Travel Guide: Asheville, NC
For my 25th my husband and family took me for a special weekend getaway to Asheville, North Carolina. This was the start of my 25 Things to Do at 25 bucket list.
If you’ve never been, it’s the perfect mixture of beautiful, calm, relaxing mountains and a fun, artsy, vibrant city. From hiking to the abundance of breweries and boutiques, this is the perfect city for a weekend getaway.
Where we stayed:
We stayed at the gorgeous Cambria Hotel & Suites in downtown Asheville. It was important for us to be walking distance to everything, so we didn’t have to UBER or try to find parking within the city. Our hotel room was beautifully decorated and had a very large window that overlooked Asheville’s main attraction… the mountains. My husband’s favorite gadget was the mirror with built in Bluetooth speakers. My favorite part of the room was the brick wall paper that served as the perfect background for all of my pictures (lol)
Where We Ate:
Asheville is known for a lot of things, and the top of the list is definitely the food. My personal favorite was Mayfel’s. I ate the most delicious shrimp po-boy sandwich and a beignet. Everyone’s food looked amazing and we all agreed it was a place we want to come back to. Just a warning, Sunday morning brunch can have a long wait.
Grab and coffee and shop a little!
Before we went back home we decided to stop at Vortex Doughnuts. Unfortunately, we went 40 minutes before closing and the doughnut selection was very low. The only doughnuts left were vegan (I am not vegan) and some flavors that I wouldn’t normally pick. My only complaint was the lack of selection but I would still go back because I want to try the doughnuts… with the non-vegan additives & all. However, we still made the best of it and took our vegan doughnuts to an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (only 4 miles away) and enjoyed our yummy treats.
Where We Shopped:
When most people think of Asheville, they automatically think of the Biltmore Mansion, which is great! (I’ve been 4 times) But what they don’t expect is that the downtown area is packed-full of the trendiest boutiques. My mom and sister also went on this trip. We shopped until we dropped and let’s just say my closet is pretty happy now. Kudos to my husband for holding the bags (love you honey)
I went into Tops For Shoes and instantly felt like a kid in a candy store. They had such a large selection and amazing customer service. I walked away with some beautiful Jeffery Campbell slip-on shoes and my mom and sister both opted for boots. You can never have too many shoes.. am I right?!
Some clothing boutiques I loved were:
Traveling Chic BoutiqueThis shop was in the lower price range of the three. They are super trendy and offer a variety of sizes, which I really appreciate (aka they carried more then 1 large for each item). They had a really cute silver trailer parked out front for added retail space. I ended up purchasing a hat and a super cute, burnt orange maxi dress. (I’ve already worn the hat twice)
This shop was my favorite of the three, due to the variety in price range. When looking through the racks, I found clothes ranging anywhere between $30-$400 (mainly leather jackets in the upper range). The clothing was great quality and the style was more aligned with my own. I ended up purchasing a super cute, transitional black and white stripped dress with bell sleeves.
This shop was the most expensive of the three but worth a stop. Their sale rack is awesome and they have a cute shop dog. I ended up with a cute black trench coat that I could use in the beginning of spring that was on sale and a black tank/dress for layering that sucks me in & smooths me out (I figured this would come in handy)
Other Asheville Recommendations:
- Biltmore Estates
- Omni Grove Park Inn
- Brewery Tours
- Hiking
- Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway
- Waterfall Hunting
- Pinball Museum
Have any other places you love in Asheville, or have a suggestions for where I should visit next? Leave it in the comments below!
Can’t wait to chat!
