After hearing so much about the how beautiful the Biltmore was, we planned a day trip to the Biltmore Estate to see the beautiful gardens, property, and more. See my Biltmore Travel guide to learn everything you need to know before you go!

A few days ago I shared my long weekend guide to Asheville, North Carolina, and today I wanted to share my full Biltmore travel guide since I couldn’t quite fit in all the things we did in Asheville into one post!

For those of you who are planning your trip to Asheville, Biltmore Estate is a historic building that was once the home of George Washington Vanderbilt II (yes, THAT Vanderbilt!), who decided he wanted to make one of the largest homes in the United States back in 1889 (casual….). It took 6 years to build the gigantic Chateauesque-style mansion, and it’s one of the most historic places in the area around Asheville. Today, the home is the largest privately owned house in the U.S. (and still owned by the Vanderbilt family!) and is a whopping 178,926 square feet. While I’ve been to a few estates around the U.S., this home is one of the most spectacular I’ve ever seen – from the over-the-top amenities to the beautiful, blooming gardens.

To plan your next trip, I put together this complete Biltmore  travel guide that shares everything you need to know before you go, and the parts of the estate that you can’t miss! There’s a lot to cover, so I wanted to share my favorite parts that make the trip the most worthwhile.

Biltmore Travel Guide

Buying Tickets:

Okay, first things first – let’s chat the price tag on this bad boy. The tickets to visit the Biltmore are not cheap (we’re talking $65!), but honestly – you can spend an entire day visiting the Biltmore and the surrounding areas, which makes the price of admission a little easier to handle. $65 gives you access to the gardens (which we’ll talk about later in the Biltmore travel guide), a self-guided tour of the home, tastings at the winery, and free range of the Antler Hill Village (which includes cafes, museums and more). We had a hard time with the price tag at first, but after spending an entire day at the property, we felt like the investment was totally worth it. I would recommend not purchasing the guided tour (which will cost you way more!) or shuttles from the parking lot to the home. There were some reviews that said that the walk from the parking lot to the home was really far – but it honestly took us 5 minutes through a beautiful wooded area. Don’t listen to the reviews, and save yourself $10-$20 dollars 😉

Exploring the Biltmore Home:

With 178,926 square feet, the Biltmore home has quite a bit to offer. The whole estate is massive, and has over 250 rooms in the home, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens (because you know, one just won’t do!). I was most impressed by how well the home was preserved, and every room was entirely original and in perfect shape – from the immaculate wallpaper, to the tapestries and furniture. The home has some crazy amenities for a home in the late 1800’s, including a swimming pool (that was rumored to leak pretty often!), a bowling alley, a workout room (you have to check out the ancient barbels), and some of the most incredible pieces of art, furniture, decor and more. Everything is completely over the top, which makes it all the more impressive and jaw-dropping.

My inner high school self was also incredibly excited because they had a Titanic exhibit throughout the home that showcased some of the original costumes from the movie – and a few iconic scenes were actually filmed in the Biltmore home! The Biltmore often has rotating exhibits which adds even more to the tour – and in the coming weeks there’s a beautiful Chihuly exhibit that we saw them setting up for around the gardens and grounds. Definitely check out their website to see what’s happening around the property before you visit!

Biltmore Gardens:

No Biltmore travel guide would be complete without mentioning the gorgeous gardens on the property. For starters, the gardens are massive, and you can easily spend hours following the walking paths around the property visiting each of the very different (but equally beautiful!) garden areas.

Frederick Law Olmsted (one of the most famous landscape architects in America – known for his work designing Central Park and many other famous gardens), planned and created the Biltmore gardens, and filled it with beautiful blooms and various, distinct areas to explore. There’s an  Italian Garden filled with beautiful statues, the boathouse area with a large lake you can hike round, a rose garden, azalea garden (which we were lucky to see in bloom!) and greenhouse with flowers from around the world. The entire garden is about 2.5 miles, so make sure to bring comfortable shoes (and a bottle of water in the spring/summer!) before making the trek.   I clearly had a field day with my camera taking photos of the blooming Azaleas, trees and Wisteria and flowers in the greenhouse – but there are so many varieties of flowers that there’s bound to be something beautiful no matter what time of year you visit. Make sure to allocate at least an hour or two to go exploring, it’s definitely worth taking the time to enjoy the beautiful scenery!

Biltmore Winery

Last but not least on the Biltmore travel guide itinerary is visiting the Biltmore winery on your way out of the property. Hop back in your car and drive a few miles towards the exit to stop and enjoy a few free wine tastings of a variety of wines they make on the property. We tried a flight of whites, reds, roses and dessert wines with the nicest wine guy (shout out to Bruce!) and bought a few of our favorites in the wine shop after our tasting. You can definitely make an afternoon of it trying the wines, going on the winery tour and enjoying chocolate, cheese or charcuterie pairings while taking in the views of the estate. It was the perfect way to end the day – and we got to try a few wines we wouldn’t have been able to taste with some of the grapes grown right in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Alright, that was a lot of information, but hopefully you found my Biltmore travel guide to be helpful before planning your trip! There’s so much to explore in the home and around the property that you need to get a lay of the land before you arrive and start your day. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email (charminglystyled@gmail.com) or shoot me a DM on Instagram at @CharminglyStyled. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have as you’re planning your trip! xx