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With over a hundred breweries, decadent farm-to-table restaurants, and a scenery scoured by the verdant Blue Ridge Mountains, it’s no wonder Asheville is becoming one of the most up-and-coming places in the East. Asheville is not shy about hiding its artsy and community-driven personality. It confidently shines through its lovingly preserved historic landmarks, colorful art murals, and bustling, vibrant streets.
If you’re looking for a fun city break, then you’re gonna want to check out downtown Asheville. This neighborhood is where all the fun activities and attractions are based, and offers visitors a chance to glimpse into the soul of this trendy city and see what it’s all about. In this guide, we’re sharing the top things to do in Downtown Asheville. We spent two nights in Downtown Asheville and were so happy to do nothing else but explore the wonder of its core streets. Here’s what we got up to…
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“What new world am I about to walk into?” is the general thrill that comes with picking up a new book. At the Battery Park Book Exchange + Champagne Bar, that thrill comes with walking in the front door into a new world: Champagne tasting inside a bookstore!
It’s a speakeasy vibe with a dusting of French sophistication. Located in a historic building inside Grove Arcade, the first mall in Asheville and one of the city’s most iconic venues, this is the place to go to find fun finds in the pages and hidden gem literature. Black curtains drape the windows, live bluegrass in the corner warms you up, and surrounding you is a vast array of new and old books to peruse while you sip on a glass of fine champagne.
Tasting flights are the norm here, but be prepared for the champagne price tag. We opted for a sparkling wine cocktail and Syrah instead, paired with a charcuterie board with local goat’s cheese.
We’re not really shopping people, especially in places that don’t have a grounded, relatable spirit. But since Asheville is brimming with independent shops, a grounded mountain energy, and a spirit of fun centered around entertainment and good food. I was happy wandering up and down the streets for hours.
I was very surprised at how much the downtown Asheville shopping scene had to offer. There are several main streets in Asheville with an interesting store every couple of steps. There are actually 200+ locally owned stores and boutiques.
It’s a very walkable downtown area with the main shopping streets being Patton Avenue, Wall St, Battery Park Ave, Lexington Avenue, Broadway, and Biltmore Avenue. What I loved about shopping in Downtown Asheville was discovering the different vibes each street had. One of my favorites was Lexington Avenue, where yuppy hip crossed with punk grunge in a way that works. Here are a few of the stores I loved.
Element Tree Essentials was my favorite store in Asheville. I could have spent hours in here and bought one of everything. Instead, I opted for their signature hand lotion candles and a creativity spell jar for Savannah’s Christmas present.
Do you love bees? Get buzzing over to the Asheville Bee Charmer store (2 locations downtown). They work with beekeepers across Western North Carolina and the world to curate a selection of delicious 100% pure, raw honey. Down the back is a honey tasting bar, where Bee-ristas take you on a sweet and spicy tasting adventure around the world, from local sourwood honey to firecracker hot. Your taste buds will be buzzing, Beelicious!
Did you know that it’s best to purchase local honey? Not only does it support the local economy, BUT it also supports your own body. Since bees are local pollinators, the raw honey produced from them can help your body adapt to the environment, build up immunity, and help ease those seasonal allergies!
I know sometimes you want to avoid souvenir-type shops for fear of entering tacky-ville, but the Asheville Emporium has a surprising number of cool local gifts. The perfect kind of travel souvenirs. They also have a section at the back where they print their own T-shirts, so cool to see that set up.
The Grove Arcade, where the aforementioned Battery Park Book Exchange + Champagne Bar is located, is located in an elegant historical building and is Downtown Asheville’s most popular mall for shopping and eating out. It’s the most beautiful building in Asheville, and is one of the reasons why the city is often referred to as the “Paris of the South” because it resembles one of Paris’s famous covered passages. You’ll find a variety of retail stores, eateries, our fave champagne bar mentioned above, and a daily artists market for local crafters.
Swoon, chocolate lovers. Asheville is filled with scrumptious local, hand-crafted chocolate. Check out the following chocolate places:
Another bookstore worth checking out is Malaprops, an independent bookstore and cafe that has a carefully curated selection of books for adults, children, and young adults. The café at the back has locally roasted coffee and some delicious pastries.
