Welcome to Knoxville
Dubbed a 'scruffy little city' by the Wall Street Journal before the 1982 World's Fair, Knoxville is strutting its stuff these days as an increasingly prominent and well-polished destination for outdoor, gastronomy and craft-beer enthusiasts. Knoxville is also home to the University of Tennessee and its rabid college-football fan base. On game days the whole town is painted orange as fans pack Neyland Stadium to watch the beloved Volunteers. But there's more to Knoxville than football. No longer content to play second fiddle to nearby Chattanooga and Asheville, the city – a former textiles production center – now touts itself as a base camp for visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Sugarlands Visitor Center is just 29 miles away, and Knoxville is a far more enticing spot to eat and drink than other cities near the park. For hikers and mountain bikers, the city's ever-expanding Urban Wilderness is becoming its own reason to visit.
Top experiences in Knoxville
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Knoxville activities
Knoxville Puzzling Adventure
Choose your own start time and embark on your adventure. With your smartphone as your guide, go on a brain-teasing and educational walking tour of your chosen neighborhood. Visit a series of locations and answer the questions or solve puzzles to receive your next instruction. There is no need to race as quickly as possible from start to finish. Part of the fun is enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of the tour. Before heading to your next location, you’ll have time to eat, drink, enjoy the sights, and use the bathroom while the game clock is not running. You’re only timed on your travel and puzzles. At the end of your adventure, see your rank based on a combination of your answers to the questions and game clock time.
Chef's Table Tour in Downtown Knoxville
Your Chef's Table Tour begins at the Knoxville Visitors Center at 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN, 37902 at 2:00 P.M. On our Chef's Table Tour we will spend approximately 3-hours walking, at a light pace no more than 1.4 miles, to five different, local restaurants in the downtown Knoxville area. Each restaurant will provide you a large "sample plate" of food prepared especially for us, and the stop will also include an interactive visit from the chef(s), owners and management! There is enough food to make up at least a meal (or two!), and we highly recommend you come hungry. We are also able to accommodate dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, gluten free, no shellfish, etc ONLY with advance notice given to us. so please call us at 865-410-TOUR (8687) at least one day prior to your tour if that applies. Our unique food tours concepts are that we give culinary freedom to each restaurant and chef(s) as far as the food they prepare us...so it won't necessarily be the same food from one tour to the next! Stops include places like Clancy's Tavern, which prides themselves in traditional Irish fare like fish and chips, boxty, pub spuds, and a large whiskey selection; Boyd's Jig and Reel, the only authentic Scottish bar and pub featuring music sessions, one of the largest Scotch selections in the entire world, and staple food items such as bangers, Ploughman's lunch, toad in a hole, and more!; Balter Beerworks, a craft beer brewery and restaurant transformed from an old service station that offers yummy upscale bar plates and cold drinks; Old City Wine Bar, a small tapas style bar (with more wine than you can pronounce!) and locally sourced, handcrafted plates; Sugar Mama's, where their motto is " because nothing good ever comes from a box," and will soon become your favorite new place for dessert and craft beers (all of their taps are local Knoxville brews, and they are now the LARGEST local tap wall in the state of Tennessee!); The Phoenix Pharmacy and Soda Fountain, a fully functioning pharmacy that also makes up their own syrups, sauces, toppings, ice creams, and everything in between! This tour you will allow you to also learn about the fun and special history of downtown Knoxville and how it has shaped everything from the architecture, culture and even the food! You can't get an experience like this on your own, so come eat, drink and socialize with us in Downtown Knoxville! **Restaurants can be subject to change based on dates, availability, etc. Guests will receive a list of tour stops the day of their tour upon arrival. The above list contains a general overview of restaurants we work with, and the 5 we will visit on your tour may or may not be listed above.**
Bountiful Brunch Tour of Knoxville TN
Your Sunday Bountiful Brunch Tour will begin Sunday at 1:30 P.M. at the Knoxville Visitors Center at 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN. Over the course of 2-hours, we will sample delicious and uniquely prepared plates from three different, local Knoxville restaurants. Some of our restaurants stops include places like Clancy's Tavern, which offers traditional Irish fare like fish and chips, reuben's, bangers and mash, shepard's pie, along with a wide and impressive whiskey selection; Balter Beerworks, a restaurant and craft beer location transformed from an old service station that offers delicious upscale bar eats and cold drinks; And Sugar Mama's Bakery, where husband and wife owner duo carefully hand make and hand pick all the food and drinks you'll receive (and it's the LARGEST local tap wall in the entire state of Tennessee!) You'll also receive delicious drink pairings from select restaurants, like Bloody Mary's and Mimosas (if of age)! We are also able to accommodate dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, gluten free, no shellfish, etc ONLY with advance notice given to us. We also strongly recommend you come hungry, as most people will tell you there's enough food to make up a meal. On your brunch tour will receive special visits from restaurant chef(s), owners, management, etc, who will give you a "behind the scenes" take on their establishment, food passions, and more. Also during the course of your tour, we'll stop at select other local Knoxville businesses to showcase their unique concepts and give you a chance to do some shopping and browse through all the other wonderful offerings Knoxville provides. You can't get an experience like this on your own, so come eat, drink and socialize in downtown Knoxville! **Restaurants can be subject to change based on dates, availability, etc. Guests will receive a list of tour stops the day of their tour upon arrival. The above list is just a few restaurants we typically work with and visit on your tour, but may or may not be what is listed.**
Operation City Quest Scavenger Hunt - Knoxville, TN
Using your smartphone, you'll be given nearly 150 objects to find during your scavenger hunt. You'll then wander throughout the downtown area searching for the items. Once you've found the object, you'll send a photo in to score points. Along the way, you will perform challenges and answer trivia questions from your remote guide for even more points. You'll have 15+ categories of objects you can find in this city walk, with each object varying in points depending on the difficulty. Don't worry, you won't be alone. You'll have a remote guide that will be texting you during your game if you need help or have a question. They will also encourage you and give bonus points at the end depending on how funny or creative your photos are! The objective of the game is to have fun, rank #1 on the leaderboard, and try to get as many points as possible by finding all of the objects!
Crazy Dash Walking Adventure - Knoxville, TN
Using your smartphone, you'll be given an app to download and a starting location. Once you arrive at the starting location, you'll send a text to check in and get your game setup on the app.From your starting location, the app will lead you to 10 checkpoints around the city to answer questions and complete crazy tasks. Once you've completed all 10 checkpoints, you'll come back to your starting location to finish the game. The objective of the Crazy Dash is to have a blast with your friends and family, explore the city, learn a little, answer questions about your checkpoints, and complete crazy challenges.
Zombie Scavengers Game - Knoxville, TN
This outdoor activity takes place in the downtown or metropolitan area of your city. Using a smartphone, you will download an app to help you play the game. You will also be texting with a remote survival guide for 2 hours while you play the game. You'll be given a list of items on the app. You will need to walk around the area and find these items around the city and take a photo through the app to get points. You'll be able to see the "rival colonies" on the app and see how your survival rate compares to theirs based on the number of points you have. Your team will also be given challenges or trivia questions. You will be rewarded with virtual weapons to ward off the zombies and rival colonies once you complete the challenges or trivia questions.