Hoo boy, this headline from islands.com sure stirred up some discussion last week: “North Carolina’s Tourist Trap In Asheville Was Given The Unfavorable Title Of Most Overpriced In The World.”

Not exactly the kind of PR the famed Biltmore Estate is used to getting. 

The islands.com reporter based her clickbait headline on a dubious paid advertisement designed to look like a USA Today story. In the USA Today advertisement, the Biltmore Estate wasn’t even in the top ten.

It appears the goal wasn’t fairness but an urge to get tongues wagging and keyboard warriors tapping, with plenty of folks jumping on the bandwagon to bash the Biltmore, the area’s 8,000-acre mega-attraction, including the 250-room Chateauesque mansion that George Vanderbilt completed in 1895. It’s safe to say that the estate has generated plenty of chin-wagging and insults ever since construction, along with some love and appreciation.

It seems some folks don’t like how Vanderbilt snatched up all the land around here, with his acquisitions at one point stretching from the estate to Mount Pisgah. Hey, it was a little showy.

But ever since March 1930, when the house opened to the public as a tourist attraction — at the request of the Great Depression-strapped City of Asheville — it’s been one of the main draws to the region. As a private residence and working estate, it struggled mightily early on to turn a profit, becoming the true juggernaut we know today only after the winery opened in 1985.

Some locals love to hate on the Biltmore Estate, and I understand some of the griping — it does extract your wallet and shakes out your change purse upon entry — but I’m not one of the haters. Full disclosure: My wife and I are…gasp!…annual passholders.

We’ve let it lapse some years, as it’s $189 on sale, but we generally mosey back to Mr. Vanderbilt’s little oasis because it is one darn pleasant place to visit. We ride bikes there, walk the trails and gardens, stroll around the bass pond and catch the bands in Antler Hill Village on the weekends, while enjoying a bottle of wine.

It’s a nice experience, and if you go four or five times a year it’s a pretty decent bargain. Lately it hasn’t been as crowded, as all tourism is down, and that makes the experience a little nicer.

Reading the islands.com article gives an entirely different impression. It starts thusly:

“A visit to the Vatican Museums costs $23. A trip to Hearst Castle runs $35. An outing at the Palace of Versailles, including access to its spellbinding and labyrinthine gardens, will set you back $37. If you think any of these admission prices are whoppers, brace yourself for the eye-watering cost of entry to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. The average cost of a ticket starts at $80. It’s no wonder the Gilded Age country home of George Vanderbilt, scion of the wealthy Vanderbilt family, turned up on USA Today’s list of the “Most Overpriced Attractions Worldwide.”

I’m not sure if the writer actually visited the estate, or Asheville, as she also notes, “If you’re not into the Biltmore’s steep ticket prices, you can visit other great estates in the area. Grovewood Village is a historic arts and crafts destination boasting some impressive Biltmore lineage.” She explains that it was an industrial development that flourished under Vanderbilt’s attention, but it’s definitely not an estate.

She also mentions the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, which is an estate owned by the National Park System, albeit one with a fairly plain house and just 264 acres of land, although the author states you can “marvel at 30 acres of stunning natural scenery featuring placid lakes and miles of hiking trails.” 

That made me a bit skeptical of the report’s veracity.

The Biltmore responds: ‘Expensive’ does not mean ‘overpriced’

As you might imagine, the Biltmore Estate was less than enthused about the piece.

“The June 16, 2025 Islands.com article pulled information from an article that was first published in October 2023 in USA Today’s Blueprint, which is a paid advertorial section and not part of USA Today’s regular news reporting,” estate spokesperson Marissa Jamison told me via email. “Essentially, it’s paid advertising that is designed to look like a traditional USA Today article, but the purpose in this case was to talk about the protections and perks of specific credit cards.”

The estate also contends the methodology of the study is “limited and misleading,” as the rankings were “based on just 30,171 total reviews, despite the fact that Biltmore welcomed approximately 1.3 million guests and held a 4.7 average rating on Google that year.”