If you happen to be visiting on a weekend, don’t miss the weekly farmer’s market in Asheville. It’s open every Saturday morning from 9:00am – 12:00pm from April to December, and 10:00am – 1:00pm from January to March. The market occupies North Market Street between Woodfin and Walnut streets, and features stalls from over 1,000 farms and growers in the Appalachian region.
DOWNTOWN TOURS:
1. Discover Downtown Asheville’s noteworthy landmarks and architectural gems on this 2.5-hour guided tour of Asheville by electric bike, including downtown and greenways. Learn more here, and here is a 3-hour option.
2. A guided walking tour with a local guide focused on the city’s history, architecture, and culture. See more here.
On a previous visit, the girls participated in an art class, which is a fantastic thing to do in Asheville with kids. Not only does this allow you to experience art through a hands-on experience, but you also get to keep your handmade craft as a souvenir. Asheville is all about the Arts, so this is a great way to get to know the culture on a deeper level.
You will find various places in Downtown Asheville for art classes. The FiredUp Lounge has pottery/ceramics and painting classes and workshops. Looking for black-owned businesses in Asheville? Check out this guide from my friend Nadeen from The Sophisticated Life.
UPDATE: Finally, after Hurricane Helene, more than 70% of businesses and artists have returned to this area that was 80% wiped out! Yay. Because it’s awesome!
Speaking of arts, why not explore Asheville’s artsy neighborhood? It took me a while to warm up to The River Arts District because we’re not typically the art museum type of people. But as we soon discovered, this goes beyond the stuffy, quiet halls of a museum. This is a living, breathing local art space that invites interaction, sparks curiosity, and feeds creative inspiration.
Or at least it was, until much of this neighborhood was destroyed by floods caused by Hurricane Helene in January 2025. We hope that these creative spaces are able to rebuild, as the vibe here was incredible – it was all about community, keeping it local, and celebrating art in all forms. We know it will return, which is why we’re keeping this in our downtown Asheville guide – some things are open! From locally ground coffee shops to urban wine, farm-to-table restaurants, and community-built skate parks, creativity has always been the focus of the River Arts District in Downtown Asheville.
In its various media and forms, art adorns the walls, murals form the backsplashes to bars, and graffiti wraps around the revitalized warehouses and brick buildings of the region. This is not just one or two buildings dedicated to celebrating local artisans and a vibrant community spirit, but blocks of it that run alongside the French Broad River.
The district is divided into hubs that take up a block or two. Each hub is identified by a color, which is on the signs (and map) for each corresponding area. Within each hub, you’ll find studios, galleries, places to eat and drink, and live music venues.
The green and blue hubs have been badly damaged by the storm, but the orange, red, and purple blocks still have businesses operating.
READ OUR FULL GUIDE to the River Arts District in Asheville
On Patton Street in Downtown Asheville, you’ll find the Asheville Museum of Science, a popular attraction to go to with kids. We visited on a previous trip, and the girls loved feeling the full force of a wild storm in the Hurricane Simulator and exploring the cool crystals on display. Small enough to not bore the parents, and big enough to entertain the kids, the Asheville Science Museum is a good place to spend an hour or so – it’s more suited to the younger children!
We didn’t go as we’re not big art museum people, but many people have recommended the Asheville Art Museum to us. It contains a large collection of American art from the 20th & 21st centuries.
Another fun place in Asheville to go with kids is the Pinball Museum, which is another blast from the past. Upon entering, you’ll discover rows of over 70 vintage pinball machines, each one a colorful work of art. The museum is kind of like a children’s museum, with an interactive and hands-on approach, allowing you to actually play the machines, which makes it a hit with both kids and adults.
So, our coffee tasting experiences weren’t as mind-blowing as we’d expected (as Aussies, we are coffee snobs), and Asheville is often highly regarded for its coffee scene. Until our last day, when we found two stellar cups of coffee that we thought were worth sharing.
Ah, a real cup of coffee. I lingered over the first sip as it filled me up with coffee love warmth. Summit Coffee Co in the Grove Arcade will be your go-to coffee spot in Asheville. You can trust coffee that is responsibly sourced and roasted in small batches in their certified organic facility.
