Lots to see, do and eat. Mountain hideaway it is not! (Pigeon Forge)

Member Name: janeh

Product:	Pigeon Forge
Date:	23/07/01 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lost of restaurants etc, Great for kids, Country music lovers will love it

Disadvantages: Too busy, Essence of mountains lost, Too glitsy

We stayed in a log cabin a few miles from Pigeon Forge. We were a little surprised at how commercialised the place was. We were expecting a sleepy Tennessee town, but got a hustling, bustling town instead.

Pigeon Forge has a main street running through it, joining it to neighbouring Sevierville and Gatlinburg. On this main road – which resembles International Drive, Orlando, you will find shops, restaurants, theatres, tourist info etc. They are very hot on Visitor Centres here and they are very useful if you want to find out where to go or what to do. There are restaurants and bars to suite all tastes and pockets. There is also a water park and several adventure parks.

We visited a restaurant called Alabama’s. This was very much like a Hard Rock Café but dedicated to country music. There is memorabilia associated with the likes of Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Tammy Wynette and many more I have never heard of. The atmosphere was great and the food excellent. It is a little dearer than some other restaurants, but still cheaper than it would be in England. We paid about $35 for two, two course meals and drinks. The service was great and the menu very varied and you get lots of it. We never managed to finish a meal completely.

There is an Elvis Presley Museum, which as an Elvis fan I visited, much to my husbands embarrassment. It has lots of memorabilia, including the last Cadillac he owned, clothing, guns and jewellery etc. It was quite interesting, but even I had to admit it was very tacky and a little disappointing.

There are several adventure parks with rides and coasters etc but the most famous is Dollywood. We did not visit, but it is apparently very good and has a water theme park too. Whenever we went past the car parks, it never appeared too busy – although there could have been other car parks that we couldn’t see.

There are lots of theatres and music hall, mostly featuring country music o
r look-a-likes. There are also lots of hotels and motels to choose from. Even though we went at the height of the tourist season there were plenty of vacancies advertised.

Another big thing here are Outlet Malls. There are three or four, including Beltz, Tenger and Pigeon Forget Outlet Village. If you are looking for something specific they are worth a visit. Beltz is the only one inside – a bonus in the summer heat.

The roads, although three and four lanes wide are very busy and best avoided. We found then ok in the morning and late evening, but bumper to bumper and slow moving during the day. There are alternative back roads – get a good map and seek them out, they are well worth taking.

As a place to visit, Pigeon Forge has all the restaurants and entertainment you would want, especially for the kids, they will love it. We however, thought that the essence of the mountains had been somewhat lost. You could easily forget the beautiful surroundings when walking in the busy, neon lit bustling streets of Pigeon Forge. Nearby Gatlinburg is no better.

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