Chattanooga, TN

[okeydokey]

We are thinking of a family vacation to Chattanooga with extended family. If anyone has visited lately, is there enough to do to occupy an family with small children for a whole week? We are thinking of staying in a suites type hotel so we can have a separate bedroom. I heard the aquarium is great.

 

[Evil Queen]

The aquarium, Lookout mountain (Rock City, the caverns, the trolley type car that goes down and up the mountain).

To name a couple.

 

[geffric]

well there is Ruby Falls http://www.rubyfalls.com/ , Lookout Mountain and the [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park http://usparks.about.com/library/miniplanner/blchickamauganmp.htm[/font]

and of course there is the Choo Choo

 

[clarabelle]

I love Chatanooga (or Chatanoodle as my DD used to call it)
I don't know if there is enough for a whole week.
Maybe someone else can chime in
We have done Aquarium, Rock City (cheesey but the kids love it) Chatanooga Choo choo (hotel with a restored train) and the Chatanooga Children's Museum. It was more of a long weekend than a week.
I think Ruby Falls is close by -but I don't do caves
Atlanta would not be too far away if you run out of things to do

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

IMO, yes. the Aquarium is ok. But it's about a 3 hour visit.

Rock City and all that stuff is pure tourist junk. Cheesy and not even close to worth the money. But that all can be done in a day or two.

3 days and you're out of things to do.

Nickajack Lake is cool for a picnic.

We stayed at the Choo Choo. It's ok but it's nothing to write home about. It's also really close to a bad area but they have good security.

To the east in the hills there is the Ocoee, and some natural opportunities. But if you're not into that stuff, well that's no help.

 

[laurie31]

Here's a site that may help: http://www.peachmountain.com/narayan/Chattanooga.asp

I thought Racoon mountain was a lot of fun. Go karts, an alpine slide, fun stuff for kids

I think if you spread everything out and took your time (which with little kids and a big group isn't suh a bad idea anyway) you could fill a week. My kids would be happy just to swim in the hotel pool for that long! (the Choo CHoo has a nice indoor pool - or they did when we were there).

I thought Rock City was cool. Yeah, there were cheesy parts, but some of the natural formations were really neat. I loved Ruby Falls. I didn't think there was anything cheesy about it.

If you end up with extra time, you could always drive down the interstate towards Birmingham (B'ham is a straight shot -an easy two hours). On the way are cool places like Little River Canyon in Desoto State Park and Noccalulla Falls. We did this as a day trip one time. We started at Noccalulla Falls, hiked in Desoto State Park, played on Racoon Mountain, saw Ruby Falls, did some shopping, and had dinner at the Choo Choo. Then we drove home. (this was BC - before children - I don't think we could do all that in a day with the kids!)

I think you'll have a fun relaxing vacation

 

[Evil Queen]

IMO, yes. the Aquarium is ok. But it's about a 3 hour visit.

Rock City and all that stuff is pure tourist junk. Cheesy and not even close to worth the money. But that all can be done in a day or two.

3 days and you're out of things to do.

Nickajack Lake is cool for a picnic.

We stayed at the Choo Choo. It's ok but it's nothing to write home about. It's also really close to a bad area but they have good security.

To the east in the hills there is the Ocoee, and some natural opportunities. But if you're not into that stuff, well that's no help.

We love the cheesy stuff.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

What time of year are you going? If the summertime, there's the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league team.

Atlanta is about 2+ hours south.

How old are the kids? Old enough for white water rafting? If so, google "Ocoee River" and have a day of fun in the mountains on the river.

There are also a lot of Native American and Civil War historical sites in the area, especially northwest Georgia, if any of that interests you.

 

[stevenpensacola]

Don't forget about Lake Winnie:

www.lakewinnie.com ,

a good old-fashioned, classic, family owned amusement park.


For the price of ONE Magic Kingdom ticket, your whole family can enjoy a day at Lake Winnie.

We stayed here:

http://www.hiddenhollowresort.com/index.asp

my kids still talk about this place.

Kids really enjoyed Rock City.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I live in Cleveland, 30 minutes from Chattanooga, and I have yet to figure out why people vacation here.

 

[GoofyDad869]

The aquarium's cool! When you're at the aquarium, be sure to check out the Trail of Tears memorial. There's water fountains for kids to play in, and it's a really cool area. Both aquariums (there's a recently added seawater aquarium) are a FULL day by themselves. There's a Childrens' museum and an IMAX theater within a couple of blocks from the aquarium too. If it's football season check out a UTC Mocs game, baseball season you could go to see the Lookouts. If you've got some "higher" tastes, check out the Hunter Museum of Art. They've recently opened a new gallery that's pretty impressive, architecturally. All that being said, I'm not sure there's enough to do for an entire week in Chattanooga (unless you'd want bum around the Hamilton Place mall for a couple of days).

People are suggesting a 2-hour drive to Atlanta. If a 2-hour drive's OK, why not head 2-hours northeast and go to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? There's definitely enough nature stuff to do to keep you occupied for a couple of days!

 

[kutchyone]

For younger kids Discovery Zone, the Aquarium and the IMax, Ruby Falls, Rock City and Lake Winnie are really great. The river front makes for a nice short visit once you have toured the aquarium. Incline was OK, no big deal and I would never do it again. A whole week, I don't think so but for us 3 days/two nights worked out well. We did Lake Winnie after checking out of the hotel (Read House, realy good pool and great story about the haunted room). We were there this past June.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I almost forgot. This is a day trip from Chattanooga but well worth it, except during times it doesn't rain.

Fall Creek Falls State Park.

http://state.tn.us/environment/parks/FallCreekFalls/

 

[GoofyDad869]

I'd second Fall Creek Falls.

Another sorta touristy thing would be the Lost Sea in Sweetwater (roughly halfway b/t Chattanooga and Knoxville). It's a large underground cavern with a lake. The lake down there has been low as there's been relatively low rainfall here the last couple of years.

We got married in 1990 near Sweetwater. After the reception our wedding party (groomsmen & bridesmaids - college kids) did the Lost Sea in their tuxes and gowns.