Chattanooga Choo Choo Dome Lobby. Photo courtesy Chattanooga CVB.
Chattanooga is the gateway to Tennessee — nestled along the banks of the beautiful Tennessee River and surrounded by the spectacular scenic beauty of the mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. You will enjoy a newly revitalized green riverfront city, first class attractions, great Southern hospitality, rich Native American and Civil War history, outdoor adventures and locally owned restaurants and cafes, a thriving arts and music scene with plenty of annual festivals and events that offer year-round fun.
We are located right off of Interstates I-24; I-59 and I-75. You can park your car and check out the FREE Electric Shuttle that runs in a continuous loop for 14 blocks from the Chattanooga Choo Choo Terminal Station Complex to the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza with over 40 stops in-between most nights until 11 p.m.
We guarantee to provide you and your family with a vacation that you will talk about for years to come.
Riverfront District
Our Riverfront District includes the Tennessee Aquarium, the world’s largest fresh-water aquarium; a 3D IMAX© Theater; and one of the best children’s museums, the Creative Discovery Museum, for ages 2-11. You can take a stroll or bike on our 13-mile RiverWalk, check out the $20 million renovation at the famous 1909 Chattanooga Choo Choo Terminal Station and Hotel Complex, or spend an evening at a Chattanooga Lookouts Baseball game on Hawk Hill downtown. Then enjoy a prime-rib dinner and music on the Southern Belle Riverboat or take a ride on the high-speed 55 m.p.h. catamaran known as the River Gorge Explorer or splash down in the early morning in a Chattanooga Duck, a WWII amphibious military vehicle for a fun river ride.
Penquins at Tennessee Aquarium. Photo courtesy Chattanooga CVB.
Lookout Mountain
Historic Lookout Mountain is only 15 minutes away from downtown Chattanooga with a whole new list of things to do from riding the steepest Incline Railway in the world, to going underground to see a 145 foot waterfall at Ruby Falls to walking through an award-winning gardens at Rock City Gardens. Experience the Battles for Chattanooga Museum presentation on the battles of 1863 and stroll the National Park Battlefield unit at Point Park. Visit www.lookoutmountain.com.
Don’t miss the 13’ x 30’ painting done by an eye-witness to the 1863 Chattanooga battles located in the NPS Visitors Center across the street from Point Park. If time allows, head down to the Chickamauga Battlefield at Fort Oglethorpe to see the new movie presentation “Death Knell of the Confederacy” at the NPS visitors center and then head out to drive the oldest and largest National Military Park in the USA. Many military leadership classes have made the pilgrimage to the Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park established in 1889 to study the generals that served there during the Civil War.
Chick-Chatt Military Park Cannons and Statue. Photo courtesy Chattanooga CVB.
Music
If music is where it’s at for you then check out our 9-Day Riverbend Music Festival for less than $50 for all nine nights every year in June. With over 100 acts on five stages you will love this award-winning festival. You will find this year’s acts at www.RiverbendFestival.com .
Want something more intimate? Main Street and the new entertainment district at 14th Street will be perfect for you. Check out Track 29 mentioned in “Rolling Stone Magazine” as the best new venue in the South. Visit www.track29.com.
Enjoy great BBQ at Clyde’s on Main, where you’ll find musicians galore. The new Puckett’s Grocery is bringing a part of music city to the riverfront near the aquarium. Chattanooga has a variety of musicians that call it home from the 1920s great Bessie Smith, the Empress of Blues, to Clyde Stubblefield, lead drummer for James Brown to today’s top R&B legend, Usher.
Art Scene
You’ll also find a cool art scene in Chattanooga and it starts in the 1900s Bluff View Art District with two great restaurants, a coffeehouse, art gallery, three bed and breakfast homes, a free sculpture garden and the largest collection of American art in the southeast at the Hunter Museum of American Art. We also have a large collection of outdoor art around every corner and you can request a walking tour brochure at [email protected].
Love local arts and crafts? Check out the 4 Bridges Art Festival every April at the First Tennessee Pavilion on Reggie White Blvd. The month of April also brings out our Sunday Chattanooga Market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the end of the year. Visit www.chattanoogamarket.com.
Tennessee Aquarium Secret Cove. Photo courtesy Chattanooga CVB.
Outdoor Adventures
If the great outdoors is more your style, then don’t miss our great outdoor adventures like kayaking, paddle-boarding or canoeing right in downtown. You are only a 15 minute drive to hiking trails, mountain biking or rock climbing indoors and out at places like the High Point Climbing Center — where a short lesson can have you scaling the Pit or climbing three stories up. Check them out at www.highpointclimbing.com.
Didn’t bring your bike? No problem! Use our Bike Share Program where $8 gets you 24-hour access to over 30 stations and 300 bikes. Then, just 45 minutes away, you can whitewater raft on the Ocoee “1996 Olympic” river or, if you dare, jump off Lookout Mountain’s west side in a hang-glider made for two.
Whatever thrills you, we think you will find it in Chattanooga Tennessee. Come see this place we call home!