Trade & Lore

Asheville


Deft baristas dole out serious java in this trendy downtown coffeehouse, drowning in industrial cool but leavened by occasional fits of vintage furniture. Espresso comes courtesy of a top-end La Marzocco machine, and there are four beer taps for lovers of another tipple.

The all-gender bathrooms are a tongue-in-cheek dig at state government.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Asheville attractions

1. Asheville Pinball Museum

0.12 MILES

A veritable time machine, this downtown treat transports gamers back to the much-lamented pinball arcades of yesteryear. With stock ranging from vintage…

2. Asheville Art Museum

0.25 MILES

The glass-fronted West Wing is a showstopping introduction to this downtown museum, which is looking sleek after a $24 million renovation that added 70%…

3. Thomas Wolfe Memorial

0.33 MILES

An incongruous survivor of old Asheville, this downtown clapboard structure was the childhood home of Look Homeward, Angel author Thomas Wolfe (1900–38)…

4. Biltmore Estate

3.73 MILES

Charmed by Asheville's natural beauty, shipping and railroad heir George Washington Vanderbilt II decided to build a summer home modeled after three…

5. Folk Art Center

4.17 MILES

Part gallery, part store, and wholly dedicated to Southern craftsmanship, the superb Folk Art Center stands directly off the Blue Ridge Pkwy, 6 miles east…

6. Mount Mitchell State Park

19.71 MILES

A major decision awaits visitors to North Carolina’s original state park. Will you drive up Mount Mitchell, at 6684ft the highest peak east of the…

7. Cradle of Forestry in America

21.01 MILES

The spot where scientific forestry management was first attempted in the US, financed by George Vanderbilt back in 1895, is now a showcase for the Forest…

8. Chimney Rock Park

21.04 MILES

The stupendous 315ft monolith known as Chimney Rock towers above the slender, forested valley of the Rocky Broad River, a gorgeous 28-mile drive southeast…