9 Offbeat Tennessee Towns To Visit In 2026

A 60-foot Eiffel Tower stands over a town that races live catfish every April. That town is Paris, and it is one of nine Tennessee towns that are quirkier than you might think. Sweetwater floats visitors across America's largest underground lake in a glass-bottom boat. Bell Buckle cuts into the World's Largest Moon Pie every June. Granville keeps more than 5,000 whiskey decanters under one roof and puts the Elvis busts up front. These towns treat their oddities as civic pride, and they commit to the bit harder than most.

Jonesborough

Jonesborough has the rare distinction of being older than Tennessee itself. Founded in 1779, it is the state's oldest incorporated town, and its offbeat appeal comes through history, storytelling, and shops that lean into their own obsessions. The Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum preserves a restored 1797 stagecoach inn where early US presidents once stayed. The late-18th-century Christopher Taylor House is known for lodging Andrew Jackson in 1788 before he became the 7th President of the United States.

Jonesborough also calls itself the "Storytelling Capital of the World" and is home to the International Storytelling Center, which hosts the National Storytelling Festival each October and Storytelling Live performances through the warmer months. On Main Street, Gabriel's Christmas keeps the holiday spirit going every day of the year.

Sweetwater

Sweetwater's Main Street has preserved 19th-century brick storefronts, antique shops, and boutiques, earning the nickname The Sweetest Street in Tennessee.

A short drive away, The Lost Sea brings the real novelty: a Guinness-listed natural wonder known as America's largest underground lake. The Lost Sea Adventure includes a guided walk through the cave and a glass-bottom boat ride across the underground water, with the full tour covering about three-quarters of a mile round-trip and lasting about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Sweetwater also sits near Sweetwater Valley Farm, a working dairy farm open for guided tours. Its cafe makes the farm a practical food stop, especially for grilled cheese and farmstead cheese to take home.

Paris

Paris, Tennessee, gives visitors its own version of the Eiffel Tower without the overseas flight. Eiffel Tower Park centers on a steel replica of the Eiffel Tower and includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a splash pad for summer visits. Downtown Paris adds Court Square, Parisian-themed shops and cafes, decorated alleys, and French-style catfish statues that mix the town's name with its Southern humor. Just outside town on the shores of Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing State Resort Park offers a lodge, cabins, camping, a full-service marina, an 18-hole golf course, swimming beaches, hiking trails, and a Birds of Paris Landing Aviary. The last full week of April brings the town's biggest oddball tradition: The World's Biggest Fish Fry, where visitors can eat all-you-can-eat fried catfish, watch a junior fishing rodeo, and cheer live catfish down water-filled lanes in the catfish races.

Leiper's Fork

Leiper's Fork is a small village south of Franklin with a strong music streak and a few stylish surprises. Fox & Locke is the essential stop, with live music nights, Thursday open mics, and a classic "meat and three" meal in the same room. Leiper's Fork Distillery adds whiskey history with tours and tastings in a 200-year-old tasting room. The Country Boy Restaurant keeps things grounded with biscuits, gravy, and the old-time feel of Williamson County's oldest diner. For shopping, Moo Country brings a sharper edge to the village with "high-end western glam fashion" described as "like if Stevie Nicks was a cowgirl." The boutique was founded by Dawn Ann Ritter, a former high-fashion model and actress whose designs and finds have been worn by major musical names and indie stars.

Granville

Granville leans proudly into its nickname, "Tennessee's Mayberry." The preserved village is built around front porches, old stores, and museums that turn small-town nostalgia into the main attraction. Every Saturday night, T.B. Sutton General Store hosts the "Sutton Ole Time Music Hour," a bluegrass dinner show broadcast over the radio with live "old timey" commercials. The Mayberry & I Love Lucy Museum adds a pop-culture stop with sets based on Floyd's Barber Shop and Lucy's house, along with memorabilia from both shows. The Granville Whiskey Decanter Museum gets even more specific, billed as the world's largest collection of limited-edition decanters, with about 5,000 of them, including Elvis Presley busts and vintage cars. For hands-on history, the Sutton Homestead and Pioneer Village features corn grinding at the grist mill, blacksmithing, basket weaving, and an 1820s pioneer cabin.

Cumberland Gap

Cumberland Gap starts with the most literal kind of offbeat setting: a historic mountain pass where Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia all meet at a single point. Hikers can follow the short but challenging Tri-State Peak trail to stand at the shared boundary and cross three states in a few steps. Underground, Gap Cave Tours lead visitors past stalactites and stalagmites while covering the cave's Civil War-era history, and the guided tours run about 2 hours, generally offered from May through August, so check current availability before visiting. For a darker turn, book an ADA-accessible Ghost Tour built around local folklore, tragic history, and unsolved mysteries in the mountain gap. Above it all, the drive to Pinnacle Overlook reaches a 2,440-foot vantage point that takes in all three states at once.

Tellico Plains

Tellico Plains hides a genuine gold-rush story in a quiet Monroe County mountain town. Coker Creek was part of one of Tennessee's early gold-mining districts, and visitors can still pan for flakes at private sites in the area, so check local rules, access, and current availability before going. The town also makes an easy base for the outdoors: Bald River Falls is a 90-foot cascade that visitors can reach by car without a hike, and the surrounding Cherokee National Forest adds trails, trout fishing, and kayaking for a longer day. For a final mountain view, drive about 30 minutes from downtown to Buck Bald, where open ridgelines create a wide sunset lookout over the surrounding peaks.

Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg sits at the main Tennessee gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but its strangest attractions have nothing to do with the trails. The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum keeps more than 20,000 pairs of shakers plus about 1,500 pepper mills inside a log cabin at Winery Square, the only collection of its kind in the country. Archaeologist Andrea Ludden started it with a single garage-sale pepper mill in the 1980s, and the pieces now run from the 1500s through Sesame Street characters. Admission is about three dollars, credited back toward anything you buy in the gift shop.

The oddities keep going up the mountainside. Hillbilly Golf, open since 1971, hauls players 300 feet up an incline railway to two 18-hole courses studded with moonshine stills, covered wagons, and outhouses for hazards. Downtown on the Parkway, Ole Smoky opened in 2010 as Tennessee's first legal moonshine distillery once a 2009 law change made it possible, and its free tour ends at a working copper still with a bluegrass band playing beside the tasting bar.

Bell Buckle

Bell Buckle is a Victorian railroad village with a busy festival calendar. Historic Downtown lines up tree-shaded streets, antique shops, cafes, and old storefronts with a strong Southern-cooking streak. The best-known event is the RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival, held annually on the third Saturday in June. The celebration includes a King and Queen, live music, a parade, family games, and the cutting of the World's Largest Moon Pie, which means free dessert for the crowd. Phillips General Store keeps the theme going with RC Colas, Moon Pies, and old-school knick-knacks. Bell Buckle also stages Daffodil Day in spring, Halloween and Christmas events, and the popular juried Webb School Art & Craft Show each October.

Tennessee's Odd Side Is Worth the Detour

These Tennessee towns turn small details into full trips: a Moon Pie festival in Bell Buckle, a glass-bottom boat ride under Sweetwater, a shrine to 20,000 salt and pepper shakers in Gatlinburg, and live music at Fox & Locke in Leiper's Fork. A route through all nine would move through mountain gaps, lake parks, old stagecoach inns, whiskey rooms, catfish statues, and museums devoted to television nostalgia and collectible decanters. Pack light, leave room for antiques and local food, and time your Tennessee trip for the last full week of April, when Paris serves up all-you-can-eat fried catfish and races live catfish down the courthouse lawn.