Chattanooga is about 15 minutes North of where I live in extreme NW Georgia. It is a great place to swing through and regarded as the "Scenic City" for its diverse tourism oppurtunities. As far as places to stay during your visit, anywhere in the downtown area is great and there are a multitude of nice acommodations, including the Choo-Choo (former train terminal) and the Reed House. Downtown is very "green" and eco friendly with both sides of the riverfront being well sculpted and maintained. The Hunter Museum is a must see, as well as the Tennessee Aquarium. Consider taking a trip on one of the river tours. The Southern Belle is an antibellum paddle boat with numerous daily river tours and there are others more modern as well. The Chattanooga Duck tours are on a restored amphibious WWII personel carrier that will take you through the streets of downtown as well as across the river to the North Shore shopping district and Coolidge Park. There are many upscale dining options as well as a variety of bar scenes. The IMAX theater is available as a combo option when you purchase tickets for the aquarium. Bluff View art district is sculpture/botanical garden worth checking out and ask a local while there for directions to Rembrandt's coffee house. Downtown is very safe respectively compared to Knox or Nash...there are areas to avoid but none of the touristy areas are of concern. The outlying Chattanooga area has many more tourist oppuntunities including The Incline, Ruby Falls, Rock City Gardens, Point Park, Chickamauga Lake, and just across the state line in Georgia you'll find the Chickamauga/Chattanooga National Military Park complete with a Civil War museum with a fantastic antique gun gallery you must check out. Tours are available from Downtown Chatt to Point Park atop Lookout Mtn. to the Military Park and gun museum in Fort Oglethorpe Ga which has its own a steeped military to both the Civil War and as a military base during the WWI era. Sequoyah Caverns will be closing to the public after this year after being publicly available for the last 85 years with some beautiful crystal structures and glass bottom boat tours and is about 30 min. outside of Chatt across the Alabama state line. I'm trying to think of any other points of interest to recommend and if they come to mind I will post a follow up. Hope this helps and hope you swing through and enjoy my neck of the woods.

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