Making Family Travel Easy

Brandy Kane March 2022

My husband, youngest daughter, and I just got home from a week-long vacation in Sevierville and I wanted to share our top picks of things to do in the area, with you. 

CABIN

We stayed in a cabin at the top of a mountain. The backside of the cabin hung off a cliff.  The roads were winding and narrow and we prayed every time we headed to the top that another car wasn’t coming down! The tradeoff was the view from the treetops, it was absolutely beautiful! 
If you are good with that, then go for a mountaintop cabin. 
If not I would suggest finding one at the foothills of the mountain.  Unfortunately, this area isn’t something we can book packages for, but we can definitely help you with your accommodations. 

ATTRACTIONS 

Gatlinburg:
Ripleys Aquarium
Anakeesta 
The Space Needle 
The Village (shops)
Boudiccas Celtic Pub (lunch)
Old Red (live music with lunch)
Slice Pizza Bakery (largest slice of pizza I’ve ever eaten)
Shopping
Distilleries 
Carmelcorn (bucket of Carmel corn for the cabin)
*we wanted to do Ober but tickets for our time frame were sold out when I went to buy them the night before. If you are planning on doing this I would suggest pre-purchasing the tickets at least a few days ahead of time. 

Pigeon Forge

Pirates Adventure Show

Iron Mountain Metals 

Gem Mine 

Rocky Top Mountain Coaster

Alcatraz 

The Island (shopping)
Timberwood Grill (lunch)
The Old Mill (general store)
Yee-Haw Brewing Company (beer flights)
$9.98 
Three Bears (bears weren’t available to see)
Shopping 

Seiverville:

Rainforest Adventure Zoo 
Tanger Outlet Mall

PARKING

Parking in Gatlinburg is minimal. There are a few parking decks that are owned by the city that you can park in for $10 a day, one is behind the aquarium. Beware of others charging $20! In busier times try to show up before the attractions and shops open or get a ride on the free trolley.  You can park in a lot near the Gatlinburg police department and ride around town on the trolley for free. There are covered benches through town that the trolley picks up from.  

In Pigeon Forge, parking isn’t really a problem. There are a few spots in front of every shop along the road and a large parking lot beside The Island. Trolley service from the parking lot to The Island is free.  There is also a large parking lot by the Old Mill where you can ride a trolley through Pigeon Forge for a small fee. 

COUPONS

 You can find a wall of coupons almost anywhere you look, don’t be afraid to take them and use them! They are mostly $1-$3 for each person but when you are doing a lot of things it does add up! 

If you walk into any Food Lion grocery store, at the register you will find a “city pass” type ticket. We did not purchase these so I’m not sure how well they work but it seemed like it was a good deal! 

If you are doing more than 1 Ripleys attraction there are discounted tickets you can purchase at your 1st stop. They will ask you at the window if you want the bundle.