Local’s Itinerary for 1 Day in Gatlinburg: From Pancakes to Panoramas
Whether you’re visiting Great Smoky Mountain National Park, passing through East Tennessee, or exploring neighboring Smoky Mountain towns (Pigeon Forge and Sevierville), Gatlinburg is worth spending some time in.
Even if you only have 1 day in Gatlinburg, this itinerary will give you an exact breakdown of what to do, see, and eat. I’ve been living in the area for over 3 years now and make day trips to Gatlinburg all the time, so I’m confident you’ll love this locally vetted itinerary.
Get Started in Gatlinburg
🛏️ Where to stay: Historic Rocky Waters Inn ($149+ per night) — adults-only, luxury boutique hotel in a renovated historic inn along a river with a fantastic on-site restaurant
🚠 Must dos:
- Moonshine tour and tasting — dive into Appalachian culture on this moonshine tour and tasting
- Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies — mountain meets ocean at this close up look at sea life and get closer on a glass bottom boat tour
Map of Your Gatlinburg Itinerary
How to Spend 1 Day in Gatlinburg, Tennessee
While Gatlinburg is the gateway to the Smoky Mountains, this itinerary focuses solely on Gatlinburg. I’ve written a whole separate itinerary for the Smokies, so feel free to reference both itineraries as you plan your trip.
This itinerary is designed for a full day in Gatlinburg, without an excursion into Great Smoky Mountain National Park. However, feel free to mix and match this itinerary with my Smokies one for the ultimate mountain getaway guide!
And before I dive in, I had to let you know I created a free downloadable version of this itinerary for easy offline reference as you travel through the Smoky Mountains.
Just tell me where to send it.
Pancake Breakfast (it’s important!)
Did you know Gatlinburg is the pancake capital of the South? Yes, really! So obviously, you simply must start your day with a pancake breakfast!
There’s no shortage of great options but two of my favorites are Pancake Pantry, which is along the Parkway (aka Gatlinburg’s main road), and Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin, which has a few locations sprinkled throughout the city.
Pancake Pantry claims to be the first ever specialty pancake restaurant in Tennessee. It opened in 1960 and is known for its unique creations alongside classics. You’ll find original buttermilk pancakes, corn pancakes, and sweet potato pancakes, among many others!
Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin, specifically their East Parkway location, is my favorite because it’s a bit removed from the downtown crowds and has its own parking lot…which you’ll soon discover is a hot commodity in downtown Gatlinburg.
I love their sticky bun pancakes and whole wheat options!
Aim to dine at 8:30 am – 9:00 am, so that at 10 am, you can head to one of Gatlinburg’s best kept secrets.
- Address: 478 East Pkwy (Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin near the next activity)
- Cost: ~ $15
- Hours: 7 am – 1 pm weekends, 8 am – 1 pm weekdays
- Public transit stop: Winery Square on bus lines 3 and 4
Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum
Gatlinburg is known for being whacky and weird (in the best way), so there’s no better museum than this one. The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum is locally owned and contains over 20,000 pairs of salt and pepper shakers.
They’re organized by theme from vegetables, to Santa Claus, to entirely gold ones, and beyond.
The museum has signs that point out the significant pairs and teaches you about types, styles, and materials of importance.
For example, you can see a “glow in the dark pair” made of uranium glass (it’s actually fluorescent under UV light, but they call it glow in the dark…sue me, I’m a chemist).
The museum only costs $3 and that goes towards a souvenir set from their gift shop, if you want to add one to your own collection.
You can spend a solid 45 minutes here and it’s much bigger than you may think!
PS, the museum is right behind the Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin on East Parkway, so it’s super easy to combine these activities this morning.
- Address: 461 Brookside Village Way
- Cost: $3
- Hours: 10 am – 4 pm daily
- Public transit stop: Winery Square on bus lines 3 and 4
Great Smoky Mountains Arts and Crafts Community
In the late morning, make your way northeast along East Parkway until you reach Glades Rd (on your left). Turn left there, and now you’re on the 8-mile loop of the Great Smoky Mountains Arts and Crafts Community!
This loop features over 80+ galleries, workshops, and artists’ shops. You can shop for unique handmade items like jewelry, glasswork, ceramics, wax figures, prints, and woodwork.
Or, opt for a hands-on workshop. Many of the galleries have events/workshop calendars, but if you’d rather do something on the fly, pop into Lorelei Candles to color your own candle by learning to dip it in colored wax!
It’s a cheap and fun souvenir!
Some of my favorite spots are the Cliff Dwellers Gallery, where upstairs you can watch water transfer printing in action, Arts and Crafts Village with the cutest souvenir shops, and Morning Mist Village with a great fudge shop amidst the artists.
Instead of giving you addresses and public transit stops for all 80+ spots on the arts community loop, peep the trolley map and look for the yellow line (bus route 4) which stops at Morning Mist Village.
Lunch at Split Rail Eats
As you’re making your way through the loop, stop at Split Rail Eats for lunch.
They have classic American and pub fare, indoor and outdoor seating, and ample parking for an easy stop.
