The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina has been on my bucket list for years. America’s Largest Home at 175,000 square feet is an amazing feat of architecture and a treasure trove of history. But when is the best time to go?
I decided that Christmas was the perfect time of year for my first ever visit to the Biltmore. Here’s why you should consider a holiday trip to this magical estate!
When Should You Visit?
The Biltmore Estate is beautiful year-round. They have many different events besides just Christmas, such as Biltmore Blooms in the spring. I visited in the fall, specifically mid-November. The weather was not too cold, and the fall leaves were still around.
The Biltmore has all the Christmas decorations up by early November, and they stay up til January. Of course, you should check their website to find the exact dates for each year.
Since it was my first visit to the Biltmore estate, I wondered if the Christmas decorations would take away from the regular experience of seeing the Biltmore for the first time. I was wrong about that! If anything, the decorations enhanced the beauty of the estate.
I highly recommend visiting during the Christmas season. The tickets do cost a bit more, but it’s worth a few extra dollars in my opinion.
The Christmas Decorations
It seems like every room in the entire house has it’s own Christmas tree. My favorite was the gigantic tree in the Banquet Hall. This is the largest room in the house, so it’s only fitting that the largest tree would be here. This 35 foot tall Frasier Fir made the whole room smell like Christmas!
The Banquet Hall
The triple fireplace in the Banquet Hall decorated for Christmas
One of the giant tapestries in the house. Many of them are hundreds of years old!
The Biltmore at Night
The holiday decor doesn’t stop once you get outside the house. A giant Christmas tree with thousands of lights sits on the front lawn of the estate. I would’ve loved to have seen it all lit up at night.
We purchased the day time tickets. I don’t regret that decision because, being my first time to visit, I felt that I could see the rooms well and take better photos. It was already dark in the house since it was a rainy day, and it was difficult to take well-lit photos, even with my Canon camera. However, I’m sure that the Candlelight Christmas Evening experience is stunning. Seeing all the trees lit up at night is probably quite impressive!
Is the Biltmore Estate Good for Taking Photos?
Absolutely! You’ll see some of my favorite photos in this post, but I took hundreds of photos in the house and gardens. As I said before, it was a rainy day when I visited, so many of my photos inside the house were dark. They also do not allow flash photography inside the house.
The Music Room
However, some of the rooms are very well lit, such as the Winter Garden Room seen when you first enter the house.
The woodwork of the Winter Garden ceiling was amazing!
My favorite spot to take photos was the balcony.
Although the weather was extremely foggy when we first arrived, it soon cleared up revealing the beautiful view of the grounds.
It made me feel like a princess to look over the grounds from the balcony of this castle-like home! The view was breathtaking even with the bad weather.
Even if you don’t get any good photos inside the house, the gardens and the exterior of the house are gorgeous. Keep reading to see my garden and Conservatory photos!
The Unique Rooms
There are dozens of bedrooms and sitting rooms in the house, but what really grabbed my attention were the more unique rooms. One of my favorites was the library: it made me feel like I was inside Beauty and the Beast’s castle!
Another amazing room was the underground swimming pool. It can’t be filled with water anymore due to leaks, but it was still incredible to see something like this that was built so long ago. Even the underwater lighting is original!
I also found the servants’ area very interesting. The servant’s quarters were blocked off unless you upgraded your tickets, but we still got to see where they ate and worked. It reminded me of the downstairs of the Downton Abbey TV series.
The Servants’ Dining Room
The Servants’ laundry and ironing room
The bowling alley
The Beautiful Biltmore Gardens
Even though it was a rainy and overcast day, we didn’t let that stop us from enjoying the Biltmore Gardens. Strolling through the acres of gardens was gorgeous. Especially since many of the trees were still showing off their fall colors.
The Rose Garden area was very nice, even though most of the roses had begun to die. I can only imagine how magical this would be in the spring and summer!
Towards the edge of the gardens is the Conservatory. I had never been in a greenhouse before, much less one this size. Although it was very humid inside, the lush greenery and bright flowers made up for it.
There were even Christmas decorations inside the Conservatory! For example, this poinsettia Christmas tree was in one of the rooms:
Do you see the reindeer decorations?
Is the Biltmore worth it if I’m not interested in History?
I’m not a big history buff myself, but I still thought the Biltmore Estate was fascinating. Walking through the house and imagining what life was like over a hundred years ago is interesting even on a self-guided tour.
I’m also not really into architecture, but it’s hard to ignore how impressive this house is.
Even the most intricate details were important in the construction of this house.
The cheapest tickets include a self-guided tour and guidebook, and for a few more dollars you can have an audio-guided tour. If you really want to go all out you can choose a two-hour tour with an expert guide assigned to you and access to areas off the main tour.
For the sake of budget, I selected the self-guided (cheapest) option. I still feel that I got a very comprehensive tour on my own.
If you’re planning a trip to North Carolina, the Biltmore Estate is a stop you can’t miss. Whether you visit during the holidays or another time of the year, the Biltmore at Christmas is a one-of-a-kind experience you’ll never forget!
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[…] if you’re headed to Asheville, NC, check out my guide to visiting the Biltmore Estate at Christmas time. Whether you’re visiting during the holidays or not, my post has plenty of interesting photos […]