Tennessee (Chattanooga)
Trip Summary
When you think of Tennessee, you think of cities like Nashville and Memphis, right? Country music! Elvis! The Smoky Mountains! Moonshine! All things are are undeniably Tennesseean…but what about the hidden gem of the state, Chattanooga?
I have been lucky enough to pass through Chattanooga many times over the weekends and during school breaks, and each time, I discover something new that I like. It’s a pretty city with lots of outdoor activities, a nice walkable downtown area, and tons of cool restaurants and breweries to frequent.
The city is so full of neat spots that several times, I decided to actually stay for a night or two rather than just stop for a meal or an activity, and I am so glad that I did! So I will start the reviews with places to stay (though, I will give some very different options, ha!), then I will cover some of the good restaurants and popular sights.
Okay, first things first…have you ever wanted to go camping…in a cave? Raccoon Mountain Caverns and Campground in Chattanooga offers just that! Obviously, you can still rent a cabin or an RV spot if that is more your thing, but my husband and I wanted to try something new, so we booked a cave hike that would end with an overnight stay in the cavern.
There are multiple hikes that you can book, each with varying degrees of difficulty, and having caving experience, we decided to book the Echo Room Expedition. After getting all our gear (head lamp and knee pads), we walked into the cave with our sleeping bags and set them down where we would pick them up after our hike. Then, it was time to explore!
My husband and I were actually the only people on the hike, so it was really sort of a private tour. The guide showed us all around the cave and included the Canyon and Fossil Crawls as well as the Echo Room. One of the most memorable spots was the 49 cent squeeze–aptly named because a person who had made it through said he couldn’t have done so if he had so much as 49 cents in his pocket!
There were lots of tunnels like that one and longer bits that you had to inch your way through via belly crawl, so the knee pads definitely come in handy! The longest belly crawl is actually at the end when you are the most tired, but all the belly crawls are worth it once you see the stunning views and trace on the trail all the places you explored.
Since we were the only two on the tour, our guide actually led us into other parts of the cave not usually included on the other tours and because we could move quickly and worked as a team, we saw about twice as much of the cave as we were expecting!
It was an exhilarating experience, and by the time we got back to the mouth of the cave where we had set our camping stuff, we were tired, thirsty (there are no bathrooms in the cave, so you cannot take water with you on the hike), and ready for rest!
There is a spot in the cave where it is flat and near the main trail where they let you set up your sleeping bags and settle in for the night. Then the guide bid us goodbye, turned off the lights at the entrance, and we were in complete darkness (and alone!) for the rest of the night. Luckily, we were so worn out from the hike that there wasn’t time to think about anything else that might have been in the cave (we had seen the movie, The Descent, after all!).
However, even if you decide not to do the camping bit, I would highly recommend the cave tour. They have three in varying levels of difficulty, and the trail is safe, the guide knowledgeable, the reviews good, and the cave a perfect place to visit–regardless of weather! It was nice and cool the whole time, so even when you were working hard and couldn’t have water with you, you never got overheated.
So the Raccoon Mountain Caverns gets high marks for being everything we could want in a caving expedition! The prices were also very reasonable for the time you spent in the cave, and the fact that we even got a private tour out of it was a bonus.
Raccoon Mountain Caverns: A
Granted, I totally get it if spending the night in a cave is not your cup of tea, so don’t fret! I have more spots to review for you, too.
I’ll start with my absolute favorite place to stay downtown, and that is the Moxy Chattanooga! I have stayed there three times now, and it is always one of the highlights of the trip! From its cute decorations to its impressive lobby area that has that has all kinds of seating (inside and outside) to the free welcome drinks at check-in (and the bartenders are always fantastic!), this place is awesome!
The rooms are small, but they are outfitted with all sorts of cool extras from running lights at the bottom of the bed to help you see to a lovely bathroom with a rain head shower to all sorts of hooks on the wall to hang your stuff. The rooms are also very clean, are new and modern, and are even dog-friendly, so you can bring your fur kids!
