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Four destinations in Tennessee are being recognized as being some of the best places for a quick getaway from your busy life. Travel + Leisure searched around the southern United States to find some great destinations for a quick trip, compiling a list of 25 of the best weekend getaways in the South, and four spots in Tennessee managed to make the cut.
Of Tennessee's must-visit cities and destinations, Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis and Gatlinburg each earned spots as four of the best weekend getaways in the South. Here's what the site had to say:
"Chattanooga is having a moment. The scenic riverside city leaves a mark on visitors with its mountain scenery and booming downtown filled with hotels, barbecue joints, and hot spots like Easy Bistro & Bar, a French restaurant and raw bar that makes full use of Southern ingredients (regulars love the charcuterie board). At Lookout Mountain, you can behold an underground waterfall and test your nerves on one of the world's steepest passenger railroads."
"The Nashville renaissance shows no sign of slowing down. Neon-lit honky-tonks partying 'til the wee hours, country superstars taking the Grand Ole Opry stage, a booming food landscape encompassing everything from closely guarded hot-chicken recipes and venerable shrines to Southern cooking to James Beard Award-winning kitchens — Nashville's star just keeps getting brighter."
"In Memphis, the door is always open for barbecue lovers and music fans. The city's Beale Street is a rowdy neon stream of flashing lights, club-hopping pedestrians ... and the yowls of electric guitars pouring out of blues joints. Two essential Memphis stops are Sun Records, the studio where Elvis and Johnny Cash recorded, and Graceland, Elvis' private mansion and frozen-in-time stronghold of midcentury kitsch."
"From Gatlinburg's distilleries and amusement parks to Great Smoky Mountain National Park's waterfalls and wildlife, this neck of the woods is a destination with no equal. It makes and excellent family getaway, packed with kid-friendly trails, park activities, and attractions ranging from the Ripley's aquarium to the Mountain Farm Museum across the border in North Carolina that gives a glimpse into what mountain life was like a century ago."
Check out the full list at Travel + Leisure to read up on more of the best weekend getaways around the South.