Best Asheville Rainy-Day Activities

This guide lists indoor options in Asheville for anyone caught in the rain, from hands-on museums to bookstores. Everything sits downtown, around Pack Square, Patton Avenue, Haywood Street, Broadway and the Grove Arcade, so several stops fit into one afternoon. The Asheville Museum of Science has a fossil dig, a tree climb and a hurricane simulator. At the Moogseum, you can try theremins and synthesizers and see a re-creation of Robert Moog's workbench. Asheville Pinball Museum lets you play dozens of pinball machines and classic video games for one admission. Battery Park Book Exchange, inside the Grove Arcade, pairs two stories of used books with a wine and champagne bar.

The Asheville Art Museum has no on-site parking, so plan on a downtown garage, and check the Black Mountain College Museum's exhibitions page, since it closes between shows.