Knoxville

A golden glass globe atop a steel tower recalls the 1982 World's Fair – the Sunsphere is Knoxville's signature landmark. If you're planning a vacation in Knoxville, you'll find a relaxed university town on the Tennessee River, valued above all as the starting point for the most visited national park in the U.S.

Tennessee's First Capital

Knoxville was founded in 1791 and served as the first capital of the new state. James White's Fort, a reconstructed log fort from the city's founding days, and the Blount Mansion, the residence of the first territorial governor, bring this early era to life. In the 20th century, the Tennessee Valley Authority with its dams and nearby Oak Ridge, where work on the Manhattan Project took place, shaped the region. The city is also considered one of the cradles of country music: radio stations such as WNOX gave early support to musicians like Roy Acuff and Chet Atkins.

Sights in Knoxville

World's Fair Park with the Sunsphere and its observation deck is a good place to start. From there, you can walk to Market Square, a plaza lined with restaurants and cafés that hosts a farmers market on Saturdays, and to Gay Street with the magnificent Tennessee Theatre from 1928. The Knoxville Museum of Art shows art from East Tennessee, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors the sport for which the university is famous. On football Saturdays, more than 100,000 fans in orange fill Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee to watch the Volunteers play. Nature lovers will appreciate the Urban Wilderness on the south side of town, with hiking and mountain biking trails.

Eating and Going Out in Knoxville

With its brick warehouses, the Old City north of downtown is the neighborhood for bars, breweries, and live music. Menus feature Southern classics such as biscuits and gravy, fried green tomatoes, and barbecue, along with regional dishes like trout from mountain streams. West of the center in Bearden and toward Cedar Bluff, you'll find many restaurants and shopping centers that are visited more by locals. If you'd like to sample bourbon and moonshine, you'll find small distilleries in the city and in the mountain towns.

Music, Theater, and Festivals

The Tennessee Theatre on Gay Street, a lavish movie palace with a Wurlitzer organ, is the official state theater of Tennessee, and the Bijou Theatre is one of the city's oldest stages. In spring, the Big Ears festival brings experimental music, jazz, and new music to halls, churches, and clubs downtown and draws visitors from around the world. At midday, the local station WDVX broadcasts free live concerts during its Blue Plate Special. Literature fans will know that the writer Cormac McCarthy grew up in Knoxville, and James Agee paid tribute to the city in his novel "A Death in the Family."

Getting Around Knoxville and Day Trips

McGhee Tyson Airport is about 12 miles south in the town of Alcoa. Free trolley buses run downtown, but you'll need a car for excursions. Great Smoky Mountains National Park begins about an hour's drive away, beyond Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge with Dollywood, Dolly Parton's theme park. The best times to visit are spring, with wildflowers and dogwood blossoms, celebrated at the Dogwood Arts Festival in April, and October, when the leaves in the mountains change color.