Why should you travel to Gatlinburg?

A stroll through the city of Gatlinburg, Tennessee

During my spring break vacation, I decided to travel to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and discover a part of the United States of America that I have not yet been to. I did not have very high expectations about Gatlinburg for some reason. I usually either travel to big cities or to the beach, so I have never explored a typical town in the American south before.

Parts of Gatlinburg were badly destroyed in a wild fire a few years ago. The fire was started by a human, and it spread quickly, destroying everything on its way. Today, you can still see burnt down sections of forests and some ruined buildings, but I have to say that they did an amazing job with restoring the city. Of course, you will still see some burnt down structures, but for the most part, the restoration of the area was more than successful.

Well, maybe not having big expectations was a good thing after all, because I was blown away by the fact how amazing Gatlinburg is. In this blog post, I decided to tell you all all about my favourite places that I discovered in this amazing city.

A volcano next to a big plane next to a pyramid? You do not need to travel all the way to Las Vegas to see that, just go to Gatlinburg!

Where is Gatlinburg situated?

The city of Gatlinburg is situated in the core of the Smoky Mountains National Park. If you are wondering (just like I as), why are they called the Smoky Mountains - you will often see misty clouds close to the mountain tops that look like smoke.

Geographically, you will find Gatlinburg in a close proximity to the city of Knoxville, about halfway between Louisville, Kentucky, Atlanta, Georgia. From Dayton, Ohio, it too me about six hours to drive to Gatlinburg, not including the stops.

A walk through the city

If you are staying at the Chalet village, then the best thing to do is to park the car in a parking lot at the very beginning of town, next to the Marathon gas station. The cost of parking for the whole day is only five dollars, which is a real bargain for anywhere in the United States of America.

Once you park, just start walking towards the city and stop at every store and other place that catches your eye. But make sure you have at least five hours- this city is captivating, and despite its rather small size, it offers an unbelievable amount of shops and attractions.

One of many interesting stores that you will see in Gatlinburg.

The first thing that I did after parking the car, was buying a lift ticket for the aerial tram that takes you to the top of the mountain. Later, I found out that you can also drive up there and park your car at the top, but the aerial tram ride was actually so much fun. Well, not fun if you are claustrophobic and do not like a ton of people in a very small space, but I enjoyed it regardless.

I had a specific reason to go to the top. I wanted to ride the mountain roller coaster, which is also called ‘summer sledding’. You are basically sitting in a tiny cart and you are in control of its speed, so you can zoom down the tracks with some pretty sharp turns with the speed of twenty five miles per hour!

The mountain roller coaster ticket costs fifteen dollars, and you have to also pay one dollar for the locker if you have any loose objects on you, since the rules say they are not permitted on the ride. However, many of the people in front of me were wearing backpacks and handbags and the staff members did not say anything. Oh well.

Other than the mountain roller coaster, you can also do other things on the top of the mountain. You can do snow tubing (from November to April), ice skating, and there is also a very good restaurant on the top. Oh, and a fudge shop, where you can get free samples.

After a while, I decided to ride the aerial tram back to Gatlinburg and explore the city in detail. Be advised that the last aerial tram leaves at 9. 20 in the evening, so do not miss it! You will literally have to walk back down into the city, and the forests around Gatlinburg are full of (most likely hungry) black bears. Just saying.

The first thing that caught my eye on the main street, was the moonshine distillery. I do not really like the taste of plain regular moonshine, but this distillery had moonshine in several different flavours, and you can sample all of them for five dollars. My favourite flavours included margarita moonshine, java coffee moonshine and cherry moonshine. Delicious but deadly - all their moonshines have a very high percentage of alcohol in them.

Winery and moonshine distillery. Go sample that moonshine, you know you want to. And you are on vacation!

During my stroll through Gatlinburg, you will see quite a few shops that offer old time photos. You will basically get dressed in antique clothing and pose for these ‘wanted dead or alive’ posters. Some of them are actually quite funny, such as ‘wanted because of her cuteness’.

One of many places with old time photos.

