Knoxville Visitor Information

About Knoxville

Knoxville is in a temperate climate zone. The summers are always green and gentle. The fall color is truly magnificent as hills light up in brilliant autumn hues. Winter is brief and mild. Spring arrives early and stays for a long time, featuring glorious dogwoods, azaleas and other beautiful flowers.

Accommodations

Knoxville has accommodations for vacationers and business travellers, including exquisite bed and breakfast inns, luxury hotels, moderately-priced motels, and extended stay facilities.

Convention Facilities / Venues

Knoxville has all the necessary facilities to accommodate the smallest to the largest convention. Its many fine hotels and motels are all easily accessible to major roadways. The Knoxville Convention Center hosts numerous annual trade shows throughout the year as well as corporate conventions. Conveniently located to most hotels is the Civic Coliseum, the Knoxville Civic Center, The University of Tennessee football stadium, and Stokely Athletic Center, all of which host major conventions and other events.

Travelers to the Knoxville area will find its many fine hotels and motels not only accommodating but hospitable. There is always plenty of entertainment in Knoxville--theater, symphony, opera, dancing, trade shows, arts and crafts shows, flea markets, lots of movie theaters, shopping malls, major computer stores, sports events, and beautiful lakes and parks. Only 30 miles away is Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Transportation

Knoxville has many sources of transportation, including KAT, the public transportation system, taxis, limousine service, car rental agencies, and McGhee-Tyson Airport. Development of an aerial tramway system is currently being considered as an alternative to heavy traffic in Knoxville.

Knoxville is located at the head of the Tennessee River navigation channel. The river is part of the Interconnected Inland Water System which links Knoxville with 21 states, the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. Linkages may be made to the entire inland waterway system, allowing shipments to be made by water to Houston, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and Little Rock.

Three active river terminals handle barge shipments in Knoxville. The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway links East Tennessee to 13 other states and the Gulf of Mexico. The waterway shortens shipping between Tennessee and the Gulf of Mexico by 882 miles and enables East Tennessee products to arrive at their Gulf destination from eight to nine days earlier.