Christmas is also a great time to visit Biltmore Estate. Christmas is celebrated at the estate from Nov. 6 through Jan. 2, 2010.

Here are a few facts about Biltmore and Christmas:

• On Christmas Eve 1895, George Washington Vanderbilt first opened Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina, to family and friends. The 250-room French Renaissance chateau took six years and one thousand men to build and is a National Historic Landmark open to the public today.Based on traditions from more than 100 years ago, Biltmore House is elaborately decorated every year for Christmas, offering today 's guests a glimpse of what it may have been like to be one of Vanderbilt 's guests during that special holiday season.

• 2009 marks the 35th year for Christmas at Biltmore as a seasonal attraction, and the 26th year for Candlelight Evenings at Biltmore.

• Known for being one of the largest holiday displays in the Southeast, nearly 100 decorated Christmas trees, more than 1,000 wreaths and bows, 1,500 poinsettias, 25,000 lights, 9,000 feet of fresh garland and thousands of ornaments will adorn Biltmore House and its 8,000 acres of grounds. The sparkling lights of the Front Lawn Illumination will be back this year after a successful debut in 2008.

• Biltmore House 's holiday centerpiece, a 34-foot Fraser fir, spends the holidays in the 72-foot high Banquet Hall, adorned with lights and surrounded by gifts.

• There are two ways to experience the holidays at Biltmore:

1. Christmas at Biltmore during the daytime includes tours of Biltmore House, the Gardens, the Winery with complimentary wine tasting, River Bend Farm and Barnyard.Inside Biltmore House, the Banquet Hall organ will serenade guests with music of the season.

2. Candlelight Christmas Evenings, where luminaries and a brilliant display of twinkling lights on the Front Lawn set the tone for tours of Biltmore House, requires separate entry.Guests tour through rooms lit by twinkling lights and firelight, reflected in thousands of ornaments. Live entertainment inside Biltmore House is included.

• New this year will be the entertainment during Candlelight Christmas Evenings.Ballroom Dancers in vintage costume will glide across the floor in the Winter Garden, and a storyteller will regale visitors with readings from traditional holiday tales such as "The Little Match Girl,"  "The Gift of the Magi" and Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." As in years past, choirs will perform European carols, and a guitar/harp/flute ensemble will provide seasonal music.

• Also new this year: The restoration and preservation of the magnificent Louis XV Suite in Biltmore House has inspired this year 's holiday décor theme. The opening of the suite earlier this year revealed not only the ornate decorating style prevalent in George and Edith Vanderbilt 's time, it unlocked family memories and sentimentalities, for this suite served as the birthplace of two generations of the Vanderbilt family

For ticket and booking information, please call 877-BILTMORE or visit www.biltmore.com.