Great Smoky Mountain Travel Guide

This Great Smoky Mountain Travel Guide is intended to help you have a wonderful time in the Smoky Mountains without having to:

• guess what to do next,
• go to dozens of websites for information, or
• have to sort through hundreds of similar choices.

I hope you enjoy these pages of one local’s favorites, and that you’ll contact me to let me know how your visit to the Smokies goes. I love hearing your stories!

First, Decide How to Get There

There are many approaches to the Smokies, and each offers different benefits. Moreover, some are better depending on which part of Knoxville you’re coming from. View my Great Smoky Mountains Directions page to help you plan how you want to get there.

Great Smoky Mountain Travel Guide: Arts and Crafts in the Smokies

Southern Appalachia, of which the Smokies are a part, is known for its beautiful scenery, resourceful, hardworking people, and for the arts and culture its secluded people created for entertainment and survival.

From hand-carved antiques and Americana quilts to world-renowned painters and Native American art, these Smoky Mountain pictures, arts and crafts listings are simply amazing places to see and buy Appalachian arts and crafts in the Smokies.

Great Smoky Mountain Travel Guide:
Shopping in the Smokies

Just in case you haven’t heard, the Great Smoky Mountains and the foothills surrounding them offer a veritable smorgasbord of shopping opportunities. From top name brand outlet malls to souvenir shops, you’ll find them and more.

I’m partial to the Mom and Pop shops, and I’ll give you plenty of those from which to choose. But my lovely wife thinks you’d enjoy a few other bargain destinations that don’t quite fit into that category, so I’ve included them as well in my list of best mom and pop Smoky Mountain shopping destinations

Great Smoky Mountain Travel Guide:
Things to Do in the Smokies

Traveling in the Smokies offers mountains (yuk yuk) of activity choices, making putting together an itinerary overwhelming at times. To help out, here are mine and my friends and family’s most beloved activities for fun in the Smokies.

Take it from a local: these cool Smoky Mountain activities are great to add to any vacation itinerary!