Getting Ready for the Smoky Mountain Tour

Photo Credit: Tim Suddard

We just spent most of the last week finalizing our Smoky Mountain Tour for 2023, so we wanted to give you a quick update on what it looks like.

This year’s Smoky Mountain Tour will be based in the heart of Asheville, North Carolina, with the Renaissance Asheville Downtown as our host hotel.

Asheville is both a foodie paradise and a brew pub mecca, so our food choices for this tour are absolutely out of this world. We think you’ll love the restaurants we have chosen, as well as the fact that they are all within walking distance of the hotel.

Downtown Asheville is also a shopper’s paradise, with antiquing, art and culinary opportunities galore.

Photo Credit: Tim Suddard

As for driving roads, the Blue Ridge Parkway will be all around us, and we’ll spend plenty of time exploring its famous waterfalls and vistas. We’ll also drive “The Rattler” - with 290 curves over about 24-miles, this stretch of road is more than twice as long as its more-famous cousin, “The Tail of the Dragon”. More importantly, “The Rattler” has not become an ultra-famous destination road (yet), so traffic is less of a problem.

How uncrowded is it? Well, we came upon only a single slower-moving car during our entire trip.

We’ve also been invited to the BMW Performance Center, where we’ll tour The Zentrum, BMW’s public museum, and get a special tour of the private collection of famous BMW, Mini and other cars that BMW has kept hidden away over the years.

Photo Credit: Tim Suddard

Other planned highlights include:

  • A visit to an area dubbed “Little Switzerland” to revel in great roads and amazing views.

  • The Prescott Reserve, a facility home to some of the greatest cars in the Smoky Mountains.

  • Leisurely scenic hikes to some of the most beautiful waterfalls in North America.

Our Smoky Mountain Tour is scheduled for June 4-9th this year, and there are still a couple of spots remaining. If you’d like to register to join us, now is the perfect time. The registration deadline is May 4th.