Family reunion ideas in Asheville

The grounds are easy: accessible parking at Park & Ride Lot E with a free accessible shuttle, shuttles that take wheelchairs and strollers, and an ADA-accessible Walled Garden, Conservatory and Antler Hill Village. The house is harder — only the First and Second Floors are accessible, by elevator, and the Access Lounge shows video of the rest. Book through Group Sales (828-225-1400, groupsales@biltmore.com).

Paths are paved or boardwalk except the Trillium Nature Trail, but the park is naturally hilly, so paved is not flat. Rent a Wild Wagon at the gift shop for small legs; to borrow a manual wheelchair, call (828) 259-8080 first. Signed Quiet Zones help anyone who finds noise hard.

The Back Dining Room seats 40 – 60 and the Mezzanine up to 50. Private dining runs on a set menu you choose, so you can promise a vegetarian main and a non-alcoholic pairing before anyone sits down. Selections, wine included, are due no less than 2 weeks out and the headcount 72 hours before; expect a per-person deposit and a seasonal food minimum. Call 828-252-4162.

The Sage Room seats up to 22 and the Side Porch up to 36, with a personalised three-course menu. The catch: at the time of writing it had paused large-party bookings while operations normalise, so call (828) 274-2439 before you plan an evening around it.

A wide, flat, paved path follows the French Broad River through the River Arts District, with benches along the way, and it was the city's first greenway lit for night use. Turn back whenever anyone tires; the working studios alongside give everyone a place to duck indoors. Shade is scarce on a hot afternoon.

— the quiet fix for a relative who can walk a little but not a lot. The main garden areas are wheelchair-accessible, the Bonsai Exhibition Garden tends to surprise teenagers, and slow and fast walkers can loop back to each other. Parking is charged; call 828-665-2492 before twenty of you arrive in five cars.

A fossil dig, a dinosaur skeleton, a hall of minerals, an elevation simulator and a toddler area hold a four-year-old and a curious fourteen-year-old for about two hours — right for a wet morning. Mind the group rule: 10 or more (over age 3) get 20% off with at least 15 days' notice, but group visits are weekdays only. Go Friday as a group or Saturday on individual tickets, and call ahead about step-free access.

Grandpa knows the old tables, the four-year-old gets lifted to a flipper, and onlookers who don't play aren't charged. No reservations and 70 players at a time, so twenty on a wet Saturday may wait. For a wheelchair, call ahead about the door and restroom.

No ticket, no clock: shallow water for a child, benches, room for teenagers to walk ahead. The Visitor Center, a small paved area beside it and the bird viewing deck are accessible, with a ramp and handicapped parking; the trails beyond are hard-packed gravel, mostly level with small hills.

Downstairs, the Allanstand Craft Shop sells work by hundreds of Southern Highland Craft Guild members; upstairs are three exhibition spaces. Most of the year a potter or weaver works in the lobby, which holds a teenager longer than any label and gives a grandparent a seat and a show. Hours and demonstrations are on craftguild.org.