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Travel guide
Chattanooga
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to May and September to October
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Welcome
Chattanooga, in a few days
A city of 180,000 people nestled in a bend of the Tennessee River, at the foot of a mountain you climb by funicular, where you descend underground to a waterfall and from where, so they say, you can see seven states. Down below, a freshwater aquarium, an 1891 footbridge and a museum of American art perched on a cliff have turned an industrial city into a well-rounded Southern weekend.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 3 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Tennessee Aquarium · half a dayTwo glass buildings on the river, one following a drop of water from Appalachian streams to the Gulf of Mexico with otters and alligators, the other adding sharks, rays, penguins and butterflies.
- Late afternoon · Hunter Museum of American Art · about 2 hTwo centuries of American painting and sculpture in a 1905 mansion on a cliff above the river, extended by a dramatic steel and glass wing, with terraces overlooking the Walnut Street Bridge.
🛏️ Where to sleep · La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Chattanooga Downtown/South ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€115 a night
D2
Day 2
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Walnut Street Bridge free · about 1 hA 724-metre steel truss bridge from 1891, saved from demolition and given back to pedestrians in 1993, linking downtown and Bluff View to Coolidge Park and North Shore.
- Afternoon · Ruby Falls · about 2 hA 44-metre underground waterfall inside Lookout Mountain, reached by a glass lift and a guided walk through a gallery of stalactites to the colour-lit chamber of the falls.
- Late afternoon · Point Park · about 1 h 30The northern tip of Lookout Mountain, part of the country's first national military park, scene of the 1863 Battle Above the Clouds, with the most famous view of the city and Moccasin Bend.
🛏️ Where to sleep · La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Chattanooga Downtown/South ↗€115 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Incline Railway · about 1 hAn 1895 funicular climbing about 1.6 km from St. Elmo to the top of Lookout Mountain, with a 72.7% gradient near the top, one of the steepest passenger railways in the world.
- Afternoon · Rock City · 2 to 3 hA 1930s garden among the sandstone boulders on top of Lookout Mountain, with narrow squeezes, a swinging bridge, the Lover's Leap lookout and gleefully kitsch fairy caverns.
🛏️ Where to sleep · La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Chattanooga Downtown/South ↗€115 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Chickamauga Battlefield free · half a dayThe almost untouched fields and woods of one of the Civil War's deadliest battles, dotted with more than a thousand monuments and overlooked by the 26-metre Wilder Brigade tower.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €150 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to May and September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/chattanooga
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.