Most impressive is the bar area where check-in is as the area is set up with games ranging from shuffleboard to arcade games to corn hole to a giant Jenga stack, and it is the place to be at night! Music plays outside, and you can gather with friends, play some games, and enjoy the bar offerings (an impressive selection of beers, ciders, and mixed drinks). Once, my husband and I met up with his parents and we stayed at this hotel and most nights, we wanted to go back to the lobby to chill and play games–it was that fun! The staff is lovely, too, and are always making sure that guests are having a great time.
The only drawback that I can think of are the size of the rooms as they are quite small. They are perfect for a couple, but if you have a larger family, even the double bed room would be too small as space is very limited, and I could imagine trying to navigate around the room with any more than two people would be a challenge.
Also, if you decide to book, most of the single beds are in rooms that face the parking lot (which is ideal because this is the quieter side of the hotel). Some of the double rooms face the street, and the street outside the hotel seems to always have fire trucks and emergency vehicles blaring down it which makes for little sleep. Luckily, my husband and I had a single room so it was quiet, but just fair warning if you get a bigger room–I don’t know if Chattanooga’s emergency personnel was having an extremely busy night or if that is the norm, so just FYI.
All in all, though, this is one of my favorite hotels. It stood out among one of my favorites, and I joked to my husband that after visiting the Moxy and loving it so much, I would have to revisit the Westin’s rating (see next hotel review below) because it wasn’t near as good as the Moxy! For its wonderful staff, cute rooms, and fantastic lobby area, this place gets my vote!
Moxy Chattanooga Downtown: A
Okay, so this next one is also downtown, though a lot more posh and less eclectic. I used to book hotels through hotels.com and had a free night to use, so on a separate occasion, my husband and I decided to jot to Chattanooga for a short stay–to use our free hotel night and to see spots downtown that we hadn’t visited before.
We picked the Westin Chattanooga and chose it for its convenient location, close proximity to eateries, and good reviews. The hotel was nice and had a fancy interior with a coffee shop and convenience store. At the top of the hotel, there is also a very nice lounge that overlooks the city. The grounds are also very clean.
The room itself was pretty, too. We had booked a king room, and the thing about this hotel is that it has windows everywhere which makes it visually appealing. However, in the summer, a lot of windows means a lot of heat, too, so even though we set the thermostat the lowest it would go, it was still very hot and stuffy in the room.
The sheets also seemed to have been washed with a very strong detergent because my husband thought he had got bitten up by something in the night, but I hadn’t been affected, so that is why I think it might have been a detergent rather than something like bed bugs. The hotel was also nice, so I would be surprised to see a bed bug problem, but if you have sensitive skin, perhaps wear long pajamas or throw the top sheet off or something. It might help.
However, we didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the room. Our trip was just a quick one, so we spent some time in the rooftop lounge, too. That was also a nice area, but a wedding reception was being held up there, so we really just looked around, had one drink, then left. The prices for drinks are just absurd there, so we left to find some more reasonable drinks just a short walk away.
However, after visiting the Moxy, the Westin just pales in comparison. While pretty, it just didn’t have the liveliness of the Moxy, its better prices, or the fun extras that Moxy had. The hotel is clean, centrally located in downtown, and has good rooms. The prices for its drinks and parking (we ended up parking in a nearby city lot instead) are silly and the room was very hot, so it does lose points for those things. I wasn’t too disappointed because it was a free hotel night we were redeeming, but I think if I were to go back for an overnight trip and had to pay full price, I’d book somewhere else.
Westin Chattanooga Hotel: B
One more hotel I’ll recommend is actually on the east side of town at Hamilton Place (this is a popular rest area because of the all the restaurants, and one of the places we usually stop for dinner when driving through town). I wanted to find a place that was nice but that was cheaper as we had to stay several nights (we were staying in Chattanooga for a surgery). So I found Aloft Chattanooga Hamilton Place, and it was everything I was looking for in a hotel.
