Summertime means folks can get a little downtime from work and school…so that everybody in the family can get up for a little exploring time. It might mean getting out of town on a vacation to do something new. OR, it might mean getting into a daycation in our own incredible hometown, a city whose wildly diverse tourism charms can draw almost seven and a half million overnight visitors annually! (VisitKnoxville.com 2022)
Along with an ideal location close to the country’s most visited national park, Knoxville is the perfect walk-around sight-see in the morning, grab lunch at a food truck, jump into urban outdoor adventures in the afternoon, hit a craft beer tour at 4, and dine on a riverside patio at sunset kind of town!
Whether you are Knoxville newbies or born and bred Volunteers, put on your tourist hat. We’ve curated a few stops along the way to help you map out where your day might take you.
Brace yourself right off the bat with a fresh roasted latte or a matcha green tea and homemade pastry from the popular local coffee shop Cultivate, where you can even pick up locally grown flowers from sister shop Flourish Flowers. Knoxville has plenty of coffee bars for your caffeine maintenance throughout the day, like Awaken Coffee, Mahalo, CommonPlace Coffee, French Market Crepêrie, and Coffee and Chocolate.
Ready to dive into the day’s adventures? Head south of downtown to Ijams Nature Center to hike 10 miles of natural surface trails and boardwalk along the Tennessee River bank, rent a kayak or paddle board, enjoy mountain biking the trails, or bring your kiddos to play in the outdoor playscape areas, including a new primal playground that’s a scalable green exercise course. Check out educational day programs and evening events featuring live music and other performing arts.
Knoxville Adventure Collective will hook you up with everything you need for downtown morning to moonlight paddling on the Tennessee River in curated tours. (Try A.M. yoga on the paddle board.) View the city shoreline from a whole new perspective! Rent bikes for the family to take on local bike trails and greenways.
Hungry? Brunch-to-lunch foodie favorites beckon from the heart of all the downtown action in Market Square, including bistro dining at Ruby Sunshine, Café 4, or Tupelo Honey. Too busy to wait for seating? Find food truck parks wherever you find yourself in the city, like Southside Garage in South Knoxville, The Cave Food Truck Park in West Knoxville, or 35North in Farragut.
Thirsty afternoons could lead to a thriving craft beer scene. Take The Knoxville Ale Tour to explore 25 local breweries and taprooms. Check them off your ale passport which you can pick up at participating breweries like Yee-Haw Brewing, Schulz Bräu Brewing, Brother Wolf, or Gypsy Circus Cider Barrelhouse. The Tennessee Whiskey Trail makes two stops in Downtown Knoxville at PostModern Spirits and Knox Whiskey Works for touring and tasting hand-crafted spirits. A hidden gem behind the Oliver Hotel, Peter Kern Library is a modern speakeasy requiring a secret code to enter and enjoy cocktails in a classic library-themed establishment.
Children’s museum Muse Knoxville had your kids in mind when putting summer STEM hands-on activities and events together. Catch a for-children by-children production at the Knoxville Children’s Theatre at the Foundry near the World’s Fair Site. Pack the family bikes and kids can cruise down child-sized Safety City streets, created by the Knoxville Police Department in Bearden, to practice cycling skills and learn pedestrian safety rules.
What more can you say about our big-city Zoo Knoxville (close to downtown) than it’s the Red Panda Capital of the World with more red pandas born here than any other zoo in the world? Maybe, that the newest residents are the do-not-miss Southern White Rhinos! Day camps for ages 4-17 offer wild experiences and experiments.
Those sudden East Tennessee summer thunderstorms can’t dampen family spirits. Indoor options let you soak up Knoxville’s historical and cultural background while staying dry. Explore the Knoxville Museum of Art (check out KMA kids’ programs), East Tennessee History Center, McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, and all manner of boutique art galleries that dot the downtown landscape. Don’t leave downtown without treating everyone to fresh churned Cruze Dairy Farm Ice Cream!
Fine dining caps off a full day. Downtown Knoxville is home to premier restaurants giving new culinary life to historic buildings, such as 71 South, in one of Knoxville’s oldest churches, J.C. Holdway, in the historic Daylight Building, and Vida, in the historic Holston. For more casual dining, try Kefi, Southern Grit, Boyd’s Jig and Reel, or Barley’s Pizzeria. Heading home out west? Seasons in Turkey Creek offers casual dining with innovative American cuisine.
Nightlife in Knoxville buzzes with live music performances, festivals, street fairs, bars, bistros, opera, Broadway musicals and plays, and concerts at historic Tennessee Theatre and the Bijou. Head to home plate finishing off a family sports night with spectacular post-game fireworks at Covenant Health Park’s state-of-the-art stadium in the Old City, home to minor league Knoxville Smokies and One Knox Sporting Club.
So many choices to explore so close to home.
In the lyrics of UT alums, Drew and Ellie Holcomb, Tennessee’s own singer-songwriter sweethearts, it’s time to “chase the sun, make a little fun … carpe the diem … put your money in the ‘Memory Bank.’”*
Well, what are y’all waiting for?
*”Memory Bank” by Drew Holcomb, Ellie Holcomb & Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors drewholcomb.com
Explore the city in a brand ‘newt’ way with a self-guided scavenger hunt for 12 newt (aka salamander) bronze sculptures hidden throughout Downtown Knoxville. Get your passport at the Visitor’s Center and some post-hunt "Newts in Knoxville" merch at Mast General.
Visitknoxville.com is your go-to resource for planning your day, including pet-friendly things to do so the furry family members don't indulge in any FFFOMO (Four- Footed Fear of Missing Out).
Visitknoxville.com is your go-to resource for planning your day!
Explore the city in a brand newt way with self-guided Newts in Knoxville scavenger hunt.