East Coast Getaways: Biltmore Estate - Ashville, NC

Here is a delightful side trip our family took recenlty while visiting one of our family members who is attending school in North Caroline: The Biltmore Estate, located in Ashville, NC. This is America’s largest home, buildt by George Vanderbilt at great expense more than 100 years ago. It currently is on 8,000 acres with gardens, afarm village, winery and inn. It offers numerous outdoor activities and seasonal events.

This is a first-class operation, open 365 days a year. Tickets are not cheap, but it's worth at least one visit. You can see most of the highlights in a full day, but to take advantage of all they have to offer requires several visits. Fortuntaly, for the price of approximately two visits, you can purchase seaon tickets. Our family member who is attending school in the area, purchased a season ticket, which allowed us to save 10% off the price of our one-day tickets. If you purchase a ticket after 3pm during the non-winter months, you can enjoy admission the rest of that day and all day they next day.

Regular tickets give you access to most of the house (some sections require additional charges), which takes several hours to tour, plus access to the grounds and gardens, the farm village, historice horse barn, the winery and wine tasting (adults only) and estate wide events. We were there during the "Harvest Home Celebration" which included crafts, demonstrations, jugglers, fencing exhibitions, live music and more. Our student said the Biltmore House Christmas celebration is stunning and alone is worth a trip.

If you do not have enough time to make the trip (10-12 hours from New Jersey), enjoy similar experiences in the Brandywine Valley area outside Philadelphia: visit Longwood Gardens, the Winterthur Museum, the Hagley Museum and the Nemours Mansion and Gardens (Chateau Country).
See previous blog article: East Coast Getaways: Chateau Country - Brandywine Area (PA/DE)

Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://LawrenceYerkes.com

or visit http://BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2005 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.