A very large art district with lots of galleries, a building with artist studios, the North…read moreCarolina Glass Center who offers classes, and a few restaurants and a coffee shop. The Gray Line Trolley has two stops for the River Arts District - North and South. The North stop is at the north side of Haywood Rd at Roberts St just before traffic circle, directly across the street from city bus shelter. There was a low concrete wall where I sat and waited to be picked up. The North Carolina Glass Center was located down the street to the left with the bigger multi-artist studio was up the street to the right.

The River Arts District, aka RAD, is full of creativity and local charm. It feels like paint spills…read morethrough the streets, bringing every corner to life especially to old industrial buildings. You can watch artists creating beautiful pieces right in their studios -- so look for the yellow signs in front of various studios.The mix of murals, galleries, and old warehouses gives RAD a unique character. It's nice to stroll to watch, shop, and support local artists.

Asheville has a vibrant street art and mural culture that is in its historic center . The artwork…read morereflects the community's creative spirit, transforming bleak urban brick walls into art . An absolute must-visit landmark in West Asheville! I stopped by the side of the Beauty Parade salon on Haywood Road to see the famous Dolly Parton and RuPaul mural by Gus Cutty, and it completely exceeded my expectations. The detail and scale of the artwork are stunning. Definitely go see it.

River Art District is a nice block to stroll but weather in summer could damper your mood so best…read moreto enjoy early evening hours. Lots of independent artists studios, many walks painted with "stories", and some local eatery -- seems like oven fresh pizza is a hit here! The road leading to the Art District is beautiful and yet to walk across the bridge.

Does a museum have have a velvet rope and a bouncer at the door? I'd call this an arcade, instead,…read moreand a fun one at that. $17 a person gets you an all-day wristband and unlimited playing. There's a large room with newer machines and retro ones, all set up to play, no quarters needed. Another room has video games. Your admission includes all the games, though they mentioned Deadpool and another game were extra. The machines worked well, the plungers and flippers were smooth, and the lights and sounds were in working order. They said we could leave and come back later to play, with the wristband.

The Asheville Pinball Museum is a must visit in Asheville. For $17 you can play unlimited pinball…read moremachines and classic arcade games. It was cool to read about the history of the games especially the ones that you could not play. They do have a bar so we grabbed a beer and had a blast.

Get Woke! This Wake sculpture was commissioned as part of…read morethe Mel Chin: All Over the Place exhibition that led to this artwork being displayed in Times Square. It's supposed to be animatronic and move or something, but I didn't see it doing any moving. Maybe Wake was sleeping? It kinda looks like the person at the helm of a ship, with the parts of the helm behind them. When we came, during Pandemic, the Wake person was wearing a mask, which was most appreciated. This giant work of public art is nestled in a triangular lot right next to Burial Brewery on the South Slope of Asheville's brewing district. It fits right in with all the cool, unique weird stuff going on in this neighborhood!

This amazing sculpture was engineered and sculpted by a team of UNC Asheville students and staff…read moreand community artists. It was displayed in Times Square and has since been brought home and is on display in Asheville's South Slope. It's a beautiful piece designed to make a statement about climate change. It's 40 feet tall and the coolest part? It's animatronic! I highly recommend stopping by, visiting her and then hitting one (or three) of the brewers that are in the area. Have fun!!

We had such a wonderful time at the North Carolina Arboretum. It was very easy to walk around the…read morebeautiful gardens with a stroller. All the paths were paved with ramps to every garden area. At the main building you can get a free map, enjoy the gift shop, and clean bathrooms. The main building also has some lovely seating areas and clean bathrooms! You can walk the gardens and find a cafe at the other end of it. The arboretum has tons of walking and biking trails on the property. We didn't explore them but would love to some other time. We loved their bonsai garden the most. Make sure you check where you are walking, this time of the year, for caterpillars. We noticed several on the ground and thankfully we moved them out of the way!

It's been years since my first visit here and it was something I needed during my reset vacay to…read moreenjoy the outdoors and relive the beautiful memories here. The gardens are absolutely stunning, well maintained, and well marked. The buildings are beautiful and host wonderful events and classes. The gift shop is well stocked and perfect for buying something for your home, yourself, or for those you love. The trails are wonderful and can give you lots of options for the length and level of exercise you want for you and your pups. The Bent Creek one is our favorite (which runs along Bent Creek)! Of course, the Dambo Trolls were a lovely addition these past few months and have drawn so many people that they had to close the gate at least once because they were so packed! I'm glad I decided to make the drive to enjoy a solo date outdoors with my book.

The grounds are so beautiful and filled to the brim with nature; the house is ginormous but…read moregorgeous. The house is super big but the tours are super cool. You can see the kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, and more. I'm not sure if Antler Village is a separate story, but we love it too! Service is good.