I had their wings and was quite pleased!
- Address: 849 Glades Rd Suite 1B1
- Cost: ~$12
- Hours: closed Mondays, 11 am – 9 pm weeknights, 11 am – 10 pm weekends (Friday and Saturday)
- Public transit Stop: Morning Mist Village, bus line 2 (yellow line) is the only stop on the Arts loop — it’s a bit far to walk to Split Rail Eats from there though, so opt for Morning Mist Cafe for lunch if relying solely on public transit
Crazy Shake or Moonshine Tasting (or Both)
Make your way back to the Parkway to start your afternoon with “dessert.”
But first, parking. For the rest of this itinerary, I’d recommend parking at the Ripley’s Aquarium parking lot. It’s a max rate of $10, which is one of the cheaper options, and is central to this itinerary.
Then head decide if you want a crazy milkshake or moonshine (or both).
For a crazy milkshake, The Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar, has you covered. They’re known for their over the top milkshakes in souvenir mason jars. The specialty at this location is called Meet Me in the Mountains and has Teddy Grahams, a moon pie (which was invented in East TN), and Gatlinburg-made rice crispie treat.
When you’re done, be sure to wash out your mason jar to keep it for a souvenir!
- Address: 812 Parkway #106
- Cost: ~ $12
- Hours: 2 – 9 pm weeknights, 2 – 9:30 pm weekends (Friday and Saturday)
- Public transit Stop: Bubba Gump Shrimp, bus line 1 (red line)
Alternatively, pop into a distillery for a moonshine tasting. Moonshine is essential to the Appalachia region so a tasting is truly quite fitting.
My favorite is Sugarlands Distilling Company, where tastings of 12 moonshine flavors cost $5. Ole Smoky is also great but costs a wee bit more at $7 for the maximum number of tastings. You can opt for fewer tastings for $5 though at Ole Smoky.
If you have time, you can also take a guided moonshine tour with tastings!
- Address: 805 Parkway (Sugarlands)
- Cost: $5
- Hours: 10 am – 10:30 pm
- Public transit Stop: Gatlinburg Sky Lift Park Shelter, bus line 1 (red line)
Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
One of the biggest attractions in Gatlinburg is Ripley’s Aquarium. I know it feels counterintuitive to look at oceanic life in the mountains, but here we are.
The Ripley’s entity actually owns quite a few attractions downtown including mini golf, a haunted house, their iconic Believe It or Not museum, and more. However, the Aquarium is the best of them all (says the former scientist)!
You can spend around 2 hours at Ripley’s Aquarium to see marine life from all over the world.
For an extra special experience, add on their glass bottom boat tour which takes you across the top of a large aquarium tank.
Tickets are $39.99 for adults and glass bottom boat tickets are an additional $12.99 per person.
Pssst, did you end up with a souvenir mason jar from Crazy Mason? If you parked behind the Aquarium, feel free to drop it back in your car so you aren’t carrying it the rest of the night.
- Address: 88 River Rd
- Cost: $39.99 + $12.99 for glass bottom boat add-on (tickets here)
- Hours: 9 am – 9 pm weeknights, 9 am – 10 pm weekends (Friday and Saturday)
- Public transit Stop: Transit Center (bus lines 1, 2, 3, 4)
Explore Downtown Gatlinburg
Until dinnertime, or sunset, depending on what time of year you’re visiting, you’ll have some time to kill before the final evening activity and dinner.
This is the perfect time to explore downtown Gatlinburg.
There’s lots to see and do here to keep you entertained.
First, there are a number of small museums like the Hollywood Star Cars Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and the moonshine history exhibit at Ole Smoky Holler (an outdoor space around the distillery, where there’s also free music daily).
If you decide to partake in a crazy shake or moonshine, the museums listed above are actually much closer to those spots than the Aquarium, so to avoid walking the Parkway back and forth, you can do these first on your way to Ripley’s Aquarium. Just a thought!
You’ll also find lots of little goofy attractions like the Amazing Mirror Maze and Circus Golf, plus arcades, and the Space Needle viewing platform (not to be confused with the iconic Space Needle in Seattle).
The small shops are also worth popping in to. My favorites are the Village Shops where you’ll find Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen, Misty Mountain Soap Co., and The Honey Pot (a gift shop).
Don’t miss Byrd’s Famous Cookies along the Parkway, too! They have the best mini cookies (both sweet and savory options) with testers and mix and match DIY boxes.
Dinner at Anakeesta
About an hour before sunset or at dinner time, make your way to Anakeesta. It’s right across from Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.
Anakeesta is a mountaintop entertainment complex with restaurants, bars, gift shops, gardens, an observation tower, mountain coasters, a luge, and suspension bridges.
You’ll want to spend all evening here!
At the base of the mountain on the Parkway, be sure to get a ticket with the Astra Lumina add on. This will be the final activity of the day and you need to get the ticket ahead of time before trekking up the mountain.
