Chattanooga Travel Guide
Chattanooga Tennessee is one of those places that rarely shows up in national travel guides. However, we have come here three times in the past decade and look forward to more visits. This is our Chattanooga Travel Guide.
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Overview
Chattanooga sits on a bend of the Tennessee River on the border with Georgia. Above the town is Lookout Mountain which is home to several attractions. Rock City. On Lookout Mountain is a prime Chattanooga attraction that is actually in Georgia.
Our trips to Chattanooga have all been one-night stays. However, Chattanooga is a great weekend getaway for couples or families. It is also a great spot for exploring the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. It provides a nice contrast to the crowded and touristy areas of eastern Tennessee by Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Often we drive here after visiting family in Asheville, North Carolina. This route takes us along the scenic route 64 by the Ocoee River. The Ocoee is one of many great whitewater rafting spots in this region.
Downtown Chattanooga
Outdoor activity is a big part of Chattanooga. However, it should be stressed that this is a foothill city. Many of the sites are in downtown along the Tennessee River.
On two visits we have stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown. We love to walk around the downtown area and along the river. Right on the river is the Tennessee Aquarium. We admit we have never been, but it is consistently named one of the top aquariums in the United States.
Most of our downtown Chattanooga adventures have been taking a stroll around the shops and along the river. On a bluff above downtown is the appropriately named Bluff View Arts District. This area is home to coffee shops, bakeries and of course some art galleries.
From the aquarium and Bluff View area you can walk across the pedestrian friendly Walnut Street Bridge. This makes a wonderful scenic walk that even kids enjoy.
Downtown Chattanooga is where we got introduced to the Mellow Mushroom chain of pizza restaurants. This is Georgia based chain that started in the 1970s and has a hippie based-theme.
As far as pizza chains go the Mellow Mushroom is solid. However, our most recent visit introduced to Community Pie. This is one of the top pizza places we have found anywhere. They serve three styles of pizza, Detroit, NY-style and Neapolitan. For someone that has covered all these styles, I was in heaven.
Like many towns in America the food scene in Chattanooga seems to have exploded in the past decade. The web site Thrillist named Chattanooga, along with our hometown of San Diego, as one of the best new food cities. We have not tried any of the Chattanooga restaurants on their list, but we have also never been to the San Diego places they list.
The one trendy place we have tried in Chattanooga is Stir. Stir is located north of downtown by the train station. This station is noted for the 1940s song the Chattanooga Choo Choo. This area has been restored to a restaurant/nightlife district.
Stir is a large restaurant complete with an oyster bar. The main feature is ice. They have a fancy ice machine that can make seven different styles of ice cubes. Artisanal ice is about as trendy as it gets.
While Chattanooga is on the edge of trendy, we appreciate the place for its look into the old-school south. Chattanooga is home to the MoonPie. Moon pies are graham crackers with a marshmallow filling that is dipped in a flavored coating, most notably chocolate.
Moon pies started at the Chattanooga Bakery in 1917. The MoonPie General Store is a must visit in downtown Chattanooga. In addition to moon pies, the store has all kinds of treats and an ice cream fountain where you can get ice cream topped with moon pie. In addition to chocolate you can find such MoonPie flavors as strawberry, banana and caramel.
Next time we come to downtown Chattanooga our plan is to rent bikes to ride along the river. Unfortunately, it was raining our last two visits so our downtown river visits were cut short.
Ruby Falls
Ruby Falls is one of those well-advertised tourist attractions that seems like it is designed to take your money. However, we keep coming back. Outside of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Ruby Falls is my favorite cave tour.
You can see our full guide here.
Ruby Falls is about 3 miles from downtown on the foot of Lookout Mountain. On our last visit to Chattanooga we stayed right by the entrance in the newly renovated Riverview Inn. The Riverview Inn opened as a motor court in 1935 and was completely renovated in 2018.
The Riverview Inn, along with Ruby Falls has a great view overlooking the Tennessee River and downtown Chattanooga.
Ruby Falls is a walk through a cave to an underground waterfall. It is part of three attractions on Lookout Mountain which also includes Rock City and the Incline Railway. We have never done the Railway, but Rock City is another Chattanooga attraction we have visited multiple times.
Rock City
Rock City is an attraction on the top of Lookout Mountain. It is located on the Georgia side of the Tennessee/Georgia border. However, it is only a 10-minute drive from downtown Chattanooga.
Advertising for Rock City is famous throughout the south. From the 1930s to the late 1960s, 900 barns throughout the south were painted with the slogan “See Rock City.” You can still see many of these barns when driving through the southern states.
Rock City is another attraction that seems to be designed to be a tourist trap. However, we have come back several times. Our kids love this place because it is all about exploring the caves, narrow trails and rock gardens. During the Christmas season they have special events which unfortunately we missed on our recent visit.
The view from Rock City advertises that you can see seven states. Even if that is hard to imagine it is definitely a great view.
You can read more detail about both Rock City and Ruby Falls in our guides. Overall I would say these are definite visits in Chattanooga. To save money you can buy a combo ticket to all the Lookout Mountain attractions.
Chattanooga Places we Visited
Once again we are only listing the places we actually went to AND recommend. We admit we are just scratching the service of activities in this area.
Riverview Inn: Boutique motel that was perfect for our stay as a couple. Has a scenic view overlooking the river and downtown.
Hilton Garden Inn: Downtown hotel we stayed when we were with kids
Ruby Falls: Cave that leads to an underground waterfall
Rock City: Well advertised attraction that our kids love.
Bluffview Arts District: An area on a river bluff above downtown
MoonPie General Store: The home of the classic MoonPie in downtown Chattanooga
Community Pie: One of the best pizza places anywhere. They have NY-style, Detroit style and Neapolitan. It was also a cool coffee and gelato shop.
Chattanooga Choo Choo: Restored train station area south of downtown. Home to shops, hotels and restaurants.
Stir: Hip restaurant/bar by the Chattanooga Choo Choo. A big attraction is specialty ice cut from a 300 lb cube.
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