A Christmas Carriage Ride at Biltmore

January 3, 2024

Visiting Biltmore Estate is my favorite holiday tradition. I was four years old the first time I laid eyes on Vanderbilt’s 250-room castle, and it’s been a love affair ever since. Biltmore, which holds the title of America’s Largest Home, is always beautiful but especially shines when decorated for Christmas. Since that first trip in 2000, my mom and I have toured the mansion many times. This year, I wanted to surprise her with something we’d never done before: a Christmas carriage ride at Biltmore.

Picnic with a View

I wanted to make a full day of the experience for my mom, so we began our visit with a picnic lunch on the vista overlooking the east facade of Biltmore. From that location, you have a stunning view of the Châteauesque mansion juxtaposed against the expansive Blue Ridge mountain range. (An estate employee told us you can get married in this exact spot for a cool $100,000!)

Carriage Ride

After a leisurely lunch, we headed to the main event, driving north on the estate to the Deerpark Carriage and Trail Ride Barn. We checked in and observed the horses in their barn to pass the time until our carriage arrived.

Biltmore offers a variety of styles and durations for carriage rides, ranging from 30-minute 12-passenger rides to hour-long private carriage rides. Ours was an hour-long excursion in a six-person vis-a-vis carriage.

We trotted along wooded paths, soothed by the repetitive clip-clops of the horses’ hooves. Our tour guide Kate enthusiastically detailed our horses’ personalities and answered our questions about the estate’s equestrian program. I enjoyed learning that there are roughly 40 horses in the program at any given time, and all of the Belgian draft horses that pull the carriages come from an Amish breeder-trainer in Ohio.

After traversing the trails for a while, the guide led us to an incredible, rarely-seen view of the house’s west facade. As a bonus surprise, we were allowed to get out of the carriage at this point, take pictures of the view, and pet the horses. Melvin the horse, whom our guide explained has a reputation for mischief, took a liking to me, boisterously insisting I continue to pet him. The guide showed me how Melvin likes the inside of his ears scratched with your knuckles. While I didn’t expect to have my hand that deep in a horse’s ear, I was tickled by this interaction. It made the experience that much more magical. At the end of the ride, my mom and I were giddy. The Christmas carriage ride at Biltmore surpassed all of our expectations!

Drinks & Dinner

We then made our way to Antler Village, perusing the shops and stopping to enjoy a glass of sauvignon blanc at the winery. To close out the day, we exited Biltmore Estate and had dinner at nearby The Cantina at Biltmore Village. There are a plethora of upscale dining options in Asheville (I highly recommend a meal on the Sunset Terrace at the Grove Park Inn), but my mom loves Mexican food so a lowkey Mexican dinner was the perfect end to our trip. I am grateful for such a special day of quality time with my mom spent in one of my favorite places!

Outfit Details

My goal was to dress like I owned the estate, ha! Really, I wanted to be festive and warm. The plaid coat (similar option) was love at first sight. It’s not particularly thick, but I was determined to make it work, layering three shirts underneath for maximum warmth. Since my ears are always cold, I had a vision of a black faux fur headband that would be functional and fashionable. Finding what I was picturing was a challenge, but ultimately, this faux fur headband by Levivel 1206 fit the bill (similar option).