The rooms are nice and quiet (and ROOMY!) which was great as I had to get up and walk around often after surgery, and this left a lot of room to do that. The bathroom has a nice rain shower, the room had a fridge, and everything was clean and in good working order. The room used to have stereos but then removed them as too many guests were stealing them (but if you ask the front desk, they’ll still loan you one). There is also a bar area at the top of the hotel with lots of seating and options for guests.
The prices were completely reasonable, too, and both times my husband and I stayed, the hotel was excellent. So close to restaurants and things to do as well! Highly recommend!
Aloft Chattanooga Hamilton Place: A
However, you don’t go to Chattanooga to sleep, right? Let’s talk about the real reasons to go….the restaurants, the activities, all the things!
Let’s start with restaurants…if you can only eat at one place, let it be the Tremont Tavern. It is my absolute favorite place to eat in Chattanooga and has the best burger you will have anywhere! It is a smaller eatery on the west side of town across the river, but it is worth the drive there and then some. Amazing burgers, crispy tater tots, a huge selection of beers and other drinks, and a great atmosphere–this is the place to go!
Because the place has limited seating, there is always a bit of a wait, but seats at the bar are always rotating, so if you are short on time, just go there. But go! Go, go, go–you won’t regret it! It’s the only eatery I recommend to anyone I know going to Chattanooga–one of the highest rated restaurants on this site!
Tremont Tavern: A+
If you can’t make it to Tremont Tavern, there is a chain restaurant downtown called Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint that is a great spot to hang out. The atmosphere is very eclectic with fun decorations, has comfortable couches throughout where you can sit back and relax, and has great service. The food is good, though honestly not the same calibre as Tremont Tavern–but the beer selection is unmatched. My husband and I spent most of the night here talking and people-watching, and it was a great spot to do so.
For its fun decorations, good service, comfortable seating, and impressive drink selection, this place gets high marks!
Jack Brown’s Burger and Beer Joint: A
Another good place to try out for a burger (do you see a trend? ha!) is Urban Stack. This place is downtown, has outside seating that is dog-friendly, has a massive menu that offers just about any burger you can think of, and the staff is very friendly. When we visited, the service was fast, the food was hot and fresh, and the atmosphere was chill and relaxed.
I had ordered the Steakhouse Burger, and it was perfectly cooked and came with a set of fresh, crispy fries. It was night when we ate dinner there, so the lighting outside wasn’t the best, hence the dark picture, but believe me when I say that it was delicious and just what you need after a long day of walking the city!
So for its plentiful offerings, great service, and tasty food, this place earns high marks as well. It’s hard to pick the best burger place in town because every place has its strengths and weaknesses and while we liked Urban Stack, the food wasn’t in the same category as Tremont, and the beer selection was actually small compared to Jack Brown’s. When it all comes down to it, go to Tremont Tavern for the best burger, go to Jack Brown’s for the best beer selection and atmosphere, and go to Urban Stack for a little bit of both. Or better yet, visit all three!
Urban Stack: A-
If pizza is more your thing, try out Goodfellas Pizzeria. This was actually a wonderful surprise find as it was close to the Moxy hotel when we visited, and we wanted a quick snack before walking around town, and the pizza was so good, we came back the next night for dinner!
It’s New York style pizza, so the slices are huge, and you get all sorts of classic, greasy goodness in each slice! With fresh ingredients and a big assortment of toppings, this place was amazing, and each time we were there, the service was excellent. They put together to-go orders quickly, and before you know it, you have a piping hot, beautiful pizza fresh from the oven! This was the perfect choice for us, because we planned on taking the pizza back to the lobby of the Moxy hotel to eat and enjoy each other’s company, and Goodfellas Pizzeria made it a perfect experience.
So for its fantastic pizza, massive slices, awesome service, and fair prices, this place is my favorite pizza place in the city! Highly recommend!
Goodfellas Pizzeria: A+
There is another spot downtown called Community Pie that is good (they also opened a new location on the east side of town, and that one is good as well!). It is also an easy spot to walk to and is a spacious place to sit and people-watch, too. The pizza is good and comes out hot and fresh, and the service is excellent.