We visited the funky location in the River Arts District, but this location was sadly damaged in the hurricane and now has a coffee truck there instead.
Your first sip of Counter Culture roasted coffee will tell you that High Five Coffee’s barista’s have to pass tests before serving you up your favorite brew. Thank goodness we found High Five Coffee before leaving Asheville. You’ll find three locations in Asheville.
It seems like there are more Asheville breweries than there are Dublin pubs! In fact, there’s one brewery for every 50,000 people in Asheville! Every couple of feet, you’ll discover another one dedicated to showcasing the flavors of the Appalachian region. The beer scene is really the main reason to come here.
The good news is that many of them are family-friendly. More good news – they have a lot of cideries as well for those gluten-free drinkers. We didn’t visit as many on this trip, but we have previously. South Slope is a revitalized hip warehouse district and is where you’ll find many of the downtown Asheville breweries, as well as a growing number of restaurants and shops. Brewery crawls are easy here! This is one of Asheville’s best neighborhoods.
With a covered outdoor space and delicious pizzas, Asheville Brewing is a casual place to drop in, especially if traveling with kids. The gluten-free pizza here was probably the best we’ve had.
A legend in the North Carolina brewing world, Burial Beer is a must-stop on your Asheville brewery tour. We love the Raleigh location – especially their very cool Point Break mural. And here they have one featuring Sloth from the Goonies. Well, just look at the Sloth mural they have in their Asheville location. You’ll find a great outdoor space with heaters and a cool kombi van to sit in.
Another one of the more established breweries in Asheville is Hire-Wire Brewing, which now has locations in Durham and Knoxville. They love to brew traditional styles, and beer they want to drink!
Green Man is just a touch outside of downtown Asheville, but offers a terrific selection of beers that are true to style in a cool building, relaxing atmosphere, and great setup for outdoor seating (and indoors)!
BREWERY TOURS:
1. Discover which breweries are worth the hype on this Asheville brewery tour, which takes you to craft breweries with behind-the-scenes access and ample pours at each. Click here to learn more.
2. Cycle (on an e-bike) to five of Asheville’s most popular microbreweries, enjoying a drink (or two) at each location. Click here to learn more.
We walked through the nondescript green door of the Crow & Quill with the light above it of what looked like an abandoned building. It creaked open, and we were greeted by a modern gothic looking bar tender. I felt like I had stepped into the shadowy underworld of Ketterdam from Shadow and Bone.
The dimly lit room was filled with antique furniture, art on the walls, and an elaborate array of whiskeys from around the world and other spirits such as rums, mezcals, and gins (700 in total). They are known for their expertly created craft cocktails. Proof of vaccination is required. The Crow and Quill is a uniquely cool Asheville Speakeasy Bar.
We walked past the windows of Jack of the Wood and saw the Irish band playing in the corner, and knew it was a place we wanted to come back to. Anything to give us a taste of Dublin, our once home for a year that we miss so much!
Well, we returned the next evening on a Sunday when the amps were turned off, and the city was almost empty! We pulled up a seat at the bar and enjoyed a drink anyway. No Guinness for me as I’m avoiding gluten – but let’s face it, no bar in the world can quite do Guinness like they do in Dublin. But we enjoyed a local craft brew, a delicious cider from Urban Orchard Cidery that tasted just like Thanksgiving, and a chat with the bartender.
The fine dining and foodie scene in Asheville is another reason to come here – it landed at number 1 in our list of North Carolina’s best foodie destinations. Many of the restaurants offer farm-to-table cuisine, which, of course, you would, when your produce is grown right next door in the Appalachians! We love how Asheville has lots of independent restaurants, too. It feels like every penny you spend here goes to the local community and small businesses that work hard to offer something unique and special. Here are some of our favorite restaurants…
Like the meal I had only days before at The Local in Boone, NC, I wanted complete silence when eating my gluten-free biscuit so that I could savor the delicious flavors.
The Rhu knows how to make a fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth biscuit. The cafe, bakery, and pantry also have sandwiches, bagels, chocolate croissants, pastries, and their own loaves of bread.
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