Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge

[happymom2one]

Hello! My family is planning a trip to the SMokies and I am wondering if anyone could help me figure out if it is better to stay in one place over another (Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge) or if it really matters. I have been following the other thread about things to do around there and would love to try most! We will be hanging around the smokies but also will be doing the sight seeing tourist things. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Trishtack]

We go 2-4 times a year. We have stayed in Gatlinburg and Seiverville. I would say where you stay depends on what you want to do most. If you stay in Gatlinburg you are very close to the Smoky Mountain Park and you can walk to all the Gatlinburg activities (if you stay downtown Gatlinburg). We stayed at the Hilton there and it was convenient to everything with a river view. If you stay in Pigeon Forge or Seiverville you have to fight the traffic to get to Gatlinburg. It is an absolute nightmate in the evenings. We go to the Dixie Stampede and it can take over 30 minutes to get there from Seiverville with traffic. We have not stayed in Pigeon Forge. We have stayed in cabins in both Seiverville and in Gatlinburg with great results. Pigeon Forge is in the middle but the traffic is the worst there and it is harder to walk to activies like you can do in Gatlinburg. Unless you want to stay at the Wilderness Lodge with Indoor waterpark in Seiverville, I would vote for staying in Gatlingburg. There are some great prices.

 

[happymom2one]

thanks! we have been looking at VRBO cabins since there will be 5 adults and 1 kiddo! i guess i need to look a little more towards Gatlinburg. Its hard not knowing, so thank you for all your help.

 

[minnie10]

We go there often. I think it depends on what age your kids are and what you are planning to do. If you stay in Gatlinburg and you want to do a show, ride go carts, visit Dollywood, shop at the outlets, or play great mini golf, then you would have to drive each time to Pigeon Forge. Now if you want more of the feel of the mountains, or you want to walk down the streets and shop, visit the candy making stores, or visit the aquarium, or Ripley's Believe It or Not, then stay in Gatlinburg. Your eating choices are more limited in Gatlinburg. It just really depends on what you want to do. We have found that as the kids got older (7 and up) that they enjoyed Pigeon Forge more...

 

[North of Mouse]

If you're going to enjoy the Smokies, as in hiking to waterfalls, enjoying all the wonderful views, etc. Gatlinburg is your best choice. You are very close to the entrance of the Park and don't have to fight the traffic from Pigeon Forge. But if you are going mainly for the touristy attractions, it would make more sense to stay in PF. Don't know how far you are driving, but unless I was going mainly for the enjoyment of the mountains, I would go closer to home area and take the kids to an amusement park We as a family (3 children) always went to the mountains as a destination and went on at least one hike a day and biked around Cades Cove at least once (beautiful 11 mi. loop - can also drive) and we all just loved the outdoors and scenery.

 

[happymom2one]

Can I do it all? No just joking. We plan on doing a little of this, and a little of that. The husbands want to fish and enjoy the mountains and trails. I am just worried about the traffic that Trishtack spoke about. Our daughter is 5, so we will do fun go-carts, minigolf, ski lift thing, aquarium, Ripley's Believe It and Not, but I don't think we will go to Dollyworld this time. Geez, so much to think about and having no clue....

Again, thanks for the help and suggestions. I need it!!

 

[stacyalisa]

Well, they are so close together that it really doesn't matter too much. We rented a cabin last year and it was smack in the middle of both. Literally right off the highway between the two. Here is a youtube video of the cabin we rented....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ELvjnRzt08

Enjoy your trip!

ETA that if you stay there, you will have to drive pretty much everywhere you want to go. Oh, and the youtube video looks a little old. The cabin is no longer blue, but brown. Looks better now. It was fully stocked and had lots of nice touches...microwave popcorn, laundry detergent for the washer, dog treats, etc.

 

[Jenny-momof3]

We stay at Eagle's Ridge Cabins when we go. They're located up in the mountains Pigeon Forge, gorgeous and clean!

We like to shop, do touristy stuff, go to the aquarium, Cade's Cove,etc...so this is pretty much in the middle. If we're going into Gatlinburg for the day we just make sure we drive over before 10am and traffic isn't bad at all ( we go during peak seasons too). It does take us a little longer to get back but not bad IMO.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We like a cabin sorta in the middle of it all and do a little bit of it all. We have rented from Black Bear Rental and had good luck.

One thing to note is that we REALLY like Dollywood. It's not WDW by any means, but a fun, clean park with lots of good food and when you start adding up all the cost of the other things,especially the Ripleys stuff, it can be a good economic choice. Last trip we did the 3 day combo and did two days there and one at the water park. We also like the Dixie Stampede. We do not spend a lot of time on downtime Gatlinburg. It is busy and mostly shopping and expensive entertainment attractions. Also the ONLY place I ever lost my DS when we was little sooooo...bad memories there!

We love a drive and picnic in the smokey mountains and you might even see a BEAR. Be sure to have a pancake breakfast one morning.

 

[GoofyPredsFan]

First off let me say AHHHH, I'M SO JEALOUS!! haha!! I love love love Gatlinburg. We have been many many times and have stayed in both places. I agree with previous posters that it depends on what you are planning to do as to where you might stay. But no matter where we stay, we always visit both places, to me it is no issue. I think that the worst times to drive through Pigeon Forge is when they have big events going on, like car shows. Also, we went over July 4th once and that was insane! As much fun as we had, I swear if we ever go then again, we'll make different plans and work around that craziness!! I hope you have a great time!

 

[Jenny-momof3]

GoofyPredsFan~ We went many years over 4th of July and we LOVED it! But obviously crowds don't bother us because we now do 4th of July at Disney! We only travel at peak seasons...4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break/Easter...so I think we're just accustomed to crowds and have learned to either stay ahead of them or work our way around them!

