With a fall-like breeze, the sun shining and temperature in the low 80’s, it was indeed the perfect weather to explore the Biltmore Estate and continue my birthday celebration. I may have waited a few more days for it, but it was so worth it. If you have read my previous post, the weather did not cooperate on my birthday so we had to cancel our trip to the Biltmore Estate. It wasn’t raining, but it was chilly and gloomy so I decided to change the plan. Glad I waited because I couldn’t have asked for a much better day to explore Biltmore than on this day.

Situated in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, there is so much to do on this 8,000 acre estate. A lot of people travel far just to experience what Biltmore has to offer. I feel lucky that I don’t have to travel miles and miles to do that.

This was taken from the south terrace where they hold their summer concerts. And this statue is just one among the many that you can see on this part of the estate.

I’ve been to Biltmore a couple of times before, but this was my first time to visit in the summertime. Hubby had been there many times; he is Asheville born and raised. We had a guided house tour before so we decided to enjoy the grounds this time around.

THE GARDENS

The estate boasts of beautiful gardens for the flower and nature lovers to feast their eyes on. I love flowers so this was the one thing that made me so excited looking forward to seeing because I never got to enjoy them on our previous visits. We spent a good amount of time in the gardens.

Italian Garden

Other than the different varieties of aquatic plants, the colorful koi in the pools at the Italian Garden were so fun to watch.

Walled Garden

Rose Garden

And there were so many beautiful flowers at the Walled Garden and the Rose Garden that I had a hard time deciding which ones to look at first.

CONSERVATORY

It felt like you just walked into a tropical paradise as soon as you enter the Conservatory. The palm trees, the orchids and the great amount of greens would certainly make you feel that way. Being from the Philippines, I felt right at home there.

BASS POND AND BOATHOUSE

It was the perfect weather to hike and though we’re not used to hiking, we decided to give it a shot and hiked 1.2 miles to the boathouse which is situated at the Bass Pond. It was fine on our way to the pond because the walk was downhill. Coming back was a little harder for us, but we managed. Good thing there was a bench waiting for us on top of the hill so we sat and caught our breath and rested our weary legs afterward.

The view of the pond from the boathouse.

Bass Pond Bridge

On our way to Antler Hill Village to have our lunch, we stopped at the Bass Pond Bridge to check it closely. Some scenes from the movie, ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ were filmed there. This bridge that is made of red bricks is such a beauty, isn’t it?

ANTLER HILL VILLAGE AND WINERY

Located in another part of the estate, Antler Hill Village is like a little city on its own with restaurants for different palates, stores for shopping, exhibits and wine tastings. We grabbed lunch at Village Social, a restaurant and bar located at the newly opened Village Hotel. Will share more about it soon.

CARRIAGE RIDES

We drove to the stables to see the horses before heading out of the estate. They offer carriage rides that are drawn by Belgian draft horses. You can choose from a 30-minute ride to an hour or even private rides.

There are more outdoor activities that you can do at Biltmore like biking, hiking, fishing, horseback riding, etc. And with fall right around the corner, one can enjoy the Biltmore Estate more with the beautiful fall foliage around the estate.

It was such a wonderful birthday spent at the Biltmore Estate with the hubs. Too bad our son was in school, but we enjoyed his company on my birthday dinner on the day of my birthday itself.

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