The server we had even tried to look out for us when we ordered one of the pizzas–saying a lot of customers didn’t like the peppers the restaurant put on it as one of the toppings. We don’t mind spicy things, so we said they could keep that on the pizza, and I wish we listened! The pizza was delicious, but those peppers were awful. They weren’t even all that spicy, but the texture was slimy and gross and the seeds inside spilled out everywhere, so if you go, listen to your server! And if they don’t warn you, order it without those peppers anyway. The pizza was perfectly good without them!
So for its great service, spacious seating, and mostly good food, this place gets a good score. Whoever designed the menu really needs to rethink those peppers, though–those don’t belong on anything, let alone pizza, ha!
Community Pie: B+
One final lunch/dinner eatery I’ll recommend is actually a fast-food place, but it has impressively good food. It’s a place called Firebox Grill, and it is right off the interstate, so it is also an easy spot to get to if you want to get good food at a convenient location.
I will say that the food is surprisingly expensive for a fast-food place, but everything we have had there has been fantastic. The entrees and sides are always fresh and tasty, and the service is always quick. You can eat in or go through the drive-through, so if you are short on time, but you still want to partake in some good eats, this is the place to go!
So for its tasty food, convenience, fast service, and excellent menu, this place gets a lot of points. It could get even more points if it were cheaper, so if you go, just bring along a few extra dollars.
Firebox Grill: A-
But you can’t forget about breakfast! Where do you go if you want a good brunch and want somewhere that is close to downtown? You go to Tupelo Honey Cafe! This restaurant is actually a chain restaurant that you can find in other cities like Asheville and Knoxville, but that doesn’t diminish the quality one bit! We had visited this chain for dinner several times, but we had never experienced breakfast…and I say experienced for a reason! It is a divine meal with all the offerings of a meal that you will long remember afterwards.
They offer all sorts of things from sweet potato pancakes to French toast (with toppings ranging from banana pudding to pecan pie!) to chicken and biscuits. I got the French toast with banana pudding, and it was glorious–a perfect mix of sweet perfection. The meal was hot, the pudding thick, and the whipped cream cool and fluffy. So much goodness!
My husband loved his meal, too, as he got the chicken biscuit, and it really looked good as it came with all kids of extras. You would have thought the man had never had a decent breakfast in his life because the whole meal he was raving and saying, oh my gawd, this is so good! Oh, my gawwwwwd…..haha, as if there was any doubt of its tastiness!
So for its absolutely amazing food, plentiful offerings, great service, and abundant dog-friendly seating, this place gets my vote!
Tupelo Honey Cafe: A+
But enough about food…breweries are where it’s at, especially lately as many cities have new ones popping up and providing fun ways to sit with friends and enjoy some brews. We tried three places during a family trip to Chattanooga, and I’ll start with our unanimous favorite! OddStory Brewing!
After looking up reviews, this place seemed to have to most offerings of any place in the city, and when we visited hotels and restaurants in the city, a lot of them had canned brews from OddStory. So it had to be good!
And it was! They offer flights of 4 or 6 beers, so you can try a bunch and decide which are your favorites, and this is a great way to find what you like. After trying a few, the Woven Stone Vienna Lager was my favorite while the King’s Revenge Golden Strong Ale was a big favorite with my husband and his mom. But there are so many to choose from, anyone will find a new favorite here, or two, or three!
The place also offers pizzas and big soft pretzels if you get hungry, so definitely try this place out. You won’t regret it! High marks all around!
But if you are really hungry, then head on over to their other location on Central Avenue, because that one has a small eatery attached to it–Anomaly–and they serve delicious meals! Everything from various appetizers–like poutine!–and burgers and so on are offered, and once when my husband and I were back for a return trip, we stopped by for dinner and a drink and were not disappointed!
The location on Central also has a large outdoor area with lots of seating and fire pits (and heat lamps when it’s really cold), so we enjoyed hanging out there with our fur kids. Definitely, a great place to check out!
