Trip Recap: Biltmore Estate – Southern Curls & Pearls

Hey friends! We just got back from the BEST weekend stay at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, so I wanted to put together a recap of our weekend! And read on to the end, because there’s a special discount code for my readers. 😉 

Friday

We are lucky to live just two hours from Asheville, so we decided to make a day trip and leave early in the morning on Friday. The Inn on Biltmore Estate is absolutely gorgeous! There’s a huge fireplace with cozy chairs set up all around. We checked into our room and drove a few minutes over to Antler Hill Village for lunch. Antler Hill Village has so many cute shops, restaurants and even a winery! We grabbed lunch at Cedric’s Tavern, a casual restaurant with delicious, fresh food. They had coloring books and crayons for the girls. We had pretzel rolls for an appetizer and I loved my garden salad with *perfectly* cooked salmon atop it! 

After our lunch, we headed back to The Inn for the girls’ naptime. This was the perfect time to unpack all our suitcases and for Chris and I to freshen up. Once the girls woke up, we headed over to Deerpark Carriage & Trail Ride Barn for a 30-minute carriage ride! The carriage is pulled by beautiful Clydesdale horses. We got to learn all about the horses on the estate and a little bit of the history of Biltmore. The carriage parks at the halfway mark, where there is a beautiful (and unique!) view of Biltmore House from behind! They let us take pictures and even pet the horses, and then we all got back on to finish the carriage ride. Both Kennedy and Collins LOVED this experience, they talked about it for the rest of the day! 

Once we were done with our carriage ride, we drove a few minutes back to Antler Hill Village for our dinner reservation at the Bistro, one of Biltmore Estate’s farm-to-table restaurants. Chris and I both ordered delicious cocktails as well as a cheese board, while the girls were given coloring books to keep them busy! We had an AMAZING dinner here, I ordered the filet mignon for my main course and it was incredible. After dinner, we walked over to The Creamery for some ice cream while we listened to some live music! And THEN, we walked over to Pisgah Playground (just a few minutes from The Creamery) where the girls played on the playground until bedtime. I’m telling you… this just might have been the best day of their lives!  

Saturday 

After a busy day on Friday, we all woke up hungry on Saturday morning. We took the elevator down to the first floor where The Inn serves a beautiful breakfast every morning. You can order off the menu, or you can take advantage of The Inn’s amazing breakfast buffet – which you know I did! I loaded up on french toast, an omelette, fresh fruit, even a berry smoothie. And coffee (always coffee). After our breakfast, we decided to head over to downtown Asheville. In truth, we have not visited since Hurricane Helene. We were happily surprised to see that downtown Asheville looked amazing! Since it was a Saturday morning, there was a huge farmer’s market going on downtown, so we parked and decided to walk around. We ended up buying some beautiful flowers, local honey and some freshly baked sprinkle cookies (guess who ate those haha). 

After our morning in downtown Asheville, we got back into the car and drove back to Biltmore Estate – since we had reservations for the “Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures” exhibition. Even if you’re not a history buff, you will LOVE this exhibition! The exhibit features 1,000 expertly-crafted replicas of King Tut’s burial goods, and they’re laid out in their entirety exactly as they were found by archaeologists – you feel like you really are discovering it for the first time! Even our toddlers enjoyed the exhibit – the audio tour included audio devices for children that explained everything to them, too! Collins’ favorite part was sitting for the eight minute movie on King Tut in the theater room.

For lunch, we headed over to Antler Hill Village to grab a quick lunch at the Smokehouse Food Truck. They have amazing smoked meats! Chris and I both ordered barbecue while the girls enjoyed some mac-n-cheese. And then it was back to The Inn on Biltmore Estate for naptime! While the girls napped, I actually sat in the lobby. They made a refreshing mocktail for me. I worked on my laptop while looking out at a beautiful view of the mountains!

The girls took a long nap that day (they were worn out haha), so after naptime it was already time for dinner! We all drove over to Village Social, another gorgeous little restaurant in Biltmore’s Antler Hill Village. Chris said this was his favorite meal of the entire trip! I also enjoyed my roasted chicken and coconut margarita.

After dinner, we walked around Antler Hill Village, peeking into some shops and enjoyed some live music at the bandstand. We decided to drive back over to The Inn on Biltmore Estate and sit in the lobby. The girls got to run around a little bit. Both Chris and I ordered some Biltmore Wine, as well as a few plates of dessert for the girls (our favorite was a trio of ice cream sandwiches!).

Sunday

On Sunday morning we enjoyed another breakfast at The Inn on Biltmore Estate’s breakfast buffet before packing up our stuff and checking out of the hotel. But we weren’t done with our stay just yet!! This was actually my favorite day, because we got to visit Biltmore House! We drove over to the house, parked and walked over to the historic house. The house really is jaw-dropping in person, photos can’t do it justice! Both girls kept calling it “the castle,” haha. We experienced the audio tour this morning, and again, they had special audio devices geared towards children, so the girls got to listen in and learn about the house, too. We learned all about each of the rooms in the house, as well as tidbits about the Vanderbilt family. Each and every room is so well preserved, it is like stepping back in time! 

After our audio tour, we enjoyed a casual lunch right outside at the Courtyard Market and then went next door to the Confectionery, where both girls begged for lollipops (and we obliged haha). After the girls got their lollipops, it was time to explore the gardens! A lot of people don’t realize that in addition to Biltmore House, there are six formal and informal gardens, a Conservatory, and nature trails connecting them to the French Broad River and woodlands. My favorite area is perhaps the Walled Garden, with geometric beds of brightly colored flowers including roses, dahlias and sunflowers!

After we finished up exploring the gardens, it was time to head home! We were all sad to leave because we had the BEST stay on Biltmore Estate. I loved that there was so much to keep both the kids and adults entertained – it was equally as fun for the girls as it was for me and Chris. 

Luckily, if you’re local to Asheville, you can grab a Biltmore Annual Pass and enjoy unlimited daytime visits to Biltmore House and more! You can visit this link to learn more. 

If you want to come check it out for yourself, you can save 10% on overnight stays at Biltmore Estate when you book online using promo code Media2025. This code is valid Sunday-Thursday from June 26, 2025 through March 31, 2026 at The Inn and Village Hotel. 

*Thanks to Biltmore for sponsoring this blog post