Smoky Mountain Tour Itinerary:
Here’s where we went in 2023 - Stay tuned for the itinerary for 2025
Day 1: Sunday
Relax, unwind and enjoy the mountain air and lovely amenities at the Renaissance Asheville Downtown.
After everyone has a chance to unpack and freshen up, we’ll head to an outdoor dinner with cocktails and a stunning mountain backdrop.
Day 2: Monday
We’ll start our day heading to Chimney Rock State Park, site of the Chimney Rock Hillclimb races from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. Here we’ll stop to take a group photo and enjoy the natural surroundings.
From Chimney Rock, we’ll head to the Lake Lure Marina for a boat ride on Lake Lure, followed by lunch at the Lake Lure Inn.
From Lake Lure, we’ll travel to Prescott Auto Reserve, North Carolina’s largest luxury car storage facility and auto club, for a tour.
From the Reserve, we’ll head back to the hotel to enjoy a happy hour together in the parking lot before freshening up for dinner.
Dinner tonight will be at one of our favorite places: Pack’s Tavern. Located just a couple of hundred yards from the hotel, we can walk over, grab a cold beer on tap and enjoy some great southern cooking.
Day 3: Tuesday
Today’s routes are brought to you by the letters B, M and W! We’ll head southeast towards Greer, South Carolina, famous for being the headquarters of the BMW Performance Center.
We’ll enjoy lunch at the BMW Performance Center before heading off to The Zentrum, BMW’s public museum, where we’ll get a special tour of the private collection of famous BMW, Mini and other cars that BMW has kept hidden away over the years.
Finally, we’ll make our way to the BMW-CCA Foundation’s The Ultimate Driving Museum.
We’ll return to the hotel, enjoy our parking lot happy hour, and have some time to freshen up before heading to dinner at Brasilia Currasco Steakhouse.
Day 4: Wednesday
We’ll begin our day on highway 209. Known as “The Rattler”, this 32.7-mile stretch has become famous for being longer, more thrilling and less crowded than the “Tail of the Dragon”.
Our first stop will be at Mt. Mitchell State Park, where we can take in the breathtaking views from an observation deck at the highest point east of the Mississippi River.
We’ll stop for lunch in the quaint town of Little Switzerland, a popular destination for all kinds of people driving and hiking along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Rattler ends in Hot Springs, an eclectic little mountain town that has the Appalachian Trail running right through its main street. We have a brief stop planned here so that you can stretch your legs and use the facilities as we head back to the hotel.
We’ll return to our host resort and have our usual parking lot happy hour gathering before we part ways. Dinner tonight is your choice - feel free to explore Downtown Asheville or relax for the evening at the hotel.
Day 5: Thursday
For our final day we’ll head out on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We’ll travel more than 50 miles miles on this iconic driving road and enjoy the views and frequent overlooks.
We’ll stop in Maggie Valley to visit the Wheels Through Time car and motorcycle collection and enjoy a boxed lunch.
From there, we’ll head back to the resort for our farewell dinner on the 12th floor with incredible views of the city.
Day 6: Friday
We’ll enjoy breakfast at the hotel before checking out and parting ways (until next time).