A Family Day in Asheville: Where to Take Kids

At a glance

• Where: Asheville, North Carolina: downtown, the Blue Ridge Parkway at mileposts 382-384, West Asheville and Biltmore Estate
• Best for: Ages 3-12 for the museums, all ages for the Parkway, Biltmore and downtown parks
• Cost: Free options (Blue Ridge Parkway, Pack Square Park, Grove Arcade browsing); paid museums and Biltmore tickets; check each official site
• Hours: Typically 10 or 11 AM to 5 or 6 PM for the museums, with different closed days (Tuesday is the common one); confirm before you go
• Parking: Free lots on the Parkway, free with a Biltmore ticket, metered street spaces and decks downtown

The easiest family day in Asheville, North Carolina, is a loop that starts on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Folk Art Center, drops into downtown for lunch and one indoor attraction, and ends before anyone melts down. Biltmore Estate deserves its own day. Everything below is inside Asheville or carries an Asheville address, and we flag the picks that sit on the city's edge.

If you only have an hour of planning in you, read the age guide just below and the route near the end. Those two sections cover most of what you need for things to do in Asheville with kids.

Which places suit which ages?

Museum of Science, the Pinball Museum and Splasheville suit the 3-12 range best, while the Parkway, Grove Arcade and Biltmore work for every age, including babies in carriers.

• Toddlers and under-fives: Pack Square Park and its splashpad, the Folk Art Center lobby, the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, and the Biltmore Farmyard.
• Ages 5 to 10: Asheville Museum of Science, the Wells Fargo Art PLAYce at the Asheville Art Museum, Asheville Pinball Museum.
• Tweens and teens: Pinball, the Urban Trail scavenger hunt, Biltmore Antler Hill Village and the Parkway overlooks.

Where do you start? Four anchors

Biltmore Estate

Biltmore Estate, at 1 Lodge Street near Biltmore Village, is open 365 days a year, with hours that change by season. It is the big-ticket item: plan a full day, not a corner of one.

For families the money detail matters. Biltmore's ticketing page says kids ages 9 and under are free on House and Grounds and Grounds-only tickets, with a discount for ages 16 and under, and parking is free with any ticket. Annual Pass holders 16 and under are free in the daytime. Prices vary by date and season, so use the official Biltmore site to price your day.

For small kids, skip the mansion rush and go to the working Farmyard and Antler Hill Village and Winery, both on the estate. If you want to cover ground without strollers or tired legs, the Biltmore Connect shuttle is listed at $15 per person per day with kids riding free; Biltmore's own pages give different age cutoffs for the free ride, so confirm when you book. The estate's address is Asheville; the official pages do not state whether the property sits inside the city limits, so we treat it as an Asheville address at the edge of town. Nearby Biltmore Village is the easy base for a snack.

Blue Ridge Parkway, Milepost 384 Visitor Center

The Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center at Milepost 384 in Asheville is open year-round, closed only on Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1, according to the National Park Service. It is a low-pressure first stop with maps, rangers and room to run, and the National Park Service charges no fee to travel the Parkway.

The Parkway runs 469 miles, according to the National Park Service, and a short piece of it passes right through Asheville. Hours vary, so call 828-348-3400 or check the National Park Service page for conditions and road construction before you drive, because sections of the Parkway can close for weather or repairs.

Folk Art Center

The Folk Art Center, at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, with craft demonstrations in the lobby from 10 AM to 4 PM from March through December. Kids love watching a weaver or broom maker at work.

Inside is the Allanstand Craft Shop, which the Southern Highland Craft Guild says opened in 1895 and is nationally recognized as the oldest craft shop in America. A good rule for kids under eight: do the lobby, the shop and the outdoor grounds, skip the galleries. The Folk Art Center official page does not state whether admission is free, so check before you go. The mailing address is in Asheville; the page does not say where the city line falls.

Asheville Art Museum

The Asheville Art Museum, at 2 South Pack Square downtown, is typically open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 6 PM and closed Monday and Tuesday. Kids under 6 are free, ages 6 to 17 pay a reduced rate, and Buncombe County residents get a discount.

The Wells Fargo Art PLAYce is a makerspace for adults and children together, open during museum hours. It is the right place to burn forty-five minutes after lunch. The museum has no parking of its own, so use the downtown decks or metered street spaces. See the museum's official site for current ticket prices.

What else is worth the stop?

Asheville Museum of Science

Asheville Museum of Science, at 43 Patton Avenue downtown, is built for ages 3 to 12, with dinosaur fossils and space exhibits. It is typically open Monday and Wednesday to Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM, Sunday from 1 to 5 PM, and closed Tuesday. Admission is listed at $11.50 for ages 3 and up, free for ages 2 and under, and $5 with EBT or SNAP. It also runs Five and Under mornings, so check the official site for dates. Plan about 90 minutes.

Asheville Pinball Museum

Asheville Pinball Museum, at 1 Battle Square downtown, charges one flat price for unlimited play that day, listed at $17, and non-playing companions are free. That makes it a good pick when one kid wants to play and a grandparent just wants a seat. It has about 40 pinball machines and 40 classic video games, and it keeps a waitlist when full. Hours differ by day and Tuesday is typically closed, so verify on the official site. There is no dedicated lot, so use metered street spaces or a deck.

