I am so glad that George Vanderbilt felt it necessary to build a one hundred seventy five thousand square foot house for his family of three. I am even gladder that it is still privately owned and open to the public. Biltmore Estate is a French inspired American castle located in Asheville, North Carolina. It sits on approximately eight thousand acres of trees, trails, creaks, ponds, formal gardens, and contains a real working winery. There are many ways to approach a trip to the estate. My personal favorite is the day trip. For me a day trip at Biltmore House always includes a visit to the house and gardens, a nice meal, and a wine tasting.
House and Gardens
When you arrive at the estate, you must purchase a ticket to travel further onto the property. This is when you make a decision as to how you plan on touring the house. There are many options. The two most popular tours are the self guided tour and the audio tour. There are also several special tours that one can purchase to view rooms not open to the public or to get a personal tour guide. I recommend the audio tour. The self guided tour allows you to see the same rooms as in the audio tour, but the guidebook only gives a brief description of each room. The audio tour provides lots of additional details. It is definitely worth the extra money. The gardens are in walking distance of the house. Each season provides a new experience. Spring is noted for the brightly colored tulips. Summer is known for the brilliant patterns formed by blooming annuals and perennials. Falls arrival is heralded by blooming chrysanthemums. Pansies abound in the winter. Don't miss the conservatory. It is full of green plants and blooming hot house varieties.
Restaurants
There are three main restaurants and several quick service locations where you can pick up a sandwich, have a pastry, or break for ice cream on the estate. The Deerpark Restaurant is famous for its lunch buffet made up of Southern style home cooking. The Stable Café is known for great sandwiches, burgers, and barbeque. My favorite is the Bistro located by the winery. I love its European Country décor and the freshness of the food. Many of the ingredients used at this restaurant are grown on the estate. I always choose one of their salads and homemade brick oven pizzas.
Winery
The Winery gets a little better every year. There is a great walking tour that takes you through the wine making process. A wine tasting is provided at the end of the tour. The wine guides really strive to make everyone feel comfortable. They are knowledgeable and really help those inexperienced wine tasters find a great wine. For those wine connoisseurs, they are knowledgeable enough to assist them as well. For families touring the Winery, they provide Concord grape juice for the kids during the tasting. They have added several free special wine related demonstrations. My favorite is the Red Wine and Chocolate Seminar. The Winery also has a large gift shop filled with wines and accessories.
Be sure to plan on spending six to eight hours at the estate. You will definitely need a car to get around. There is a long drive from the entrance to the welcome center where you'll purchase your tickets and see a short informational film on the estate. From there you will drive quite a distance to the house, or a restaurant, or the winery. My perfect day at Biltmore begins with lunch at the Bistro followed by a tour of the house. It takes approximately an hour and a half to two hours to tour the house. We usually take an ice cream break after the tour before taking a long walk through the gardens and the conservatory. If we are feeling really energetic, we may walk down to the bass pond before heading over to the Winery. We end our day with a tour of the winery, a wine tasting, before purchasing some wine to take home. I hope you take a day to visit the Biltmore Estate it is a great way to spend a day.