OddStory Brewing Company: A+
Very close to OddStory is Hutton and Smith Brewing Company, and they have a great outside spot where you can hang out with your pups and enjoy the sun (or not as there are shaded sections, too). We had a fun time sipping beers and dog watching as people brought their pups to enjoy the day.
This place doesn’t offer near as many brews as OddStory, so it ended up being a shorter stop (before going back to OddStory! ha!), but it’s a fun place to stop by if you are wanting to hit more of the breweries in town.
Hutton and Smith Brewing Company: B+
Another brewery that is close by (and right next door to the Moxy!) is WanderLinger Brewing Company, and while this is a smaller brewery, I think I would recommend it over Hutton and Smith just because it had a better selection and even had live music at night, so that was nice.
The patio is dog-friendly, too, and offers a lot of shade, so this is especially good if you are visiting in the summer and want to keep your pups cool. The owner even came out to talk to us for bit, so you know they want to get to know their patrons and offer a good time.
WanderLinger Brewing Company: A-
Okay, one more bar-type place I’ll recommend, but I promise it’s good! The Southside Social! This was the first stop on a boozy bike tour (see next review), and we were so impressed by the venue (two stories of seating and a huge bowling alley inside) and the drinks (whisky slushies) that we decided to stay for the whole evening! It was funny because we went up the the bar and the person next to us was sipping on a slushy, and my husband was so intrigued that he asked the bartender for “whatever that guy has” and his night was changed…ha! They are decent pours and make for a fun, unique thing while you are bowling in the middle of the city, so why not? Karaoke was also playing upstairs, so you could tell a whole lot of people were having fun.
The area is also not bad, even at night, so we didn’t worry about calling an Uber, but instead just walked back to our hotel. Our party bike actually passed us on the way back, and we waved, but even with everyone partying onboard, I think we had the more fun night! So if you want a fun place to just spend the evening, definitely go by the Southside Social. It’s a lively place that is a standout in the city!
Southside Social: A
Now, the party bike! You have probably seen these in cities like Nashville–a long cable car-like contraption with bike seats all around it with drunk people pedaling–usually while singing a song at the top of their lungs. It has always looked like a lot of fun, so for my husband’s birthday, we had a night in Chattanooga and decided to book one of these things.
Pints and Pedals is the biggest company of the sort in Chattanooga, so we booked for two people and waited for the pick-up right outside the Moxy–our hotel. They were timely in arriving, but when we checked-in, we overheard the driver speaking with his boss that the bike had oversold its tickets. All the bike seats were taken–including a broken seat that my husband had to sit on (it was stuck in a super high position–high enough that you couldn’t touch the pedals with your feet and yet your head was over the overhang so you just kind of hung there looking and feeling ridiculous the whole time). Even so, when everyone was seated and there were still two people who needed seats, the manager just told the driver to “figure it out” and left. So the last two people ended up squishing together on the bench next to another party, and it just made for a weird and uncomfortable experience right from the start.
Luckily, the driver was plenty of fun and started cranking up the music right away. We seemed to have some people on board who were fun and eager to party. The “pedaling” also isn’t really pedaling (and few people actually pedal), but it was fun to see other people’s reactions to the Pints and Pedals cart as they would light up and start dancing to the music we were playing. All in all, it would have been a lot of fun if the seats were in working order, because when we finally got to our first stop–the Southside Social–my husband’s back was already hurting due to the broken seat, so he wanted to stay and we would just walk back to our hotel. Part of me thought about just getting a refund because the seat was just absurd, but I remembered what a jerk the manager seemed to be, so I decided against it. It was my husband’s birthday, and we weren’t going to spend the evening haggling for our money back–we were going to have fun (see the previous review for the Southside Social)!
So for the fun premise, Pints and Pedals gets points, but the overselling of tickets to the point where the ride is uncomfortable (and possibly dangerous), the rude manager, and the broken seat made this excursion a big letdown. Also, when you book your tour, you don’t get a confirmation until enough seats are sold (and some seats are sold to walk-up customers, so a lot of the time, you don’t even know if your bike is cancelled or not until the actual “leaving” time). This makes it hard to plan in case you need a back-up idea, so that is just something to know if you decide to book.