Pack Square Park and Splasheville

Pack Square Park, at 80 Court Plaza downtown, is open 6 AM to 10 PM daily, according to the City of Asheville. The Splasheville splashpad, restrooms, a fountain and seven stations of the Asheville Urban Trail are inside it. The city page gives no splashpad season, so check the City of Asheville park page before you pack swim gear.

The Urban Trail is a self-guided 1.7-mile loop of 30 sculptural stations, and Explore Asheville says it takes about two hours and offers an audio tour and a scavenger hunt. Do not try the whole loop with little kids: pick the stations around the park and stop.

Grove Arcade

Grove Arcade, at 1 Page Avenue downtown, is a rainy-day anchor. Building hours are typically Monday to Saturday 9 AM to 7 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM, with merchant hours varying. The arcade says E. W. Grove built it in 1928 and designed it to be America's first indoor shopping mall. Browsing is free. Parking is metered street spaces or one of the nearby downtown garages. See the Grove Arcade site for family events.

Where do you eat with kids?

Biscuit Head and Pack's Tavern are our two confirmed, easy options.

Biscuit Head serves biscuits and gravy from 8 AM to 2 PM daily, per its official site, at 733 Haywood Road in West Asheville, plus 417 Biltmore Avenue and 1994 Hendersonville Road. The site has no separate kids menu and says to ask about kid-friendly options. Go early: an 8 AM table avoids the wait, and the shop is closed after 2 PM.

Pack's Tavern, at 20 South Spruce Street beside Pack Square Park, is open seven days a week, typically 11:30 AM to 10 PM Monday to Thursday, 11 AM to 11 PM Friday and Saturday, and 11 AM to 10 PM Sunday. Its website does not mention a kids menu, so ask when you sit down. Its location is the point: lunch, then the splashpad or the Art Museum is a two-minute walk.

Where do you park?

The Parkway stops are free lots, Biltmore parking is free with a ticket, and downtown means metered street spaces or decks.

Park once in Downtown and walk. Pack Square Park, Pack's Tavern, the Art Museum, the Pinball Museum and Grove Arcade are all within a few blocks, and the Urban Trail connects them. Expect to pay at meters or in a deck, and check the city's rules for the current payment app.

What does a full-day route look like?

This route works Wednesday to Saturday, when every stop is open, and leaves the car mostly parked after the Parkway.

1. 8:00 AM, Biscuit Head, West Asheville. Breakfast before the 2 PM close, and before the line.
2. 9:45 AM, Folk Art Center, Milepost 382. Park free, watch the lobby demonstrations from 10 AM.
3. 11:00 AM, Parkway Visitor Center, Milepost 384. Two miles up the road. Ask a ranger for a short, stroller-friendly stop.
4. 12:15 PM, park downtown and eat at Pack's Tavern.
5. 1:30 PM, Pack Square Park or the Art Museum's Art PLAYce. Splashpad if it is running and warm, makerspace if not.
6. 3:00 PM, Asheville Museum of Science or Asheville Pinball Museum. Pick one. The Science museum closes at 5 PM.
7. 4:30 PM, Grove Arcade. Short walk, no tickets, easy to leave.

When should you call it a day?

The short answer is earlier than you think, and these four rules keep the day ending on a high note.

• Head out of downtown before the after-work rush, around 5 PM.
• Leave the museums at the first meltdown, not the second.
• Biltmore is a separate day: arrive at opening, do the Farmyard and Antler Hill Village, and skip the house if anyone is under six.
• Check the National Park Service page the morning you drive the Parkway.

How did we choose these picks?

We checked each of the ten places on its own official site for hours, admission and location, and kept only places with an Asheville address that suit a day with kids. Hours and prices change, so confirm on each official site before you go.

Last verified: November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best things to do in Asheville with kids?

The most useful family stops are Biltmore Estate, the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center and Folk Art Center, Asheville Museum of Science, Asheville Pinball Museum and Pack Square Park downtown. Pick two or three per day rather than trying to see everything.

Is Biltmore Estate good for kids?

Yes. Biltmore Estate lists free House and Grounds and Grounds-only tickets for kids ages 9 and under, and it has a working Farmyard and Antler Hill Village on the estate. Prices vary by season, so check the official Biltmore site.

Which Asheville museums are best for young children?

Asheville Museum of Science is built for ages 3 to 12, and the Asheville Art Museum has the Wells Fargo Art PLAYce, a makerspace for adults and children together. The Art Museum is free for children under 6.

Are there free things to do with kids in Asheville?

Yes. The National Park Service charges no fee to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway or stop at its Visitor Center at Milepost 384, and Pack Square Park and browsing Grove Arcade downtown cost nothing. Watching the lobby craft demonstrations at the Folk Art Center is an easy add, but check its official page for admission.

Where should you park downtown with kids in Asheville?

Park once in a downtown deck or at a metered street space and walk. Pack Square Park, the Asheville Art Museum, Asheville Pinball Museum and Grove Arcade are within a few blocks of each other.