Getting Around Tennessee

If you are patient, you can find useful tourists' information on the website for the Department of Transportation for Tennessee.

http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/ provides links to construction information, live highway camera views, maps.

http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/travel.htm gives access to weather reports, construction advisories, more maps

The main road into Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (Highway 441) is crowded and clogged with traffic during the summer months and weekends, especially during the peak months. You may be able to save time coming in from the South taking Wears Valley Road from Townsend (Highway 31 from Alcoa) or take Middlecreek Road to the north from Sevierville to Pigeon Forge to cut out the worst of the congested area. Take the bypass around Gatlinburg from Pigeon Forge to go straight into the park.

Steele Creek Park (admission $1) in Bristol, TN is a great place to spend the day. Along with the requisite playgrounds and picnic pavilions, as well as a trail around the lake, Steele Creek has a choo-choo that loops around next to the lake. Adults can ride, too!

Remember, if your traveling to the Smokies, it is bumper to bumper during October (peaking of the leaves season, or Fall foiliage) and November into December with the holiday crowds. Save time and money and call ahead to reserve your place early and avoid confusion.

To get to and from Nashville, we flew via Toronto on a 2-hour connecting flight with Air Canada. I had booked a rental car from Budget before leaving for Nashville - the rate was a fantastic $53 for 2 days with unlimited mileage (picked up at Airport and dropped off downtown). I ended up getting a Ford Taurus and it was a nice performing car - no complaints. When we drove across Interstate-40 toward the Great Smoky Mountains I was really impressed with the quality of the highway. It was as smooth as could be (we have to get used to the frost-induced speed bumps here in Canada) and the scenery was great. When we exited the National Park to return, we diverted south onto some "back" highways for a change of scenery. I was also impressed with this area of the state, along Route 72 from Tallassee to Kingston - rolling hills with trees and meadows. Photo of some trees totally covered by vines near Tallassee at the southern end of the Foothills Parkway.

to get to this part...best to hit either 127 or 52 either road will bring ya into the beautiful fentress county
well not sure about most of tennessee as i have only been here 2 years...but if ya want to get to some of the really nice overlooks ya might want a 4 wheeler or a 4 wheel drive

Try the two main aiports at Memphis and Nashville. Note, there are more airports, including the one in Knoxsville, but getting there will cost you way more!
Either rent a car or take the bus :). The roads of Tennesse are beautiful and easily accessible.

Both Nashville and Memphis have international airports. Memphis is a major hub for Northwest airlines and there are often great deals between Memphis and other Northwest/KLM Cities, even outside the US. Check Northwest's website at www.nwa.com every Wednesday for new specials called Cyber Savers available only on their website. Sometimes they have Amsterdam-->Memphis tickets for under $300.
Public transportation in Tennessee is almost non-existant. There are buses, but they are not at all like the well-developed public transport systems in Europe or major U.S. cities like New York and Washington D.C. In my view, a car is an absolute must. Even if you wanted to use the buses, you couldn't get everywhere you'd want to go. Luckily--renting cars is pretty cheap here.