Pints and Pedals: B-
But what do you do if you already know where you are going to stay and what you are going to eat/drink? You plan your activities! And Chattanooga has no shortage of them!
Perhaps the most popular place to go is Lookout Mountain as that offers fantastic views, an incline railway, Rock City, and Ruby Falls. Having some extra time and wanting to go to a place that was dog-friendly, we found Point Park and chose this because the reviews mentioned that it had the best overlook of anywhere on the mountain.
You have to pay for parking to get in (it used to be metered parking, but they have changed this over to an app you use to input your license plate number and pay through your phone) and there is an entrance fee, but the grounds are gorgeous.
It is designed as an outdoor museum with cannons throughout, monuments, and various historical marks, so it was interesting to walk though and read about the events that took place there.
Along with the main overlook, there are some trails that lead to additional viewing spots, so that was a nice way to spend the afternoon. We also had excellent weather that day, so it made for some great views of the city (and surrounding states!).
For its grounds, trails, and overlooks, I highly recommend visiting. It’s one of the few dog-friendly places on the mountain so if you have a pup or two with you and want to see some of the sights, this is probably your best bet!
Point Park Battlefield: A
Another big attraction in the same area is Rock City Gardens, and it also offers many of the same beautiful views–along with a few extras! These extras include a map and lookout where you can see several states at one time, and a beautiful light display during the winter!
My husband and I visited around Christmas once, and the lights were truly extraordinary. They are all set up around the paths and throughout little villages, so it was fun to see (and would be a stunning thing to see at night)! Tickets are usually more expensive at night due to the popularity, but the display is worth it!
Most of it is also outdoors, so dress accordingly and be prepared for rain/snow in the winter months! Lots of nearby schools will also have field trips there (as we discovered during our visit as we were one of the few adults among hundreds of children), so that is something to take into account if you visit–but all in all, it was a fun thing to cross off my Chattanooga travel list! It’s even dog-friendly, too!
Rock City: A-
If you are up for a hike, perhaps the most famous hike in the area is Edward’s Point! I had been wanting to hike this trail for a while, but it was out of the way being on the west edge of Chattanooga, but on a recent visit when we were heading out to Tremont’s Tavern anyway (in the general direction of this trail), we decided to finally give the trail a try!
It a fun trail with a lot of variety with a swinging bridge, shaded areas, sunny areas, a creek, and then a gorgeous overlook to reward you at the end! The overlook is also spacious, so you can get multiple viewpoints for pictures. A beautiful spot!
The only drawback was that the trail was not very well marked, and my husband and I ended up off the trail a few times so we had to backtrack. That got a little frustrating because we didn’t have a ton of extra time, so if you go, use the AllTrails map and be prepared to hike a little longer than you might think in case you do get turned around.
However, it is still very much worth a visit! Definitely go!
Edward’s Point Trail: A-
If you have kids and/or if the weather calls for a day indoors, the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga is your best bet! Even with all the visits my husband and I have made, we had never been to the Aquarium until recently!
And what a grand place it is! They have two major buildings/exhibits–one devoted to rivers and the other to oceans. Both were very impressive (though, I think the ocean one impressed me the most) and have many viewing areas where you can take pictures and watch the animals. One of the floors that allows you to look up into the aquarium is very cool because the walls are fashioned after a type of rock cave, so when you wander through and see light peeking in and fish swimming overhead, it makes the experience surreal. Add in an early morning visitation time, and you have most of the place to yourself!
The lighting is also very nice near the octopus aquariums and you can even change the colors, so it leads to a very individualized experience to take some cool pictures. The staff was also friendly and helpful in explaining habitats and which creatures you could touch (like the stingrays) and which you couldn’t. The place was also very clean and the animals cared for, so it was a fun way to spend the morning before heading home. Highly recommend!