Also, the rankings came from keyword mentions, not from comprehensive sentiment analysis, Jamison said. She cited the word “overpriced” coming up. 

“This was based on the keyword ‘expensive,’ which appeared in only 653 reviews at the time the article was published,” Jamison said. “That is just 2.2 percent of the total 30,171 reviews. ‘Expensive’ does not mean ‘overpriced,’ and the two words are not interchangeable.”

She also noted that just 36 total reviews used the term “tourist trap,” representing .12% of reviews.

“These rankings do not reflect the broader experience of a visit to Biltmore,” Jamison said. “In contrast, Biltmore consistently receives outstanding guest feedback.”

She noted that its most recent customer sentiment research found: 

• 82 percent of Biltmore guests rate their experience 9 or 10 out of 10.
• More than three in four guests would recommend a visit to others.
• Biltmore holds a 4.7-star rating out of 5 on Google and 4.6 on Tripadvisor.

As far as pricing, Jamison said the estate occasionally has reviewed how other attractions approach pricing and offerings.

“That said, Biltmore is a truly unique experience; there’s really no direct comparison,” Jamison said. “Our pricing reflects the scope of what we offer, and our strategy is unique to our business.”

Also, Jamison noted, “Unlike many historic sites mentioned, we are a fully self-supporting, privately funded estate. We receive no public funding or taxpayer support for operations or maintenance.”

No one is suggesting the estate is a cheap date. Hey, neither is the Grove Park Inn, or most of the nicer restaurants around here. A night out in Asheville will require you to part with a couple hundred bucks, easily.

Jamison pointed out that ticket pricing varies with the seasons and the “type of experience,” as you can pay for “behind the scenes” tours and other perks, and tickets will cost more around Christmas.

“But to give you a general idea: current admission to Biltmore House starts at $70 during the winter, $80 during the summer, $85 during the fall, and $130 during the holiday season,” Jamison said. “These rates are subject to change, but they reflect the seasonal range.”

Also, through Sept. 1, children 16 and under get in free with a paying adult, and children 9 and under are always free. 

Clarification: The children get in for free. The estate is not giving away free children.

Biltmore drives the tourism economy

I’m sure folks will accuse me of estate cheerleading, and I’ll take my lumps for that, but Biltmore is a major economic engine for this area. Always has been, always will be.

Biltmore sent me its most recent economic impact study, from fiscal year 2023. The total economic impact totaled $828 million, the estate supported 6,353 part-time and full-time jobs in the region, and it generated $87.1 million in state and local taxes. Direct spending totaled $515.4 million.

In 2023, the estate drew 1.4 million visitors, and 94 percent cited the attraction as a primary motivator for visiting Asheville. About 85 percent came from outside Buncombe County. Biltmore visitors spent $250.3 million locally, outside of the estate, the study found. 

Now, I’m sure plenty of locals are going to jump on the estate-bashing bandwagon, and certainly Biltmore is expensive. My wife and I rarely dine there, other than the occasional fish and chips at Cedric’s, as that gets pricey quick.

But the place is beautiful, one of a kind and it’s ours, love it or hate it. 

Sure, you can walk for free in Dupont State Forest or Pisgah National Forest, or for a small fee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (daily parking tags are $5). My wife and I also do a lot of that, at least when the body allows it. 

But every now and then it’s nice to toss the bikes in the pickup and ride the estate’s largely flat, and traffic-free, trail by the river, or marvel at the flowers in the greenhouse.

Or park by the lagoon and picnic with a bottle of wine you snuck in (shhhh!) and watch the geese. And my wife absolutely loses her mind when the lambs are born in the spring.

The Biltmore has a lot to offer, but no, it ain’t cheap. Overall we’re lucky to have it, and I would say it’s very much a voluntary tourist trap, if it’s one at all.

[This article was updated to clarify that Biltmore Estate receives no public funding or taxpayer support.]

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Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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