More Guided Specialty Tours (extra fee)
Biltmore House Butler's Tour (formerly the Behind the Scenes Tour)
Daily. Advanced reservation required. Call 800-411-3812 to reserve.
See how Biltmore House functioned, past and present, and learn about the work of the domestic servants during this 60-minute guided tour, which takes you into unrestored rooms and mechanical areas not open to the public on the regular house visit.
Cost: $17.00 per person, in addition to estate admission.
Vanderbilt Family & Friends Tour
Daily. Advanced reservation required. Call 800-411-3812 to reserve.
This new guided tour spurs your imagination about staying at Biltmore with the Vanderbilts as your hosts. Tour bedrooms not on the regular house visit outfitted with clothing and accessories from the 1900s as your hear stories from your host about customs of the time and the fascinating people who visited Biltmore.
Cost: $17.00 per person, in addition to estate admission.
Premium Biltmore House Tour
Daily. Two-day advanced reservation required. Call 800-411-3812 to reserve.
Tour the house for two hours with a guide assigned to you exclusively. Includes areas seen in the Behind-the Scenes, Rooftop, and House Tours.
Cost: $150.00 per adult in addition to estate admission, $75.00 per youth and child in addition to estate admission.
Legacy of the Land Tour
Daily. Reservations suggested. Call 800-411-3812 to reserve.
Take a motorcoach tour of the estate and learn about the history of the land, structures, and former residents. Visit areas not usually open to guests.
Cost: $19.00 per guest, in addition to estate admission.
Red Wine & Chocolate Seminar at Winery
Daily: 3:00 p.m.
Discover why chocolate and red wine is a match made in heaven. Please register at the Winery Portal area in Antler Hill Village.
Cost: $15.00 per person. Guests must be 21 years of age to attend.
Biltmore Bubbles Tour at the Winery
Daily: 5:45 p.m.
Biltmore Bubbles is a 45 minute program that will allow Estate guests to experience the process by which our sparkling wines are made. Guests will tour the champagne bottling room, learn how sparkling wines are made and taste all six of Biltmore's sparkling wines.
Cost: $18.00 per person. Guests must be 21 years of age to attend.
Winery Behind the Scenes Guided Walking Tour
Daily, 4:00 p.m.
Guests are guided on a walking tour of the Winery production areas. See and learn the difference between making red wine and white wine, as well as the bottling process. The tour ends in the Champagne finishing room where guests learn how true French style sparkling wines are made. 45 minute program. Please arrive at the Winery Portal in Antler Hill Village 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled program time. Tickets must be purchased prior to event.
Cost: $8.00 per person
Go to the Biltmore Estate Web site for more.
More on the Construction of Biltmore House
Construction of Biltmore House was under way in 1889; it was a massive undertaking that included a mansion, gardens, farms, and woodlands. George Vanderbilt engaged two of the most distinguished designers of the 19th century: architect Richard Morris Hunt (1828-1895) and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903). The centerpiece was a four-story stone house with a 780-foot façade—a monument that would rival the surrounding mountains in grandeur. Hunt modeled the architecture on the richly ornamented style of the French Renaissance and adapted elements, such as the stair tower and the steeply pitched roof, from three famous early-16th-century châteaux in the Loire Valley: Blois, Chenonceau, and Chambord.
Even after six years, Biltmore House was not complete when George Vanderbilt opened it in 1895; work would continue for years. Its scale continues to be astounding: the house contains more than 11 million bricks; the massive stone spiral staircase rises four floors and has 102 steps. Through its center hangs an iron chandelier suspended from a single point, containing 72 electric light bulbs.
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