Tennessee Aquarium: A
One more place I’ll recommend is actually a bit unusual, but not many cities near me offer it, so that is why we went to Chattanooga for it. A salt water float! My husband and I thought we’d try it while I was on one of my semester breaks. I had always heard that salt water floats were relaxing, but we had never actually tried it, so we looked, and Chattanooga actually had a place that offered it!
Lucidity Float and Wellness Center is a spot close to downtown, and they offer float sessions (among other things like hyperbaric treatment and massages), so we thought we’d each try a 90-minute float.
The place is quiet and clean, the staff very helpful, and the facility is lovely. The tanks are in good condition and anything you could need before or after (towels/toiletries/so on) was provided.
It was the first time either my husband or I had tried this, so it took a bit to get used to as you are in complete darkness and are wearing earplugs, so it takes some mental work to get your body to relax. Once you finally do, though, it is enjoyable, and I am glad that we tried it.
I will say that 90 minutes is way too long, though, because it felt like I was in that chamber forever. I wish the place offered shorter sessions, especially for beginners, because it would have been nice to just get a taste of it before devoting myself to a longer session. I think it would be less intimidating, too, and more people would be willing to try it if they knew they didn’t have to be in the tank for as long.
Also, I can’t compare this place to any other float place yet, but there is supposed to be an “alarm” that lets you know that your float time is up. It is really just music that plays very faintly outside of the tank, but when you are wearing earplugs, it is very hard to hear. I didn’t hear it at all and felt like I had been in the tank for days, so I finally just decided to get out and check the time. Luckily, I did, because I saw that the 90 minutes was up, but even then, I didn’t hear the music that was supposed to be playing. Apparently, the place had quite a few customers who didn’t hear the alarm–as the attendant later told us about one person who had fallen asleep in the tank so long that she had to go inside the room and knock on the tank to wake the customer up.
So I am a little mixed on this one. The facility is lovely and the service is great. The place is clean, but shorter sessions would be ideal–I think 45 minutes would be a perfect stretch. The alarm needs to be a lot louder, too. Even if they didn’t want to set up a loud alarm, perhaps even a light alarm would work–you can keep the tank lid open with a towel, so if you did this, you could easily see a light alarm. Some ideas, but we still liked the place.
Lucidity Float and Wellness Center: A-/B+
As you can see, there is a lot to do in Chattanooga, and it is definitely worth a visit if you are passing through the state!
Favorite Experiences
I know that I talk about a ton of places here, but if you are limited to one activity–go to the Raccoon Mountain Caverns for a cave hike. One hotel–go to Moxy Chattanooga Downtown. One eatery–go to Tremont Tavern. One brewery–go to OddStory Brewing Company!
The rest of the places are going to be bonus, but as you can see, Chattanooga is really an amazing city and doesn’t get enough credit for being a great vacation destination. It offers so much and while I have been here so many times, I find a new favorite place every time I visit!
What I Wish I Knew
Having been to Chattanooga so many times, I don’t think there is a lot that I would do differently. If I had more time, a spot that I would like to check out would be the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. It is a railroad station where you can sleep in railroad cars, so the pictures always made it seem like an eclectic spot to explore. I actually thought about booking one of the rooms, but the reviews were hit or miss and made it seem like the cars were in sore need of refurbishing, so I held off on booking there. I imagine it is still a fun spot to explore and take pictures!
If you go, there are also some big attractions like Ruby Falls which my husband has seen, but I haven’t yet, so if I get a chance to see these things, I’ll include them in an updated post! These places are also popular subjects in forums like this one here, so feel free to check that one out when planning your trip!
If you find out any more cool things to do, let me know! I travel through here a fair bit and am always up for more fun things to explore, so feel free to drop me a line.
I also post reels and TikToks regularly of all the places I’ve reviewed on here, so if you want to see some videos of what to expect, check out my social media here:
TikTok: @touristyteacher
Instagram: @touristyteacher
Facebook: @touristyteacher
Happy travels!
