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Are you and your family planning to visit the great state of Tennessee soon? You’re in luck. Tennessee is an amazing place for families and children to have a memorable vacation. From live music to museums to beautiful landscapes, Tennessee has it all. Take some tips from traveling experts next time you are in The Volunteer State. 15 Cheap Family Activities to Do in Tennessee.
1. Visit a Honky Tonk
One of the most exciting experiences while attending Nashville is visiting one of its famous honky-tonks. At night, they aren’t the best places for kids, but many of the honky-tonks on Broadway Street are family-friendly during daytime hours. Check out establishments like Robert’s Western World and Wildhorse Saloon Bar for a kid-friendly live music performance.
2. Cumberland Park
Cumberland Park is a family-friendly area right in the middle of Nashville’s Riverfront Park. The 6.5-acre park is a kid’s dream playground. The park has rock climbing walls, a rope obstacle course, a green maze, see-saws, and an interactive splash pad to cool off in the summer. It is a perfect place to let the kids play and enjoy a picnic in the afternoon.
3. Country Music Hall of Fame
How can you visit the heart of country music without strolling through the Country Music Hall of Fame? You’ll learn about the roots of country music and how it became one of the most popular genres in American music. Got any Swifties in your family? The museum has a Taylor Swift exhibit with various outfits and songwriting workshops.
4. Adventure Science Center
You and your kids will love this hands-on adventure museum in Nashville. The center has 175 hands-on exhibits focused on all concepts of science and discovery. You can learn what it takes to be an astronaut at the Space Chase Exhibit or experience flying a jet in the flight simulator. Families will want to spend much of the day exploring everything the center offers.
5. SOAR Adventure Tower
The SOAR Adventure Tower in Nashville is an excellent spot for kids to release all that excess energy. The center will test your climbing skills on 110 challenging rope and climbing courses. There are four different levels, so the park caters to all ages. If some of your family is not into climbing, there is also a mini golf course to keep them entertained.
6. Visit Bays Mountain Park
Located in Kingsport, this 3,500-acre nature preserve is home to a beautiful lake where visitors can view natural wildlife like foxes, wolves, bobcats, and various birds of prey. Families who visit can enjoy a day of bike riding, hiking, picnicking, or testing their skills on the reserve’s rope obstacle course and zip-line center.
7. Explore Ruby Falls
Chattanooga is home to the tallest underground waterfall open to the public in the United States. From the site’s entrance, you will travel 260 feet below the Earth’s surface to a trail that will take you past breathtaking rock formations before you see the cascading waterfall. Afterward, you and your family can enjoy a delicious lunch atop the Mountain Tower Lookout over the Cumberland Plateau and Tennessee River.
8. The Museum of Appalachia
Take a step back in time with a visit to The Museum of Appalachia in the small town of Clinton. This living museum will let you take a glimpse of what life was like for early settlers in the Appalachian Mountains. The 65-acre property has 35 log cabins, barns, churches, farms, and gardens. Visitors can take basket and quilt-making classes while enjoying the kind of live musical performances that our pioneers once loved.
9. Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum
This 8,000-square-foot museum is dedicated to the legendary railroad engineer Casey Jones in Franklin, Tennessee. It is an excellent place for young kids to learn about the early railroad systems, see historical artifacts, and get their hands dirty with interactive activities. The center also has a retro Ice Cream Parlor and Fudge Shoppe for sweet treats to cool off in the summertime.
10. Children’s Museum of Memphis
Whether you are a parent of a small toddler or a budding teenager, this museum has something for everyone. The museum has a special area for toddlers to explore school buses, treehouses, Light-Brite walls, and ball pits. Older kids can participate in earthquake simulations, dinosaur exhibits, airplane cockpits, and splash parks. Is there really a better way to spend an afternoon?
11. Enjoy the Wildlife at the Memphis Zoo
If you’re in Memphis, a day at the zoo could be a perfect way to entertain your family. The facility houses over 3,500 animals and 500 different species. You and your family can watch the actions of lions, tigers, gorillas, elephants, and hippos. Make sure you head to the giraffe encounter to experience the thrill of hand-feeding these elegant African creatures.
11. National Civil Rights Museum
While a trip to the Civil Rights Museum may not be considered “fun,” it could be one of the most important stops on your vacation in Memphis. Kids and parents can learn the importance of bus boycotts, student sit-ins, and the March on Washington. It is an essential lesson on our nation’s past and where we are now.
12. Ijams Nature Center
Outside Knoxville is the Ijams Nature Center, a 315-acre urban greenspace with more than 12 miles of nature trails. The center is an outdoor paradise for mountain biking, kayaking, cliff jumping, fishing, or chilling in a tube on the water. Get away from the city and enjoy the fresh air with the family at Ijams Nature Center.
14. Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
Gatlinburg, Tennesee, is one of the most significant tourist attractions in the state. One of the best family-friendly experiences is the aquarium. This facility is home to 10,000 exotic underwater creatures, including large-tooth sawfish, sea turtles, eels, stingrays, and various shark species. Where else can you see these incredible sea creatures in the middle of a land-locked state?
15. Soaky Mountain Water Park
Just up the road from Gatlinburg is a fun-filled water park in Sevierville. The park offers attractions for older and younger kids alike. Features like a water ride, water bucket dump, body bowl slides, and surf system. It doesn’t matter how hot the Tennesee summers get; the Soaky Mountain Water Park will keep you and your family cool.
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