Help me plan my COVID honeymoon -Smokey Mtns

[carrotsmakemefat]

Asheville (I think we are going for the Omni but open to other ideas) and a place to stay in Smokey Mtns, TN (maybe Gaitlinburg?) or other suggestions. I’m thinking we are going to spend a 7-10 days total without car travel time. What would you do with this time ?

[Queen Dick, Hibernating Bear]

Fuck

[zarapipe]

You may want to consider the Biltmore for accommodations. Everything is pretty self contained. Winery, horse back riding, rafting, restaurants, and of course the house.

[moreace01]

Ok I literally know nothing at all about this, but it popped up in my instagram feed and I totally want to go: treehouses in Gatlinburg. treehouse-grove.com/

ETA: an article about it: www.countryliving.com/life/travel/a32896063/gatlinburg-tennessee-treehouse-grove/

[sadlebred]

I love Asheville. Whatever you do, don't stay at the Grove Park Inn. It's way overrated and overprice although their spa is amazing (but maybe not right now). Plus, it's a bit of a drive from everything else going on.

Anywhere on the Biltmore Estate is nice. The downtown AC Hotel is new; I haven't stayed there but have heard good things. Hotel Indigo is really nice. The Grand Bohemian is a cool hotel but not near downtown. The nice thing about staying downtown is the ability to walk to so many amazing restaurants and things to do. I usually stay at one of the Hampton Inns. The Brookstone Lodge is underrated--it's a nice hotel for the price. (not amazing but clean and comfy. I've stayed there for events.) It's independently owned.

[RoxMonster]

There are so many nice cabins near the Smoky Mountains. I would probably do that. We stayed at a cabin a few years ago called LeConte Lookout (found on VRBO but through Your Peaceful Getaways). Not sure if you can still rent it, but we loved it. However, there are several cabin rental companies. If you want a quieter area than Gatlinburg, I would do Wears Valley area. There is a park entrance over there. 

Gatlinburg was not totally my style and if you are going there soon, I have heard it's a complete shit show with Covid (not many masks, etc). I would spend most of my time in the national park. Do you like hiking? These are the trails we did:

Andrews Bald
Laurel Falls
Cataract Falls
Clingmans Dome

We also drove through Cades Cove early in the morning (highly recommend going early), drove the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail twice, and did some of the Quiet Walkway trails in the park. We also drove some of the Blue Ridge Parkway and did a hike there (Waterrock Knob).

[gummy]

I would spend a lot of time in the park. Cades Cove is beautiful but if you pop into any of the visitor centers they can point you to things you'd like to see/do. Smokey Mountains National Park is one of my favorite places.

[yellow23]

We’ve been to the Smoky Mountains twice in the last few years. We like to rent a cabin in Wears Valley. There is an entrance to the park there that has little traffic, which makes it great for getting into the park. We tried entering the park from Gatlinburg once it it took 45 minutes to get through Gatlinburg to the entrance. We really don’t like Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge much (just not our kind of place), but love the park so staying in Wears Valley allows us to mostly avoid the crowds. Many of the great hikes are really crowded, but we hiked Spruce Flats Falls last year and loved it. We had the waterfall to ourselves for a full hour before anyone else showed up. We love national parks so we are happy spending a whole week just doing stuff in the park.

[carrotsmakemefat]

Aug 8, 2020 13:15:25 GMT -5 moreace01 said:

Ok I literally know nothing at all about this, but it popped up in my instagram feed and I totally want to go: treehouses in Gatlinburg. treehouse-grove.com/

ETA: an article about it: www.countryliving.com/life/travel/a32896063/gatlinburg-tennessee-treehouse-grove/

Ohhhhh I love this