they light up around 70 of them for the event. They also so several small lights setups around town like the ones you will see downtown in several parks.
Gingerbread Competition
Head to the Omni Park Grove Inn for the National Gingerbread Competition. This competition is featured in Food Network and then the top 10 best from each category are features around the hotel.
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The hotel is decorated for the Holidays with huge trees along the path to check out the different category winners. They also have a section on one of the floors for many of the houses that didn't make the top 10 to be on display since there are so many talented ones.
This years winner was amazing. The whole thing rotated and there was a scene on the front and the back of it. After taking in all the submissions I will say I was impressed by so many in the kid's category. These guys under the age of 10 did some amazing work, better than anything I could have done!
Small Town USA Christmas
If this isn't enough for you there are 12 small towns within about an hour drive of Asheville that go all out for Christmas with their light shows. There is even one that has a Polar Express train ride.
Have you had an Asheville Christmas? What was your favorite part?
