Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

Before we bought a house there, every time we went there we would use ski mountain Chalets and Condos. Very well priced http://www.skimtnchalets.com/

Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

Bump.

We will be splitting a week between Gatlinburg, TN and Asheville, NC for our honeymoon.

There seems to be A LOT to do in Gatlinburg, but I would like to gather some impressions from you guys if you've been and would like to share.

Restaurants, favorite activities, sights to see, etc.

Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

and Pigeon Forge is about 5 miles down the hill from Gatlingburg
and plenty to see and do, worth looking into also. the Titanic Museum is one of my favorites there. the Alcatraz East is also great.

Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

Hadn't seen anything about a Titanic Museum - have to look into that one. The Alcatraz Museum looks cool, but seeing kids playing in a jail cell in their promo vid turned me off completely.

I want to do a zip line or rope-course adventure, but I really dislike heights especially when there's nothing beneath my feet.

Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

Climb works lines are really good and high, I HATE heights but even I was completely comfortable and doing flips off the platforms. The pros are kick *** and really professional while still retaining that adrenaline junkie vibe to them. I was pretty concerned with safety before going but after just a few min with the crew I knew safety was a top notch priority. So I'd highly recommend climb works even if you are afraid of heights like me, because it really is a good time.

Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

Yeah. It's just a matter of making myself do it because I know I would enjoy it.

Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

Unfortunately we did not do any ziplining/tree-top rope courses. We simply ran out of time (and money) since we split the week between Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and Asheville, NC.

Pigeon Forge was fantastic. We stayed in a single bedroom cabin above the ridge of Dollywood. I was surprised by how quiet the whole area was despite how congested it was at times (the worst area, by far, was the stretch around The Island (overrated) and the crowding area that housed Titantic, Wonderworks, etc. Still, traffic wasn't terrible and if you know how to time your adventures then crowds can be avoided fairly easily. Of course if you have a family in tow it will be harder to avoid those crowds, but we tended to eat later and do activities during normal eating hours.

We checked in Sunday evening and checked out Wednesday morning. The cabin was nice and cozy and nestled in the woods above Dollywood. The location was perfect - basically close enough to everything without being in the middle of it all. Despite the crowds it was a relaxing atmosphere. They were putting up their Christmas displays and had some of them lit. I'm sure it's a magical place during Winter as well.

We didn't do much venturing out as far as eating was involved since the majority of the restaurants seemed to be franchise oriented, but Sunday night we were awed by The Local Goat. The food was fantastic. If you go I definitely recommend starting with the fried deviled eggs and a cup of their seafood bisque. My entree was the crab cakes BLT and it exceeded expectation. Another local restaurant we ventured was The Old Mill for breakfast. I'd compare it to Cracker Barrel, but a step or two up in overall quality. The biscuits were great and we ended up saving half of our breakfast for snacking. Apart from that we actually ended up doing Chinese takeout one night and grabbing a sackful of Kyrstals burgers since the Mrs. misses their chains by moving from FLA/GA to VA.

There is A TON to do as far as daily activities go. There are the vacation trap flagships like go-karting, putt putt, Tanger outlets, etc, but also some truly cool and unique things. No matter what you do one visit is simply not enough and we have decided to need to come back in another year or two. We did the Ripley's thing one day, visited famous cars, posed with wax celebs, rode the tramp up to Ober Mountain (my palms were wet the whole time lol), and got our backs/butts wrecked by zooming around multi-story go-kart tracks. Plus the typical souvenir/Christmas shopping for family and of course the Nike outlet.

I was really impressed with Gatlinburg. It felt like a bigger Helen, GA (similar themed resort town). When we go back I think I would rather stay there because it felt more relaxed and low-key as most of the shops/attractions are within walking distance of each other.

All in all it was a great trip and I would love to go back.

Re: Gatlinburg Tennessee Trip: Suggestions
 

We as a family got to Gatlinburg two times a year, sometimes 3.
It is only about a 4 hour drive and we love it!
I personally cannot stand Pigeon Forge but love Gatlinburg.
The new place to go in Gatlinburg is Anakeesta, it just opened recently.

https://www.anakeesta.com/magical-firefly-village/