I’m so excited to share this 24-hour travel guide with you! You know those places that you visit and just fall in love with? Asheville is one of those for me. During my first few years of college I spent my summers working in North Carolina, not too far outside of Asheville. On the days that we had free time, we’d pile into a couple of cars and drive up to Asheville for the day and explore….and eat. (Trust me, you can find all kinds of good food in Asheville.)
A couple of years ago, Stephen and I went to Asheville for our annual anniversary trip and now he loves to visit, too. Luckily, Asheville, NC is only a couple of hours away from Athens, GA, so it’s the perfect spot for a quick weekend getaway! We recently did just that: we drove up to Asheville and spent 24 hours hitting a few of our favorite spots and wandering around the city.
So, here’s how we spent our 24 hours in Asheville, NC…
Asheville, NC Travel Guide – Stay
HOTEL INDIGO, DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE
For our 24-hour visit, we stayed at the Hotel Indigo right smack in the middle of downtown Asheville. It’s a great location, and just a few minutes’ from all of our favorite local spots. When we travel, we always love to be in a good location where we can walk practically everywhere and Hotel Indigo was the perfect spot for us to be able to do just that. We drove into town on a Saturday and checked in before heading out to find a little lunch.
Our room at Hotel Indigo was the perfect size for our short visit. It was bright & airy, spacious enough to still be functional with a king size bed, desk, and a comfortable chair, and a large bathroom. Oh, and that bed? Talk about comfortable! (I don’t know about Stephen, but I slept like a rock when we got back to the hotel after dinner.)
In the lobby of Hotel Indigo Asheville, you’ll find a little coffee shop with drinks, deli sandwiches, and snacks, and just around the corner there’s a nice little bar. When we wandered back to the hotel on Saturday night, we made a quick stop at the bar and grabbed a couple of drinks to take up to our room and enjoy with the pastries that we’d picked up during our walk back to the hotel. All in all, we had a wonderful visit and SO enjoyed staying at the Hotel Indigo! And we really loved being able to walk everywhere that we wanted to go.
Asheville, NC Travel Guide – Drink
BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE & CHAMPAGNE BAR
When we visited Asheville for our anniversary, we stumbled across Battery Park Book Exchange when it started raining while we were wandering around. We thought that we were ducking into a used bookstore to get out of the rain, but ended up finding one of our favorite spots to just hang out. Battery Park Book Exchange is a used bookstore, but it’s a used bookstore with a bar inside. It’s mainly a champagne & wine bar, but they also have a beer list, light food, a few desserts, and espresso drinks. On the weekends, you’ll find live music playing in the bar area. When we arrived on Saturday afternoon, there was a jazz trio playing. If sitting in a comfy chair and sipping champagne or coffee surrounded by books sounds pretty good…you’ll enjoy Battery Park Book Exchange.
WICKED WEED BREWING PUB
This one really falls into two categories, but I’ve actually never eaten at the Pub. We took a tour at the Wicked Weed Funkatiorium when we were in Asheville for our anniversary. They also have another location: the Pub where we met up with Lacey and her husband for a little while. We grabbed a spot outside and tried a few of their latest beers (my personal favorite was the Boi Bai). The Wicked Weed Pub is a great spot to wander in and grab a beer or two. They also serve food, and it can get pretty crowded, so keep that in mind when you’re headed that way!
Asheville, NC Travel Guide – Eat
FRENCH BROAD CHOCOLATE LOUNGE
I always run into French Broad for a little box of they’re unique chocolate bonbons to take home with me when I visit Asheville. (It may look like there’s a long line outside of French Broad, but they are just regulating how long the line to order is, so that things don’t get too crowded inside. I promise, it’ll move pretty fast!) They also serve more pastries and sweets, coffees, ice cream, and a few different types of drinking chocolate. It’s the perfect spot to get your chocolate fix! There are a number of different chocolate shops in downtown Asheville, but I think that French Broad’s flavors are absolutely the most unique.
GREEN SAGE CAFE
If you’re looking for a light, healthy lunch, head to Green Sage Cafe. Their menu covers a wide range, including all different types of breakfast items, smoothies, juices, sandwiches, wraps, rice bowls…I could keep going. We stopped in for a quick, light lunch. Stephen ordered their Jamaican Jerk Chicken Sandwich, while I chose an avocado toast with over-medium egg on top. Oh, and we may have ordered some sweet potato fries, too. We went back to Green Sage a second time for an extra cup of coffee on Sunday morning.
ZAMBRA TAPAS
Zambra is another spot that we just happened to stumble upon during our anniversary trip when we were wandering around. We rounded a corner and saw a short line outside the door, asked them about the place, and joined the line at this unique spot. I love tapas-style restaurants, since you can order a few different plates at a time for the table and try out a few different dishes. Zambra is a perfect spot for a dinner date, but make a reservation if you don’t want to wait!