When you’re ready, you can get to the top of the mountain in one of three ways – ski lift, chondola (an enclosed rider car on the ski lift), or bus (called the Ridge Rambler).
If the weather is nice and you’re not afraid of heights, the chairlift is quite lovely.
At the top, you can explore at your leisure and visit one of the on site restaurants for dinner.
I enjoyed the Clifftop Restaurant, which had beautiful views, and Mimi’s Creamery afterwards!
There are plenty of places to sit and enjoy your mountaintop experience from fire pits, to benches, to rocking chairs.
Don’t miss the gardens, Anavista Tower, the highest point for 360-degree views, and Treetop Skywalk where you can walk among the trees!
- Address: 576 Parkway
- Cost: $39.99 + $17.99 for Astra Lumina add-on (tickets here)
- Hours: 10 am – 9 pm daily
- Public transit Stop: Traffic Light #6 Shelter, Anakeesta, bus line 2 (red line)
Astra Lumina
As the sun goes down and your timed ticket reservation time approaches, make your way to Astra Lumina.
This is a celestial-inspired art installation that creates a unique outdoor sensory experience among the trees.
It’s a ticket add-on, so it costs extra at $17.99, but it’s worth it, especially once!
There are 9 different art installations to see with lights and sounds, and it takes about an hour to go through.
Once you’re relaxed and in tune with the mountains, you can make your way to the chair lift or bus to go back down the mountain to wrap up this itinerary!
FAQs About Visiting Gatlinburg
Example timing for this itinerary
- 9:00 am – Breakfast at Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin (East Pkwy)
- 10:00 am – Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum
- 11:00 am – Great Smoky Mountains Arts and Crafts Community
- 12:30 pm – Lunch at Split Rail Eats
- 1:30 pm – Moonshine tasting
- 2:15 pm – Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
- 4:00 pm – Explore downtown
- 5:30 pm – Anakeesta and Dinner
- 8:00 pm – Astra Lumina
How much does this itinerary cost?
$186
- Food/Drink: $60
- Activities: $116 (Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, Ripley’s Aquarium with Glass Bottom Boat, Anakeesta and Astra Lumina, and moonshine tasting)
- Parking: $10
To save on this itinerary, consider skipping the glass bottom boat tour and/or Astra Lumina.
What about the Smoky Mountains?
You’ll notice I didn’t include an excursion into the Smokies on this itinerary. That’s because I have a whole separate itinerary dedicated to Smoky Mountain National Park.
If you want to see both Gatlinburg and the National Park, feel free to mix and match these two itineraries.
Is one day enough?
One day really is the perfect amount of time to spend in Gatlinburg. You obviously can’t do everything in just one day, but you can do a lot. I hope this itinerary proved that for you!
Where to stay in Gatlinburg
There are number of hotels in Gatlinburg, but I’ve personally loved the following:
- Historic Rocky Waters Inn ($149+ per night) — adults, only luxury property along the river with a fantastic on-site restaurant called The Heirloom Room
- Roamstead ($82+ per night) — glamping site in Cosby, TN, 15 minutes from Gatlinburg with the most comfy yurts and high-end restrooms for campgrounds I’ve ever seen!
How to get around Gatlinburg
While you certainly can drive, parking can be competitive and there is free public transit available!
Parking lots cost a minimum of $10 and upwards of $30. Aside from the Ripley’s Aquarium garage, I like the small lot at St Mary’s Catholic Church on Airport Rd. It’s small, inexpensive, and within walking distance to everything.
If you can snag free street parking on River Road, behind the attractions on the Parkway, that’s always the best! It can be extremely hard to find parking there though.
As for public transit, the Gatlinburg Trolley system has multiple lines that travel around the city from the Smoky Mountains Arts and Crafts Community to the downtown Parkway.
I’ve found that it is a bit slow in terms of the frequency. I tried waiting a few times for the Trolley near the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum and found it would have been significantly faster had I just walked to my destination, even if it was a mile away.
It’s totally up to you though. Know that it’s there and covers almost everywhere on this itinerary! The only place it doesn’t is Split Rail Eats, so just be sure to read about lunch alternatives above if you’re taking public transit.
Spending more time in East Tennessee? These posts will help:
- Things to do in Gatlinburg for adults (if you need more ideas!)
- Historic Rocky Waters Inn hotel review
- Where to go glamping near the Smokies
- Great Smoky Mountains 3-Day Itinerary
- Best things to do in Knoxville, Tennessee
- Knoxville to Smoky Mountains day trip itinerary
- Local’s guide to Covenant Health Park: Knoxville Smokies’ new stadium
- Local’s hidden gems in East Tennessee
- Johnson City weekend itinerary
- Pigeon Forge’s best hotel for adults
- Top coffee shops in Knoxville
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- Booking.com – This is my favorite hotel search aggregator, specifically for reading reviews. On Booking.com, the reviews can be searched for keywords like WiFi, breakfast, pool, amenities, etc.! So helpful!
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- Staycation Idea – Check out Resort Pass, which gives you day passes to resorts so you can use their pool, spa, and fitness center, a great staycation idea!
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