Ashville, transportation, hotel, restaurants in April

Hi,

I%26#39;m planning to meet my cousin in Ashville for a couple of day, April 10-12.

I%26#39;ll be flying down from NY and want to see a friend in Knoxville.

so, is it reasonable to fly into Knoxville, drive to Ashville and then (on the 12) to Greenville, sc?

is there any public transportation from Ashville to Greenville?

can you please recommend a budget, but safe and clean, accomodation near downtown?

also, any must-see galleries, local artists etc..

and lastly, any vegetarian restaurants?

many thanks, hope I can return the ';scoop'; favor.

best wishes for a peaceful new year

Ashville, transportation, hotel, restaurants in April

Welcome to Asheville! Yes, it is certainly reasonable to fly into Knoxville and then drive to Asheville. It%26#39;s about a 90 minute drive. Also about 60-90 minutes to Greenville from Asheville. Unfortunately, there is not really public transportation from Asheville to Greenville. Primarily there is just private sedan rentals.

As for downtown accommodations - check out the Renaissance or the Haywood Park Hotel. They are very convenient for walking aroudn the area.

Lots of galleries and interesting shops throughout the downtown area. Lexington Street is particularly interesting and the Grove Arcade has some nice restaurants. Laughing Seed is the most popular vegetarian resturant but most all have veggie options.

Enjoy your trip!

Ashville, transportation, hotel, restaurants in April

i am pretty much in agreement with AVL, though I would give yourself closer to 2 hrs for Knoxville because there are often traffic or construction issues on i-40, either in NC or around Knoxville. There are numerous chain hotels around Asheville. Would not call Renaissance and esp not Haywood Park ';budget';. You will have to go to those on Tunnel Rd or Biltmore Ave to get less expensive.

Many, many galleries throughout downtown.

In addition to Laughing Seed, Rosetta%26#39;s for vegetarian, though many Asheville restaurants offer vegetarian options.

I recommend Springhill Suites hotel.

I agree with the previous poster that many Asheville restaurants have vegetarian options. We have so many ';one of a kind'; restaurants--go to the website www.airasheville.org/ to ';visit'; the independent restaurants in Asheville--most have their own websites and post menus, even though I%26#39;ve found that the website menus can be out of date!

Also, you might want to see about a B%26amp;B at bedandbreakfast.com/asheville-north-carolina…

Being independently owned, they might possibly work with you on a stay. There is also a Days Inn downtown, but I have absolutely no info about it. Tunnel Road kind of blows. Hope you have a terrific visit!

DO NOT NOT stay at the Days Inn downtown@!!!! It is a creepy place. Tunnel Road has a few new higher end chains so it really isn%26#39;t that bad.