Brevard, North Carolina

The hills are alive with: The sound of music. Really!

Get elevated: Tourism officials like to boast about the 260 waterfalls around Brevard, North Carolina. But the cascades of music around the Blue Ridge mountain town are really what distinguishes Brevard from its Appalachian neighbors. From June to August, the summer institute and festival known as the Brevard Music Center presents daily concerts of everything from bluegrass and Bach to piano recitals and performances of Puccini's La Bohème. Many are held in open-air concert halls beneath the smoky Blue Ridge hills, and free to the public. Meanwhile, Brevard College's Porter Center for the Performing Arts is one of the South's most hallowed halls for music. A $1.2-million Kirkpatrick-Coleman pipe organ sits near a stage that has seen such luminaries as Herbie Hancock and the Afro-Cuban All Stars. Brevard even has its own philharmonic and choral society. At the newly renovated, five-room Red House Inn, ask for the Braxton suite, which has mission-style furniture, simple white linens, and black-and-white photographs. Perfect for making music of your own.

Peak time: June to August

Brevard Music Center
Tel: 828 862 2105

Brevard College's Porter Center for the Performing Arts
Tel: 828 883 8292

Red House Inn
Tel: 828 884 9349
Doubles from $115