The Biltmore Estate is a large property owned by Vanderbilt family. The hotel however is run by…read moreinexperienced people. Restaurant staff were Rude and always pushed people around, talking to people in condescending manner. Drinks were poorly made. We did dinner at one restaurant in the park, it was mediocre. They need to have hotel experienced people run this place. Rooms were good but always sooooo cold. They charge 1200$/night but was not worth the experience. We were a group of 12 for 4 nights. All felt that we were not welcome. They probably live in plantation days. We brought some things for picnic so we can enjoy company. Every employee told us " there is no place to sit down in 200 acre property to have picnic together " because they wanted to push their restaurants but they were mediocre. We ended up going out in town for dinners most days after first night experience They were pushing the 14 min Luminare show for 75 $. Even the tram guy was so rude, would not let us sit in it without wrist band although we were just going for dinner at restaurant Sorry the review is not much positive but they need to improve service, attitude. Never again Biltmore. Big name poor service

Absolutely an unforgettable Asheville experience!…read more Christian and I had an amazing time at the North Carolina Glass Center. We each created a piece--I made a glass pumpkin, and Christian made a pint glass--and the entire experience was fantastic from beginning to end. We recently picked up our finished pieces, and seeing how beautifully they turned out was almost as exciting as making them. The artists and staff made the process fun, comfortable, and approachable, even for complete beginners. Watching molten glass transform is incredible, but getting to participate makes it truly special. I also found a gorgeous clear glass icicle, an adorable curly glass plant spike I nicknamed "Baby Curly Cute" , and the cutest little glass measuring cup. This was one of our favorite Asheville experiences and a wonderful vacation memory to bring home. If you're visiting Asheville, GO HERE! Make something, explore the glass art, and bring home something beautiful. Five VERY enthusiastic stars from us! Thank you, North Carolina Glass Center, for such a memorable experience!

Since we travel with a carry-on and backpack, I am extremely selective about what I buy when we…read moretravel. I do, however, have a fondness for hand-blown glass and pottery. ChatGPT recommended that I definitely check out the North Carolina Glass Center while exploring the River Arts District North stop on the Gray Line Trolley, and I am glad I did. There is a good-sized shop with a wide variety of items, from larger decorative statement pieces and vases to drinking glasses and jewelry, with many items at affordable prices. While I was there, two artists were creating fall pumpkins using the furnaces, molds, and different techniques for blowing and shaping the hot glass. It was a great free demonstration that I hadn't needed to schedule or show up for at a special time. One of the artists even engaged those of us watching by asking what color he should use for the stem of the purple pumpkin he was making. Even though I still had more trolley stops and sightseeing ahead of me, I bought two hand-blown glasses that I knew I could fit into my personal-item bag. For me, buying something when I know I have to carry it around for the rest of the day and somehow get it home in my luggage is a pretty good endorsement. 8-) I recommend making the North Carolina Glass Center a must-stop during a visit to the River Arts District. You may also want to check their website before you go to see if there is a glass-making class you can sign up for.

On my recent visit to the Black Mountain College Museum & Art Center, when I entered, I was greeted…read moreand told about the history of the college. It focused on the arts and how they want to keep the legacy alive with work from alumni. Face masks are required as well as social distancing. The library downstairs is open but you cannot take the books of the shelf yourself but a staff member will gladly assist you. I like the open space of the museum and the light. I love the architecture of the older buildings and this is a perfect venue for the art. A poetry exhibit was downstairs. The museum is even offering virtual visits right now. So you can experience the museum from home.

Recent graduate from Rollins, so I loved visiting John Andrew Rice's college against Hamilton Holt!…read moreGreat exhibit featuring Mexican artists and the connection BMC had with its artistic alumni! Would recommend to any lover of progressive education. Gift shop has works and biographies of alumni and their contributions to BMC and in the artist realm.

On our recent visit to Great Smoky Mountains, husband decided to come here since we were in the…read morearea, and it was an interesting pit stop! We were able to secure admission tickets via Viator, which meant we could use our Viator credits to buy tickets! Woohoo. The experience was informative, educational, but a bit underwhelming. We're glad the Cherokee people are able to maintain their history thru this museum, and we even brought home a souvenir from their gift shop. It's worth a visit if you happen to be in the area, and there's a burger restaurant down the road from the museum that serves delicious burgers with a view of the river!

Interesting tour through the history of the Cherokee nation. It's mostly reading through the…read morepictures on the wall and seeing some of the artifacts. Which were very cool. Overall an informative way to spend about an hour learning things you may not have known before. Nice gift shop. $15 for adults.

Tiny but mighty! There are a few rooms here with interactive exhibits for kids. My 4 and 5 year…read moreolds could have spent a lot of time here even though at times it felt a little tight. There's a small climbing structure that my kids kept coming back to, which was a favorite. A lot of the exhibits focused on the earth. I think it was sort of lost on my kids, but the exhibits were fun to interact with. You can't really avoid the shop.

Very underwhelming, for a city known for tourism this is probably the lamest science center I've…read morebeen to. It's like 3 rooms total, all of them in basically the same space, there's probably a whole like 4 or 5 things for the kids to do that they can probably do within 30 minutes. The admission price should be like $5 for what it's worth. The lady at the front told me there was a bunch of hands on activities for babies and I'd say there was like three. The first room was a tiny room with a virtual earth, that if you touch the screen it says it will move but it doesn't work, everything else in that room is just reading/writing (made for tweens and up) and not very fun or engaging. Then there's a room full of rocks behind glass displays, not very exciting or hands on for kids (even as an adult, I felt like it was boring). There's one little section in the room where the kids can brush sand off rocks, but it was nothing special. The room with the bikes is the coolest room, but it's very small and like I said there's barely anything to do. You can look at different bikes on display, they have like 2 or 3 interactive things you can do to learn about how bikes work which take a minute to do. The there's a tiny jungle gym kind of thing that's sub-par, a water play area that's also sub-par and a sand pit where you can look for fossils which I guess would have been fun if my child was a bit older, but for little ones like mine, there wasn't much. He had a very tiny section in the corner he could play with and then he got bored. I guess I'm a bit spoiled because we live in the Triad and we have 3 of the best children's museums. It's guess it's a good thing to do to kill time if you literally have nothing else to do with your kids in Asheville but if I knew what it would be like I probably wouldn't do it again.