Gatlinburg has several Ripley’s Believe It or Not places, and one of them is the Guinness World Records place. In this interactive museum, you will be able to explore some of the most interesting world records. As soon as you enter the building, you will be greeted by an animated dummy, which represents the world’s tallest man - he was over eight feet tall! That fact made me feel very short. I mean, my five feet and four inches are not really suitable for a world record.

Gatlinburg is filled with family attractions.

Escape rooms are another attraction that recently got popular everywhere, including Gatlinburg. You can choose between several different themes, and prices vary from escape room to escape room.

You will find one of the escape rooms in this building.

Then, there is a 4-D Earthquake ride, which was apparently bought from Disneyland - it was one of their former rides. This is an actual ride, not a 4-D cinema, and it takes place underground. I did it and it was pretty exhilarating. I mean, you cannot compare it to a typical amusement park roller coaster, but keeping in mind the fact that this is an underground ride, it is definitely worth the price. You will also see a Jurassic ride and some others, but online reviews were recommending the earthquake ride the most, therefore I tried out that one.

Mini golf is another thing that you should not miss. Gatlinburg is filled with tens of mini golf places. You can choose between black light mini golf, mini golf in a castle, mini golf that tells you the history of Gatlinburg, and so on. Since I did not know much about the city, I decided to do the History of Gatlinburg mini golf.

The price for eighteen holes, that includes a putter and a golf ball rental, is thirty nine dollars, and there is no time limit. It starts out pretty easy, but the last few holes were actually pretty hard. Well, I do not play mini golf often, so that might also be a factor.

Gatlinburg Aquarium is apparently one of the best aquariums in the United States of America, and while I have not been to many American aquariums yet, I cannot confirm whether that statement is true. What I can confirm is that the Gatlinburg aquarium really is awesome.

It has these glass ceiling tunnels, where you are basically walking through a tank, and you can see the fishes swimming all around you. They also have the so - called Penguin encounter, and the penguins there are so cute! The gift shop in Gatlinburg Aquarium is also something special, and if you leave without buying anything in there, I feel sorry for you.

There are also countless gift shops all around Gatlinburg, and all of them sell black bear themed stuff, including these funny shirts. And I was surprised not only about the variety of souvenirs that Gatlinburg’s gift shops sell, but also about their low prices. You can literally buy a T-shirt for $4. 99 and a small black bear statue for 1. 99$! Other cities should definitely follow this example.

And do not forget to take a picture with one of many black bear statues around town. Some of them are very realistic! There is also a big ‘Gatlinburg’ sign at the far end of town, with bears next to it, which makes for a cool picture. If you are okay with waiting in line for ten minutes, that is. Because, obviously, every tourist wants to take a picture there.

Where to eat?

The Great Smoky mountains area is famous for its spectacular dinner shows. The two most popular ones are apparently the Dinner murder mystery show and the Dolly Parton’s Stampede. Dolly Parton was from the area, therefore many of the things are named after her, including the amusement park in Pigeon Forge, called Dollywood.

The downside of these dinner shows is that they are expensive and the food that you get, is apparently not very good. I somehow wish I did the Stampede dinner show, but when I tried to book it on the same day, it was sold out. Well, I saved eighty dollars by not going.

If you would like some sarcasm with your fries, head to Dick’s Last Resort. Dick’s Last Resort is a restaurant where the servers are known to be intentionally rude and sarcastic towards the customers. And I have to warn you - do not go there if you are easily offended. If you like humour, I guarantee you that you will get some good laughs out of your visit, otherwise do not even think of going there.

The food they serve is decent, and not too expensive. What I find funny is that some people bring their kids there. Of course, the servers will not curse in front of the kids, but they do warn everybody that enters that they have to expect rude behaviour from the servers. I have to say I love the concept, but if I went there when I am PMSing, I would probably start either crying because of the insults or yelling at the servers.

A few words for the end…

Gatlinburg is definitely a very unique city with lots of things to do, regardless of the weather and the time of the year. If you are there during major holidays, prepare for big crowds, but I never had a problem getting a table at a restaurant even without making a reservation. Well, except for the Stampede dinner show. And even before I left Gatlinburg, I decided that I will definitely come back sometime in the near future.

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