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For many families summer travel is the perfect way to recharge our batteries from the stressors of work and school. My family has been traveling to the Smoky Mountains every November for the past ten years.
We love the area!
For my family, traveling to the area is a great way to unwind and reconnect before the upcoming holidays. We have many family memories of the Smoky Mountains and love when others share the same experiences that the area has to offer. But there are many family attractions & options to consider when planning and finalizing your potential fall vacation. Today I have created a small list of top educational attractions that the Smoky Mountain offers.
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Families can enjoy auto-tours, bicycling, picnics, camping,hiking, fishing etc. I can not begin to tell you how beautiful the national park is. You can easily spend 1-3 days in the mountains enjoying its splendor and creating new family memories with your children. Visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is educational and a hands on educational experience for your family.
2. Dollywood
Dollywood is a 150 acre family adventure park in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. The theme park boasts thrilling rollercoaster rides, award winning festivals and festive holiday shows which make Dollywood one of the top themed entertainment destinations in the US. Theme parks are not for every family. My family gets our monies worth by spending all day at the Dollywood. Tickets are not cheap but are food allergy friendly and offer Ride Accessibility Passes. Also you can save money buy purchasing season passes or using coupon codes throughout the year. Like any theme park, finding creative ways to save money is always a possibility. Purchasing your food outside the park is a great way to save your family money when traveling to Dollywood.
Regular Ages 12-59 $57.00 per ticket
Child Ages 4-11 $45.00 per ticket
Senior Ages 60+ $52.00 per ticket
3. Titanic Museum
Titanic Pigeon Forge is a 30,000 square-foot, ship-shaped structure which includes a recreated forward half of the ship which is half-the size of the original Titanic. It holds 20 galleries with hundred of artifacts on two decks. The creation of the Titanic Pigeon Forge was to build a permanent monument to the 2,208 men, women and children who sailed on her. The selfguided tour can last about 2 hours for most families and also feature interactive elements for families. Since we love to incorporate educational travel, the museum fits perfectly to our vacation plans. There are exhibits that change throughout the year so all guests can enjoy a new experience when visiting. a Family Pass (2 adults, 4 children) can be purchased on their website (in advance) for $62.36 plus tax.
4. Wonder Works
Wonderworks is an interactive attraction that offers over 100 interactive exhibits for all ages. Special features include the World’s largest indoor ropes challenge course, lazer-tag and The Wonders of Magic starring master magician Terry Evanswood. Wonderworks is very similar to a children’s science museum with hands on learning and the mind. Ticket purchases can be made online and their website offers coupons as well as combo packages. General Admission is $14.99 for children and $22.99 for adults.
5. Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
Your family can experience 12-foot sharks, the giant sea turtle, thousands of exotic sea creatures and playful penguins! Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies was voted #1 aquarium in the United States by TripAdvisor Travelers! There are currently 8 various Ripley’s attractions in the Smokies. Families can purchase day tickets and as well as combo tickets to the several Ripley’s attractions during their stay in the Smoky Mountain area. My family has visited Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies as well as many of the other Ripley’s attractions and always enjoyed ourselves. My tip is to do as many attractions in the same area in 1 day to save on parking in Gatlinburg!
I did not mention EVERY attraction. Ziplining, family putt-putt, go carting etc is very prominent in the Smoky Mountain area. If you have an adventurous family helicopter tours, white water rafting, Zorbing etc can also be found in the area.
What type of attractions do you look for when traveling with your family?
It sounds like a great area for a family vacation! I have seen Dollywood on the Travel Chanel, etc and it’s definitley on my bucket list of places I want to go to!
We’ve only taken the kids to Disney a few years ago, but would love to visit the Smoky Mountains! While the Titanic museum and Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies would be at top of our list, we would have a wonderful time biking at the National Park too.
Oh your post makes my heart yearn to go to the mountains. Absolutely one of my favorite areas in the world. I love the Titanic museum and Ripley’s aquarium! Great post with great recommendations!
I would love to go to the Titanic museum!! my husband and kids (and me too) would love the ripley’s aquarium
This definitely looks like a fun place to visit! I have always wanted to go to Dollywood! I visited a Ripley’s near Dallas/Fort Worth Texas once. Very fun!
Just the beauty alone of the Smokey Mountains would be enough for me. I would love to see the Titanic museum. I am sure it would have a lot of interesting items.
My kids are grown but when they were young we would look for some of the same type attractions that you mentioned in your post. Now when my husband and I travel and it is just the two of us, we are more into scenery and local flavor including small restaurants.
I think I have been to the Smoky Mountains before but several years ago; I bet it looks sooooo diferent now. I love the Titanic place; it looks so awesome. :O
Looks like fun. We like to go to historical attractions and visit museums. They are so much fun as you never know what you may find.
It’s been such a long time since we took a vacation there. I’d love to go back. I’ve never seen the Titanic Museum, and I bet it’s pretty fascinating.
We love everything Son and I just enjoy the pleasure of exploring something new.
We like taking the kids to a variety of different places and activities. One of the major things we try to do is incorporate educational stuff along with traditional “fun” stuff. We’re hoping to take them gem hunting again this summer. We had a blast last time we did and they were younger so didn’t appreciate it as much as they will now.
I would really enjoy going to the Titanic Museum. Dollywood sure sounds like a fun place to take the entire family.
That sure is one good place to be! I’m sure your family had a blast. It’s been some time since we took a vacation as a family (sigh). If ever we get to do that, I’d want to go to a place where there is a little history, good food variety and offering a different kinds of fun … something that we don’t usually get in the city.
Wow, it looks like you had a great time!
I wish my family would take trips like that. 10 years of traveling sounds so much fun! Maybe one day we will get to do fun road trips too. From the lit of attractions I think I would love to try Dollywood first!
This sure sounds like a great place to visit.. soo jealous .. maybe I can convince the family that we should take a trip out there soon…thanks for sharing, loved reading about it and seeing your family so happy