North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate offers a variety of ways for visitors to enjoy the house, the gardens, the winery, and more. But most people overlook the carriage rides available over at the estate’s carriage barn. But the 30, 60, and 90-minute carriage rides each offer rare opportunities to see the estate from various vantage points on the property. There are no other carriage rides in North Carolina quite like those at the Biltmore.
And while the carriages don’t actually roll right up on the front lawn of America’s castle, the tours take visitors over rarely traveled roads of the country estate. On a Biltmore carriage tour, you may feel a bit like royalty as you get some extraordinary, seldom seen views of the Biltmore House.
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Seeing the estate’s carriage and horse barns are a bonus of taking a carriage ride tour. The majestic, wooden barn and the surrey carriages are lovely reminders of the opulence found over in the Biltmore House.
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The 30 and 60-minute tours each offer different routes. On the 30-minute tour, you’ll have stunning long-range views of the Biltmore House and then stop for a chance to meet the Belgian horses that rotate into the job of pulling the estate’s carriages.
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Belgians are also commonly referred to as draft horses, and the Belgians that live and work at the Biltmore Estate are astoundingly beautiful creatures standing nearly six feet high and weighing in at nearly 2,000 pounds.
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They’re perfectly suited for pulling your carriage for a leisurely ride around the scarcely traveled roads of the rolling Biltmore countryside.
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On the 60-minute carriage ride in North Carolina, visitors board a plush limo carriage for a ride around the estate and a rare look at the west facade of the Biltmore House. There is also an option for a 90-minute private carriage ride for up to four guests. On it, you’ll tour much of the private estate by way of carriage and may even feel like a guest arriving to visit the Biltmores more than century ago.
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The carriage and horse barns also offer horseback tours of the Biltmore countryside. (More information on horseback tours can be found here.)
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Carriage tours at the Biltmore are offered seven days a week, however, 60-minute carriage rides are only offered on Saturday and Sunday. The cost of the 30-minute tour are $30/person (one child under 5 may ride for free with each paying adult). The 60-minute tour costs $65/person (one child under 5 may ride for free with each paying adult). The private 90-minute tours for up to four people cost $350. All carriage rides must be scheduled in advance by calling (800) 411-3812. The prices above are in addition to the cost of admission into the Biltmore Estate. For more information on carriage rides at the Biltmore, see this link on the official website.
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Biltmore Estate Carriage and Trail Ride Barns Address: 1 Approach Road, Asheville, NC, 28803
While you’re at the Bilmtore Estate, don’t pass up the chance to go inside this impressive building!
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