The Ultimate Guide To Asheville and the Western North Carolina Mountains
The Ultimate Guide To Asheville & The Western North Carolina Mountains
The Online Version of the Best-selling Regional Guidebook
 

 

Getting Around in Asheville

 

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Asheville North Carolina, pen & ink drawing by Lee James PantasAsheville is located at the junction of Interstates 26 and 40, with an I-240 connector that passes through the downtown district. Hendersonville is located to the south of Asheville off Interstate 26. The Blue Ridge Parkway also passes through the Asheville area with a number of accesses.

Landing in Asheville:
The main gateway to the area is the Asheville Regional Airport, 15 miles south of downtown Asheville on I-26. This airport is serviced daily by major carriers with connections to all major cities. The airport has an 8,000-foot runway and modern navigational aids, including a wind shear detection system. Facilities are also provided for corporate and private aircraft. The airport also has a Welcome Center that provides information, brochures, maps and souvenirs to visitors. Other highlights include a full service travel agency, remodeled ground-level commuter passenger concourse, expanded restaurant and bar, and a resurfaced runway. Asheville Regional Airport: 828-684-2226, www.flyavl.com.

Airlines flying out of the Asheville airport.
Air Tran: (800)-247-8726
Continental: (800) 525-0280
Delta: (800) 221-1212
U.S. Airways: (800) 428-4322

Bus Travel
Asheville Transit: City bus service, located at 360 West Haywood St., Asheville NC 28801,  provides bus service for Asheville. 828-253-5691
Greyhound Bus Lines: Located at 2 Tunnel Rd.  Asheville NC 28801, provides passenger service (253-5353) and package express (253-8451). (800) 231-2222
Young Transportation: Located at 843 Riverside Dr., Asheville NC 28804, provides passenger service and charters. 828-258-0084 or (800) 622-5444
Emma Bus Lines Inc.: 1 Stoner Rd., Asheville NC 28803, has charter bus service. 828-274-5719

Limousines
All American Limousine: 828-667-9935
Carolina Limousine: 828-258-2526
Special Occasions Limousine:  828-687-9918

Taxi Service
A Red Cab Co.: 828-232-1112
Beaver Lake Cab Co.: 828-252-1913
Jolly Taxi Co.: 828-253-1411
New Blue Bird Taxi: 828-258-8331
Yellow Cab Co.: 828-253-3311
Your Cab II: 828-259-9904

Car Rental
Alamo: (800) 327-9633
Avis: (800) 831-2847
Budget: (800) 527-0700
Enterprise: (800) 325-8007
Hertz: (800) 654-3131
National: (877) 222-9058

Driving Tips
Though relatively small, if you choose to drive in Asheville, you may find the street system a bit confusing at first. All streets are named rather than numbered, and as the city has evolved, some streets have become split into unconnected sections. Two important examples are Patton Avenue and Broadway.

Patton Avenue is split into a downtown section and a West Asheville section. The Smokey Park Bridge, which is actually part of I-240, runs between the two halves.

Heading north out of downtown, Broadway becomes Merrimon Avenue. One block west at the same point, Lexington Avenue heading north becomes Broadway. Most places listed in this guide with Patton Avenue or Broadway addresses are on the downtown extensions of these roads, but you would be wise to call ahead for directions to be sure. Also, like most city centers, Asheville’s downtown has several one-way streets.

One other navigational oddity is how one gets to I-26 from most areas of Asheville. Even though I-26 runs east out of Asheville, you will usually take I-240 or I-40 west to access it because I-26 begins at the juncture of I-240 and I-40 on the far west side of Asheville.

The most direct route, though certainly not the fastest, between Hendersonville and Asheville is US 25. This non-interstate-grade thoroughfare changes names several times between and even within the two cities, being called Spartanburg Highway on the Flat Rock side, then Asheville Highway in Hendersonville, changing to Hendersonville Highway halfway to Asheville, briefly turning into Hendersonville Road, becoming Biltmore Avenue once reaching Asheville, then turning into the downtown section of Broadway, and finally becoming Merrimon Avenue leaving downtown headed north. I-26 is a much better route between these two cities with much less congestion and isn’t hampered by US 25’s many traffic lights. But as several of the addresses in this guide are on its various sections, you should be familiar with the different names to avoid confusion.

 
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All Content Copyright by Lee James Pantas
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