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Things to Do in Knoxville, Tennessee

A walkable downtown, university energy and the closest big-city gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, with Appalachian food and markets to match.

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Last updated: September 2026

Knoxville, Tennessee — photograph from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Brian Stansberry / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Knoxville sits along the Tennessee River in the eastern part of the state, close enough to the Great Smoky Mountains that many visitors use it as a base or a stopover on the way into the park. It's home to the University of Tennessee's flagship campus, which gives the city a strong college-town pulse alongside its older industrial and railroad history.

Downtown Knoxville has been steadily rebuilt around Market Square and Gay Street, two historic districts now filled with independent restaurants, bars, and shops rather than the empty storefronts they saw decades ago. The 1982 World's Fair left a lasting mark in the form of the Sunsphere, still visible on the skyline and a handy orientation point for visitors.

The city suits people who want mountain access without staying in a heavily touristed gateway town like Gatlinburg, along with music fans drawn to its bluegrass and Americana roots, and anyone interested in a genuine, still-affordable Southern city with real neighborhood character.

Quick facts

Population
190,740 (2020 census)
County
Knox County (county seat)
State
Tennessee
Country
United States
Founded
Settled 1786, founded 1791, incorporated 1815; first capital of Tennessee
Elevation
886 feet
Nickname
Marble City; Scruffy City
Setting
On the Tennessee River, foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains
Nearby cities
Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Chattanooga
Best known for
University of Tennessee, Smoky Mountains gateway, 1982 World's Fair

Things to Do

  • Market Square

    A pedestrian square lined with restaurants, shops, and an outdoor stage, functioning as the social heart of downtown Knoxville.

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  • The Sunsphere

    The gold-paneled tower built for the 1982 World's Fair, with an observation deck offering a free panoramic view of the city and surrounding hills.

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  • Knoxville Museum of Art

    A compact art museum overlooking World's Fair Park with a strong collection of work by Tennessee and regional Appalachian artists.

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  • East Tennessee History Center

    A downtown museum covering the region's Cherokee, frontier, Civil War, and industrial history in depth.

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  • James White's Fort

    A reconstruction of the city's original 1786 fort and homestead, offering a look at Knoxville's frontier-era founding.

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  • University of Tennessee campus and Neyland Stadium

    On football Saturdays, the massive stadium and surrounding campus give a vivid sense of the region's college-football culture.

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Eat Local

  • Oliver Royale

    A Market Square restaurant in the 1876 Peter Kern Bakery building, where the German-born baker who supplied Union troops set up shop after the war.

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  • Pete's Coffee Shop

    A longtime downtown diner serving straightforward Southern breakfasts to a loyal local crowd since the 1970s.

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  • Sweet P's BBQ

    A local barbecue spot known for its smoked meats, now centered on its Uptown Corner location after a downtown closure.

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  • Yassin's Falafel House

    A beloved local falafel shop that grew from a food truck to a Knoxville favorite, once named the 'nicest place in America' by a national poll.

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  • The Tomato Head

    A longtime Market Square restaurant known for wood-fired pizzas and creative sandwiches, a fixture of the downtown dining scene.

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Shopping & Markets

  • Market Square Farmers' Market

    A large Saturday farmers market held downtown from spring through fall, drawing regional growers and prepared-food vendors.

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  • Knoxville's Old City shops

    A historic warehouse district turned into a cluster of boutiques, bars, and galleries just east of Gay Street.

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  • Union Ave Books

    A woman-owned independent bookstore two blocks off Market Square, open since 2011, with a deep Appalachian and regional section.

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Hidden Gems

  • The Bijou Theatre

    A historic 1909 theater on Gay Street hosting concerts and shows, a smaller and less-touristed alternative to the bigger downtown venues.

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  • Ijams Nature Center

    A former quarry turned nature preserve just minutes from downtown, offering hiking, climbing, and paddling that surprise visitors expecting only urban attractions.

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  • Old Gray Cemetery

    An 1850 garden cemetery just north of downtown holding much of 19th-century Knoxville, with the Victorian streets of Fourth & Gill immediately beside it.

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  • Mead's Quarry at Ijams

    A flooded marble quarry three and a half miles from downtown, now a swimming and paddling lake with the city's only outdoor climbing crag on its walls.

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Nature & Outdoors

  • Ijams Nature Center

    A 300-plus-acre park with trails, a rope bridge, and swimming holes along the Tennessee River, popular with families and climbers alike.

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  • Urban Wilderness trail system

    A large network of mountain biking and hiking trails on the south side of the city, built on reclaimed quarry and forest land.

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  • Neyland Greenway

    A riverside path along the Tennessee River near downtown, good for a walk or bike ride with campus and stadium views.

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  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park access

    Knoxville sits roughly 45 minutes from the park's northern entrances, making it a practical, less-crowded base for exploring the Smokies.

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A little history

Knoxville was founded in 1791 and served as the first capital of Tennessee, named for U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox. Its position on the Tennessee River made it an important transportation and trading point in the early republic, and it later grew as a rail hub connecting the mountains of Appalachia to the rest of the South.

The city played a role in the Civil War as a contested border-region city with divided loyalties, and it later became a center for the wholesale grocery and marble industries, leaving behind the historic Old City warehouse district that survives today as a nightlife and dining area.

In 1982, Knoxville hosted the World's Fair under the theme 'Energy Turns the World,' building the 266-foot Sunsphere as its centerpiece. The fair didn't produce the immediate economic boom organizers hoped for, but the surrounding World's Fair Park and the Sunsphere itself remain enduring civic landmarks and a starting point for the city's later downtown revitalization.

If you only have a day in Knoxville

  1. Morning

    Market Square and Gay Street

    Coffee, the farmers market if it is Wednesday or Saturday, and the Tennessee Theatre's lobby if it is open.

  2. Late morning

    East Tennessee History Center

    A block away, and the clearest account of why this region split from the rest of the South.

  3. Lunch

    The Tomato Head

    On Market Square since 1990, and one of the reasons the square came back.

  4. Afternoon

    Ijams Nature Center and Mead's Quarry

    Three and a half miles south; trails, the quarry lake and the boardwalk along the river.

  5. Evening

    The Old City

    The warehouse district east of Gay Street for dinner and music.

Good to know

  • Home football Saturdays at Neyland Stadium reshape downtown traffic and parking entirely. Check the schedule before booking.
  • Several downtown garages are free after 6pm on weeknights and through the weekend, which makes evenings much easier than they look.
  • The park entrances near Gatlinburg are roughly an hour out, so Knoxville works as a cheaper Smokies base if you accept the drive.
  • Market Square's farmers market runs Wednesdays and Saturdays from spring into autumn.

Explore more of Knoxville

This guide highlights some of the places that help define Knoxville. There is plenty more around it — restaurants, hidden gems, history, events, shopping and outdoor places — waiting in the live explorer, sorted by distance from wherever you are.

Explore Knoxville in Nearbyly

Places in Knoxville

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