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Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the Asheville night-time ghost walk, 2) the historic downtown e-bike tour, 3) the Blue Ridge Parkway and waterfall hiking tour, 4) the hop-on-hop-off trolley, 5) the LaZoom comedy sightseeing bus, 6) the South Slope brewery walking tour, 7) the Biltmore Estate and gardens, 8) the River Arts District studios and murals, 9) whitewater rafting on the French Broad River and 10) the Gorge zipline canopy tour in Saluda.

Plan three days. Day one: the Biltmore Estate — book the earliest house entry, then the gardens, the winery tasting and Antler Hill Village. Day two: the Blue Ridge Parkway north to Craggy Gardens and Mount Mitchell, or south to Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock. Day three: downtown’s Art Deco architecture and shops, the River Arts District, a brewery tour and the ghost walk or LaZoom after dark. A fourth day allows Chimney Rock or the Smokies.

The Blue Ridge Parkway itself, with the Folk Art Center, the Craggy Gardens rhododendron trail (peak mid-June) and the summit of Mount Mitchell; Looking Glass Falls beside the road in Pisgah National Forest; downtown’s Urban Trail and the Grove Arcade; the River Arts District galleries; the Friday drum circle in Pritchard Park; the Basilica of St. Lawrence; the Botanical Gardens at Asheville; and the lobby and sunset terrace of the Omni Grove Park Inn.

The Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell (one hour) or Graveyard Fields and Devil’s Courthouse (one hour); the waterfalls of Pisgah National Forest — Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock (45 minutes) — and DuPont State Forest (one hour); Chimney Rock and Lake Lure (45 minutes); the Great Smoky Mountains and Cherokee (90 minutes); Grandfather Mountain and Linville Falls (90 minutes); Hot Springs (one hour) and the town of Black Mountain (20 minutes). Guided Parkway hiking tours cost about $112–150.

The Friday-night drum circle in Pritchard Park, a ghost walk or the LaZoom comedy ghost bus, the breweries of the South Slope (Burial, Wicked Weed, Hi-Wire) and Highland’s rooftop, live music at the Orange Peel and the Grey Eagle, rooftop cocktails at the Sky Bar and Capella on 9, the Sunset Terrace at the Grove Park Inn, and Asheville Pinball Museum. In summer there are outdoor concerts at Salvage Station and Rabbit Rabbit.

Christmas at Biltmore, with candlelight evenings in the decorated house, runs from early November to early January and is the most popular time of year on the estate; the North Carolina Arboretum’s Winter Lights and the Grove Park Inn’s gingerbread-house display join it. Breweries, restaurants and the River Arts District are cosy year-round; high sections of the Parkway close after snow, but Cataloochee and Beech Mountain ski areas are one to two hours away.

The WNC Nature Center’s bears and wolves, the Biltmore’s gardens and Antler Hill farmyard, Sliding Rock’s natural waterslide in summer, tubing on the French Broad, the Asheville Pinball Museum, Chimney Rock’s elevator and waterfall trail, Grandfather Mountain’s mile-high swinging bridge, the LaZoom kids’ comedy tour, the drum circle and the miniature train at the Asheville Museum of Science.

October, when the Blue Ridge colour peaks in the middle of the month, and May to June, for waterfalls, rhododendrons and mild days. Summer is busy and warm but rarely hot at altitude. Winter is quiet apart from Christmas at Biltmore, with occasional snow and Parkway closures.

Yes — the 250-room house, Frederick Law Olmsted’s gardens, the winery and the 8,000-acre grounds make it the most visited attraction in North Carolina, and a full day is easily spent. Tickets are expensive, so buy in advance online for the lowest price, book the first house entry of the morning and add the rooftop or behind-the-scenes tour if you love architecture.