Music & Arts Tour in Asheville

Free Music & Arts Tour in Asheville with Roamee Pro

Roamee Pro, also known as Roamee, offers a free music & arts tour route in Asheville. The audio walking tour can include stops such as River Arts District — Stretching along the French Broad River in repurposed factories and warehouses dating from Asheville's early 20th-century industrial era, this district hosts more than 300 working artists in over 25 studio buildings. Visitors can watch potters, painters, glassblowers, and woodworkers create in open studios, with many artists offering hands-on workshops. The district connects to downtown via the French Broad River Greenway, a paved riverside path popular with cyclists and joggers., Downtown Asheville — A remarkably preserved collection of Art Deco and Beaux-Arts buildings from the 1920s construction boom, when Asheville was a fashionable mountain resort and one of the most architecturally ambitious small cities in the South. The Basilica of Saint Lawrence, designed by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino, contains the largest freestanding elliptical dome in North America, built entirely without steel reinforcement. Street performers, independent bookshops, and over 200 independently owned restaurants make this one of the most walkable downtowns in the Southeast., plus hidden gems like Lexington Avenue — This sloping downtown street serves as the bohemian spine of Asheville, packed with vintage clothing stores, independent record shops, crystal boutiques, and some of the city's most inventive restaurants. Local musicians frequently busk on corners, and the Lexington Avenue Brewery at the bottom of the hill occupies a converted bus depot from the 1920s..

Use this page as a starting point for a Asheville walking tour, a free route, or the Roamee app for Asheville. Roamee Pro keeps the route flexible so you can follow the stops, skip ahead, or explore nearby streets at your own pace.

• •River Arts District — Stretching along the French Broad River in repurposed factories and warehouses dating from Asheville's early 20th-century industrial era, this district hosts more than 300 working artists in over 25 studio buildings. Visitors can watch potters, painters, glassblowers, and woodworkers create in open studios, with many artists offering hands-on workshops. The district connects to downtown via the French Broad River Greenway, a paved riverside path popular with cyclists and joggers.
• •Downtown Asheville — A remarkably preserved collection of Art Deco and Beaux-Arts buildings from the 1920s construction boom, when Asheville was a fashionable mountain resort and one of the most architecturally ambitious small cities in the South. The Basilica of Saint Lawrence, designed by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino, contains the largest freestanding elliptical dome in North America, built entirely without steel reinforcement. Street performers, independent bookshops, and over 200 independently owned restaurants make this one of the most walkable downtowns in the Southeast.

• •Lexington Avenue — This sloping downtown street serves as the bohemian spine of Asheville, packed with vintage clothing stores, independent record shops, crystal boutiques, and some of the city's most inventive restaurants. Local musicians frequently busk on corners, and the Lexington Avenue Brewery at the bottom of the hill occupies a converted bus depot from the 1920s.

• ›Check what's on tonight before you set out — local listings sites and venue socials beat any guidebook for live music, openings, and pop-ups.
• ›Head for the converted-industrial or formerly-cheap-rent district. That's where studios, small venues, and the freshest street art consistently land.
• ›Wander Lexington Avenue and the lanes around it slowly — murals change often, and the best work is rarely on the main street.
• ›Choose small rooms over big arenas. A 100-person venue with a local act tells you more about a city's sound than a stadium tour ever will.
• ›Go in the evening and buy directly from the artists and venues when you can — it's the scene's lifeline and gets you the real stories.