Visiting Greenville in September (Spartanburg, Donalds: how much, hotels, restaurant)

[Liberated in TO]

I'm coming from Toronto to visit the Greenville - Spartanburg area for 3 days in September. I am a big auto enthusiast and have booked an all day driving program at the BMW Performance Centre for one of the those days. Couple of questions:

1. What hotels would you recommend in Downtown Greenville? Also, how much time should I allow to drive back to the BMW Factory at 8:30 AM?

2. How long should I plan to visit the BMW Factory/Zentrum? I figured one entire day in addition to my full day course...is this enough?

3. What is the best authentic BBQ restaurant in the area?

4. What would you recommend seeing/doing with my extra day?

Thanks in advance.

[WhitewaterVol]

1. Pretty much any of the hotels in the immediate downtown area are ok. Cost will depend on what level of amenities you want. 30 minutes should be plenty to get to BMW from there.

2. Factory tours are closed while they expand the plant. I think you can still visit the museum, though (not sure, I'd call). If the museum is still open, 2-3 hours ought to be plenty. You could use the rest of that day in the afternoon to explore downtown Greenville.

3. Bucky's BBQ is excellent (out near Donaldson area) but there are others as well.

4. I'd drive up to the mountains - if you search this forum you can find plenty of possible itineraries. Off-hand, I'd drive up to Cesar's Head, then to the waterfalls in Dupont State Forest in NC, then up to the Blue Ridge Parkway west, then work your way back to Greenville, stopping at Dry Falls and Whitewater Falls along the way.

[Liberated in TO]

Great, thank you. I didn't realize the factory was closed, too bad as this was on my bucket list. I did check, and the museum is still open.

[coffeeaholic]

Henrys Smokehouse for Barbecue and you must visit downtown Greenville. Its beautiful and offers a lot. Enjoy.