Last month we ran our 2023 Smoky Mountain Tour. The switch to basing in Asheville, NC provided a more cosmopolitan feel than previous years, with fantastic dining within walking distance of our host hotel and nearly-instant access to fantastic roads including the legendary Blue Ridge Parkway.
Guests were thrilled with lunch stops in Lake Lure, BMW’s Performance center, Little Switzerland and Maggie Valley, and the route we created from Little Switzerland to Hot Springs was truly world class. We also got to experience Chimney Rock Park, home of the famous hill climb, as well as a scenic boat ride on Lake Lure.
With the Smoky Mountain Tour all wrapped up, it was time to head north to Kentucky and finish working on routes and details for our upcoming Bluegrass Tours. We assumed the roads there could not match those of Western North Carolina.
We were wrong.
With the help of the folks at Backroads of Appalachia, we found roads in Kentucky that easily rivaled what we had found further south. You’ll have to see them for yourself to believe them.
With stops at distilleries, horse farms, Cumberland Falls, a truly unique car collection in Lexington and some other amazing sites, this tour is shaping up to potentially eclipse what we accomplished on our Smoky Mountain Tour.
One of the planned stops for our Bluegrass Tour this year: the Maker’s Mark distillery
For 2024, we’re planning three tours. Our always-popular Orange Blossom Tour will kick off the festivities for the Amelia in late February. This tour will be based at our most popular venue, the Mission Inn Resort & Club, and will visit many fan-favorite central Florida roads and sights. As always, we add new and different roads and attractions every year, but this one will touch on a lot of our greatest hits to make it a fantastic tour for newcomers and repeat guests alike.
The Smoky Mountain Tour will take a hiatus for 2024, but don’t worry: we’ll bring it back even better in 2025.
In July of 2024, we’ll host our first-ever Empire State Tour in the Finger Lakes region of New York. So far, planned attractions include track time at Watkins Glen and driving the old street route there, as well as museums, waterfalls, and a visit to the Corning Glass Works. This tour will be based in downtown Ithaca, NY.
And finally, in October we will once again host our Bluegrass Tour at the Boone Tavern near Lexington.
With the post-pandemic travel frenzy seeing no sign of subsiding, our 2024 tours are already nearly half full. When we announce our schedule to the public next month, they are sure to all sell out. Our Orange Blossom and Empire State Tours are filling up the fastest.
Save yourself a spot, check out itineraries, timing and pricing: