Asheville Downtown Walking Tour: Beer Tasting & Local Arts

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/34

Duration2h

GroupUp to 17

LanguagesEN · FR +1

Mobile ticketAccepted

Two Hours in Asheville's Weirdest Corners, Plus Beer

You walk two hours through Asheville's downtown with a local guide, stopping at Grove Arcade, the Basilica, and Leaf Global Arts Center. You taste local beer and spirits, get a discount map for the rest of your stay, and receive free artwork shipped to your home. The private option includes the Prohibition-era tunnels under Pack's Tavern. You pay what you think it's worth at the end.

Step-by-step itinerary

Asheville walking tour and tastings

Walk through Grove Arcade
Discuss Pack Square history and architecture
Walk down Patton and Haywood roads
Follow Urban Trail with local tastings
Taste Salt Face Mule beverage
Discuss artwork at historic structure
Pass African-American Cultural Venue
Pass Wall Street to Pritchard Park
Enjoy free popcorn at quaint shop

The Experience

You're standing in front of Grove Arcade on a Saturday afternoon, and your guide casually mentions the tunnels underneath Pack's Tavern—the ones used during Prohibition—and suddenly you realize this isn't going to be a generic downtown walking tour. The Asheville downtown walking tour runs for two hours, and it moves fast enough that you're never standing around, but slow enough that you actually absorb what's happening. Your local guide walks you along the Urban Trail, hitting the S&W Cafeteria, the Basilica of St Lawrence, and Pritchard Park where the drum circle happens on weekends. The whole thing is tip-based, which means you pay what you think it's worth when you're done—no awkward pricing upfront.

What makes this different from other city tours is the stuff they hand you: a map with actual discounts all over town, free artwork from a local artist (they ship it to your house later), and tastings from places like Twisted Laurel and Archetype. If you book the 2pm slot, you get to try a Salt Face Mule, which is a local thing that tastes like it sounds. You'll stop inside Leaf Global Arts Center for a proper look around, grab a donut from Underground Cafe, and the guide explains how Asheville went from a regular mountain town to the quirky arts hub it is now—the "Keep Asheville Weird" part isn't just a slogan, it's actually baked into how the city operates. The private tour option gets you into those Prohibition tunnels at Pack's Tavern, which is the kind of detail that makes the difference between a tour you forget and one you mention to people for months.

The route itself is walkable for most people—it's downtown, it's flat, and the pace is steady rather than rushed. You'll pass Wall Street, loop through the Arts District, and end up with popcorn at a local shop. If you're doing the public tour, it's in English; private tours can be in Spanish, Portuguese, or French if you book ahead. The whole experience is designed around not having to figure out where to eat or what's worth seeing—your guide handles that, and the discount map keeps working after the tour ends.

What’s included

Your two-hour tour includes a guided walk along the Urban Trail with stops at Grove Arcade, Pack Square, the Basilica of St Lawrence, and Leaf Global Arts Center.
You'll taste local beer at Twisted Laurel and Archetype, sample a Salt Face Mule (2pm tours only), enjoy a donut from Underground Cafe, and receive free popcorn at a local shop.
A discount map for restaurants and bars across town comes with your tour, and a piece of free artwork from a local artist will be shipped to your home.
Private tours add access to the Prohibition tunnels under Pack's Tavern and can be conducted in Spanish, Portuguese, or French.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Asheville Free Walking Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Asheville's actual downtown without planning each stop yourself—the guide handles the history, the tastings, and the recommendations, and the discount map keeps working after you're done. The tip-based format means you're not locked into a price before you know if it's worth it.