 

[Bell30012]

Unless you are going on a very busy week, I suggest that you do NOT book your reservations ahead of time. Silly, right? The places that rent cabins actually compete up there. We don't live very far from there so we like to visit. The prices go down the later it gets.

Hotels are the same way. The later in the evening it gets the lower the price goes. We stayed in a suite at the Gatlinburg Clarion Inn & Suites right on Parkway for $40 a night once. We've found cabins for $75 a night before. A lot depends on season and how booked they are.

 

[happymom2one]

Unless you are going on a very busy week, I suggest that you do NOT book your reservations ahead of time. Silly, right? The places that rent cabins actually compete up there. We don't live very far from there so we like to visit. The prices go down the later it gets.

Hotels are the same way. The later in the evening it gets the lower the price goes. We stayed in a suite at the Gatlinburg Clarion Inn & Suites right on Parkway for $40 a night once. We've found cabins for $75 a night before. A lot depends on season and how booked they are.

sad thing... i think we are going down at peak time, week after Easter.

 

[iheartpeterpan]

If you want to be in the thick of things, stay in Gatlinburg. You can walk/trolley everywhere. If you want to be away from everything, I suggest you look towards Wears Valley for a cabin. There is a back entrance to the park that will keep you away from all the traffic going into and out of the park (by the Wonderland hotel, the entrance comes in through the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area). You could drive into Gatlinburg as you wanted to but not be stuck in all the traffic.

Depending on your budget there is a super super nice place over in Townsend (Dancing Bear Lodge) that would be very close to the park entrance about halfway between Gatlinburg and Cades Cove - or I have had good luck with Smoky Mountain Cabin Rentals, they have cabins right up against the park.

There are a myriad of hotel choices in Gatlinburg.

Or you could camp. Which is what I would do. lol

 

[pperfectmom]

We always stay right in Gatlinburg(Zoder's Best Western) or rent a cabin. I really, really dislike Pigeon Forge. You can't get anywhere without driving and it's all so cheesy. In Gatlinburg you are closer to the park and there are tons of activities, shopping and restaurants you can walk to. There are a ton of things there to appeal to everyone.

 

[ceecee]

I like to stay in Gatlinburg as well. We booked the same hotel last year (Red Roof by the Aquarium) we stayed at years ago only to find it had new owners! The manager told us they will not put any $ into the place and it shows, we had to check out and we "toured" three other hotels we liked before, we ended up staying at the Holiday Inn in PF, it was clean and modern! Turns out this is common in PF and Gatlinburg, so some of our favorite places are now dumps! We like staying in Gatlinburg and walking everywhere but I need somewhere CLEAN to stay. One of the ladies told me to ask if it's locally owned!

 

[teCh0010]

I like to stay in Gatlinburg as well. We booked the same hotel last year (Red Roof by the Aquarium) we stayed at years ago only to find it had new owners! The manager told us they will not put any $ into the place and it shows, we had to check out and we "toured" three other hotels we liked before, we ended up staying at the Holiday Inn in PF, it was clean and modern! Turns out this is common in PF and Gatlinburg, so some of our favorite places are now dumps! We like staying in Gatlinburg and walking everywhere but I need somewhere CLEAN to stay. One of the ladies told me to ask if it's locally owned!

The Hilton Garden Inn in Gatlinburg is only a couple of years old so you don't have to deal with the issues that some of the older places there have.

I've stayed there a couple of times and it is very nice. It has a nice outdoor firepit and Hilton did a good job making it fit into the enviroment.

 

[Swan4Me]

We always stay right in Gatlinburg(Zoder's Best Western) or rent a cabin.

I really, really dislike Pigeon Forge. :sick

:You can't get anywhere without driving and it's all so cheesy. In Gatlinburg you are closer to the park and there are tons of activities, shopping and restaurants you can walk to. There are a ton of things there to appeal to everyone.

I cant stand even DRIVING thru that nasty town

Gatlinburg is old school-awesome

 

[miblue]

We went last spring and LOVED it. I would definitely avoid Pigeon Forge, it is way too touristy with lots of dumb gimicky places. We went for the nature aspect, not for the commercialized aspect so if that's what you want though, then Pigeon Forge is for you. Gatlinburg and Sevierville would be my other recommendations though.

We're on a very tight budget and found this lovely cabin with 2 rooms and 2 baths in Gatlinburg. It also had a washer/dryer and a pull out bed in the living room which would more than accomodate your group. It's privately owned by an older couple and they were so helpful and nice. I liked using them rather than a company. It is very close to the grocery store and just a very short drive into town. The view from the cabin is unbelievable. Here's a link to the website: http://watavucabin.com/index.html I highly recommend that cabin!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

We stayed in Sevierville a few years ago, and are going back to Pigeon Forge this summer in July. We chose PF because we plan on getting a season pass to Dollywood, and PF is close to that. We have not done any of the other touristy things in PF, but there is a lot of traffic there. I think Gatlinburg would be my first choice of where to stay, but while we have young kids who want to go to amusment parks, we'll do PF. We're not a very "naturey" family. LOL

However, I did look into A LOT of cabins on VRBO.com - in PF, Gburg and Sville. I found the prices varied a lot just by what the owner wanted to offer, so look around and ask a lot of questions. We found rates all over the place, and then had one standout property that offered all the amenities we wanted in a price that was very attractive.

Also, when looking for a cabin, look for fewer bedrooms than you think you may need. Most cabins have a loft area which serves are another private sleeping space. We normally would want at least 2 bedrooms, but found a 1 bedroom plus loft that will be more than adequate for us. Keeps the price a little lower too.

Good lcuk finding something - there are a lot of choices!