Visiting The Biltmore: Christmas Season vs. Summer Season
Check out rates, reservations, and more info here. Source: Biltmore site
Disclaimer: Neither Christmas Biltmore nor Summer Biltmore will win in this battle. They’re both equally amazing.
If you can’t hop back to the Asheville area as easily and you have to pick one, it really boils down to how big of a priority exploring the grounds and gardens are to you. Designed by one of America’s foremost landscape architects, Frederick Law Olmsted (who co-designed Central Park). The grounds have over twenty miles of trail to explore, not to mention all the gardens- formal and informal- that surround the house. Interested in touring the grounds in style? You can even take a horse-drawn carriage ride around the property and pretend you’re a Vanderbilt yourself.
Christmas though. . . It’s an experience. It’s such a magical way to celebrate the holiday season - and if you love Christmas - you’ll probably melt into the floor like I did.
I called to book our Christmas reservations, trying to gauge the best time for our Estate tour and dinner reservation in the Stable Café (which was originally the Estate’s horse stable). She said it usually takes folks about an hour/hour and a half to go through the house. . .
. . . It took us over two.
I find that whenever you’re visiting, you’re probably going to be touring the house with a full group of a dozen+ people, and if you want to be able to fully soak up and appreciate each room (and take pictures without all the people) it’s best to let your group ogle for usually four or five minutes and move on, while you hang towards the back, savoring a few more minutes as the straggler.
If I never get to go back I want to know that I soaked up as much detail as possible. So take my advice- wander slowly, take notice, get your fill, and take your time!
If you want to start reveling in the awesomeness of the Biltmore Estate now, check out this tour on YouTube.
Have you visited the Estate before? What’s your favorite room? Ours might be the library- check out photos of it below in the Christmas section.
Spring & Summer at The Biltmore
Color starts to explode on the grounds of The Biltmore Estate between March and April depending on Asheville’s weather. The forsythia, daffodils, and cherry blossoms begin to creep in, followed soon after by the magnolia, tulips, hyacinths, redbuds, azaleas, and more.
As Spring transitions to Summer the rose gardens, rhododendrons, and dozens of other colorful annuals will be out on display. The impressive gardens continue until September/October depending on the season, when Fall settles in and the Estate gets ready to prepare for the holidays!
Source: Ideal Living
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Soure: LovethiscityTv
Azalea Gardens line lots of the beautiful walking path.
Source: Biltmore
Source: Biltmore
Did you know you can get married on the estate grounds, too? Practically anywhere! I can’t imagine more of a fairytale setting.
They have a full team to help you plan and execute it, too! That’s the real dream, right there.
Check out more on Biltmore Weddings here.
Today the Biltmore Estate consists of about 8,000 acres of property that can be largely explored.
And to soak up all the culture of the estate, there are dozens of events: classes, tours, tastings, concerts, etc., taking place at any given time on Biltmore and its extended properties, too.
Check out what’s on The Biltmore’s schedule here.
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you use those links. For more info please see my Disclosure here.
Summer concert series at the Biltmore. Source: Romantic Asheville
Source: WLOS
Christmas at The Biltmore
It’s an epic display of the holidays, and we’d love to be flies on the wall watching the entire production come to life on the property! The amount of detail that goes into decorating every room is awe inspiring - not to mention it looks beyond magical.
SO MAGICAL. Source: Explore Asheville
How beautiful is The Biltmore staircase? Photo by Tim Collins on Unsplash
The Tapestry Room. Source: Biltmore
Source: Southern Hospitality Blog
Source: Southern Hospitality Blog - Looking out of the library into the tapestry room.
The two pictures above are of George Vanderbilt’s library, which is probably our favorite room in the house. One look and you’ll know why.
So many of the rooms are made even more special during the holiday season, and will have live music going on, too! Like the harpist seen on the left; other rooms we wandered through had stringed groups, choir group, and more performing classical Christmas songs.
Imagine all the time and labor that goes into decorating the wreaths, garlands, ornaments, poinsettias, kissing balls and mistletoe in all the rooms.
Source: Asheville Vacation Homes
Source: The Biltmore
Source: SmokyMountains.com
Source: Southern Hospitality Blog
Source: Southern Hospitality Blog
There’s something magical about Biltmore Estate, and regardless of when you visit it’s bound to be one of the more iconic and memorable American history experiences you ever have!
