Things to Do

Stuff to Do in Asheville (When you’re not on your bike!)

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Asheville is full of great things to do off the bike. The best entertainment is just exploring the city. It’s super walkable, and you can spend hours in the various shops and stores.   If you are into more focused outings, here are some ideas. Click here to open a printable PDF of this page:  Asheville Things to Do

Asheville shopping: The city has nearly everything in its very walkable downtown. Independent bookstores, chocolatiers, museums, beer bars, a huge shoe store, antiques, artists booths, and even a wig store. The best shopping streets are Wall Street, Haywood, Lexington, Biltmore, Battery Park, and the indoor and outdoor shops at the Grove Arcade. Architecture of the Grove Arcade, which may be the most beautiful building in all of Asheville. Good shopping inside, but the design is the real draw. Just a couple of blocks from MTMS headquarters, at Battery Park and Page Avenue. Asheville Tourists baseball game, check out a minor league baseball game – they are home on Wednesday night for a 7 PM game.  Its straight out of the movie Bull Durham. Just south of the city on U.S. 25.   www.ashevilletourists.com Asheville Beer crawl. Asheville is one of the best beer towns in the world, with more than a dozen breweries and world class beer bars. At least half of them are located right in downtown.

Bike shops: Asheville has lots of good shops. Across the street from MTMS headquarters is Hearn Cycling, which specializes in hard to find parts for old or unusual bicycles. Liberty Bicycles is a high end road shop, located on Hendersonville Road (U.S. 25), just north of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and south of Asheville.  Liberty rents high-end Trek Domane and Lexa road bikes.  Pro-Bikes in West Asheville also rents road bikes, but it’s closed on Sunday (get that bike back on Saturday afternoon!)  Both rental bike shops are outside of the immediate Asheville downtown area, so plan on driving to the shop or catching a local bus.

Biltmore Estate and Gardens; the house is the largest residential home ever built in the United States, and the gardens are super impressive.   Built by George Vanderbilt in 1900, it has more than 30 bedrooms, an indoor pool , and a bowling alley.   Give yourself a good chunk of time to enjoy this outing.     www.biltmore.com

Catch a concert at The Orange Peel, this great concert hall has shows most nights   of the week. Find out what at www.theorangepeel.net .

Check out museum-quality Appalachian Folk Art at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway.   They have an incredible gift shop (if you need to bring something home to say thanks to significant others who let you come to the MTMS); artists demos and shows on Saturdays.   At milepost 382 on the BRP, near U.S. 70.   southernhighlandguild.org

Drum Circle in Pritchard Park, one of Asheville’s favorite traditions. Dozens of drummers and drums of all types and sizes.   Friday night, from approximately 6:30 or 7 until 10 PM. If you are brave, bring your own drum.

Grove Park Inn – have a drink on their deck and watch the sunset, one of the most loved old world hotels in the country. Check out the views, the architecture, the massive fireplace and old Mission style furniture. On Macon Ave, just a couple of miles north of downtown.

Malaprops Bookstore, one of the best independent book stores in America.   Great selection of books about the Appalachians, Asheville, and local artists and writers. And some great counter-culture stuff, as you would expect in Asheville. Good local gifts and great coffee, too.   55 Haywood Street

Mast General Store is located at 15 Biltmore Avenue and offers some of the best shopping for outdoor gear, technical clothing, and casual outdoor clothes anywhere. Always seems like they are having a sale, too.

Pool and darts, upstairs at Barleys. They have a separate beer list upstairs, a half dozen 9 foot pool tables, and a few high quality dart boards. On Biltmore, a few blocks south of Pack Square.   42 Biltmore Avenue

River Arts District, centered near the traffic circle at Roberts and Clingman Avenue (about one mile from MTMS headquarters), on the French Broad – is ground zero for Asheville’s bustling arts movement. Shop all afternoon, then grab a pint at The Wedge Brewery.

Sky Bar (for a rooftop view of the city), located at 18 Battery Park Ave in the FlatIron Building. Take the elevator to the roof and enjoy a drink and watch the sunset.

Spa at the Grove Park Inn: The hotel is pretty awesome but if you are really knackered after one of the MTMS rides, head here for a massage to recuperate. Located in a very cool subterranean facility, too.

Western Carolina Nature Center, check out this facility – part zoo, part wildlife preservation center, and part plant/tree museum.   It’s one of the few places in the world to see red wolves – one of the most endangered animals on the planet.   www.wncnaturecenter.com

Woolworth Art Studios, located on the Triangle at Pritchard Park, this old department store has been converted into a home for dozens of local artists. You will find great gifts: clothing, folk art, paintings, home design, and even an old deli counter, serving great breakfast, lunch, and the best old style shakes in Asheville (not that there’s much competition there). Well, maybe there’s no ocean kayaking….but there’s still lots of other stuff to do in Asheville once you get off your bike.