Looking for ways to celebrate Christmas in Asheville? It’s such a great place to experience the winter! There are places nearby where you can go skiing or hiking in the snow, but if you’re looking for more holiday activities, there is lots you can do within the city. If you’re spending the weekend in Asheville in the winter, these are 6 fun Christmas activities you can do!
Christmas at the Biltmore
Christmas at the Biltmore is AMAZING! I have an entire blog post on Christmas tours at the Biltmore with lots of photos of the stunning Christmas decor. If you only have time for one thing to do in Asheville, you can’t miss the Christmas tours at the Biltmore! It’s the closest thing to Christmas at Hogwarts that I’ll probably ever experience.
Walk around downtown Asheville
Downtown Asheville has lots of pretty Christmas lights and decorations! We weren’t there in the evening, but I bet it looks pretty lit up and night, too. And if you want to see more Christmas lights, Romantic Asheville has some great recommendations!
Winter Wonderland at the Grove Arcade
The Grove Arcade is one of the coolest places to experience Christmas in Asheville. And if you’re thinking it’s a place to play arcade games (I definitely did before I did research), it’s like a small mall with a variety of businesses (including an awesome bookst0re). Architecturally speaking, an “arcade” is just a succession of arches, and they can often be walkways lined with stores, fun fact!
So the Grove Arcade has lots of small businesses, so you can do your Christmas shopping AND check out their beautiful Christmas decorations in their Winter Wonderland.
Grab hot chocolate at French Broad
You can definitely go to French Broad Chocolate Lounge at any point in the year (and you should!), but if you’re out doing Christmas shopping downtown and need a pick-me-up, you can’t beat grabbing a cup of their hot chocolate! And you can get some cake while you’re at it. And you can also do some Christmas shopping while you’re there and get some delicious chocolates for your friends 🙂
National Gingerbread Competition
The Omni Grove Park Inn hosts the National Gingerbread Competition every year! The competition started as something casual in 1992, and it’s become of the most popular holiday competitions in the country. And these are not your ordinary gingerbread houses, they are works of art!
If you’re not a guest of the Omni Grove Park Inn, you can see the gingerbread houses Monday-Thursday, but they’re closed to the public on the weekends. Unfortunately, I was in Asheville on a weekend so I wasn’t able to see the gingerbread houses for myself, but the pictures I’ve seen look incredible!
Seeing the Biltmore at night is so worth it!
One extra thing to experience Christmas in Asheville is the Winter Lights show at the NC Arboretum! I didn’t get to go the weekend I was in Asheville because we did the Candlelight Tour at the Biltmore one night (which was totally worth it), but the Winter Lights show is at the top of my list when I get to go back! 🙂
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