Asheville to Nashville Family Road Trip

The route between the smokey mountains of Asheville, N.C., and the bright lights of Nashville, Tenn., is perfect for a short family road trip, offering nature, history, adventure, and entertainment. If you’re planning a summer road trip or looking ahead to the fall, here are some tips for driving Asheville to Nashville.

When visiting Asheville, NC, you can’t miss the Biltmore. Walk through “America’s Largest Home” with their excellent self-guided audio tour, and you’ll feel as though you have truly experienced what it was like to live there, as the rich and famous Vanderbilt family did in the early 1900s. The opulence of the estate is mind-boggling, and it’s fascinating to learn how many people it takes to run a 250-room chateau. After touring the home, enjoy the stunning, expansive gardens, the winery, and the farm, or spend time hiking, biking, kayaking, horseback riding and more on the 8,000 acre estate. Rentals are available.

Where to eat: Travel writers Leigh Powell Hines of HinesSight Blog and Karon Warren of All Things Lifestyle and This Girl Travels concur that Early Girl Eatery is the place to go when you get hungry. They offer a “farm to table southern comfort food experience.”

Where to stay: Hines says that staying at the Inn on Biltmore is “pricey, but a great experience, even for the kids.” She also recommends the Grove Park Inn for a resort experience, and the Doubletree Asheville-Biltmore.

Get up the next day and drive into Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Don’t miss Cades Cove, an 11-mile loop with several opportunities to pull off and explore historic buildings, hiking, wildlife and the smokey-blue scenery for which the mountains are famous.

Your road trip will then take turn into what I call “tourist trap heaven” as you head into the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. Love it or hate it, this strip (Route 71/441, aka Pigeon Forge Parkway) offers some of the most unique tourist attractions I’ve ever seen. You’ll find an Elvis museum, Titanic museum, adventure golf, comedy shows, go-karts/action parks, wax museum, magic shows, sporting/adventure outfitters, helicopter rides, dude ranches, dinner theater (Dixie Stampede, Murder-Mystery, Lumberjack Feud) – even a breakfast theater! – and a bajillion places to buy your souvenir T-shirt. If you have a couple days to spend in the area and you want to visit an amusement park, there’s the famous Dollywood – Dolly Parton’s theme park. Nearby Gatlinburg has several Ripley’s attractions and a quaint area called The Village where you can stroll and eat.

Where to eat: Warren recommends the Alamo Steakhouse in Gatlinburg. And don’t miss The Donut Friar for a snack to take on the road. Kerrie Mendoza of Family Food and Travel says their donuts were “absolutely the most amazing donuts” she ever had.

Where to stay: The Bearskin Lodge has all the mountain charm you are looking for, and a great location right at the entrance to Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Continuing your road trip west to Knoxville, Tenn., you can stop at The Muse Knoxville, a discovery museum for kids, or the Knoxville Zoo. Both are perfect options for a half-day stretch of the legs.

Where to eat & stay: In Knoxville, Mendoza suggests the Hilton Garden Inn, and Warren recommends eating at The Plaid Apron.

Your next stop is BurgessFalls State Park in Sparta, Tenn., which is called “Hiker’s Heaven” because of its excellent trails and spectacular waterfalls. There are several waterfalls in the area if you want to put together your own waterfall tour. At night, check out the Sparta Drive-In Theater. The kids will love it!

From Sparta, you’re about two hours from Nashville, the final destination on your Asheville to Nashville family road trip. Nashville is tons of fun, and you can read more about what to do in Nashville with kids right here at This Girl Travels.