Nashville to Chattanooga drive: Best stops, time & distance

The distance from Nashville to Chattanooga by car is 133 miles, with a 2h3m driving time. The best Nashville to Chattanooga road trip stops are Earth Experience, Manchester and Fiery Gizzard State Park.

Planning a Nashville to Chattanooga road trip itinerary

The drive from Nashville to Chattanooga takes you from America’s country music capital to the outdoor activity hotspot of southern Tennessee.

Nashville is heavily music-focused, with attractions such as the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, Legends of Country Music Museum and Johnny Cash Museum. However, you can also get a good dose of history at Belmont Mansion, the Tennessee State Museum and Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage.

The best Nashville experiences include backstage tours of the Grand Ole Opry House, helicopter flights over the city and tasting tours at the Big Machine Distillery. You can also try line dancing classes, the Country Music Hall of Fame and haunted pub crawls.

Chattanooga in the foothills of the Appalachians is home to Chattanooga Zoo, the Creative Discovery Museum and the Hunter Museum of American Art.

But it’s mostly an outdoorsy place. Great Chattanooga experiences include rafting on the Middle Ocoee River and kayak adventures to the Nickajack Bat Cave.

There’s plenty to see at Lookout Mountain just outside the city – ride the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, be wowed by Ruby Falls and see seven states from the Rock City Gardens.

Nashville to Chattanooga distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Nashville to Chattanooga is 133 miles. That makes for a driving time of around two hours and three minutes. The quickest route is usually along the I-24.

The best stops on a Nashville to Chattanooga road trip are Earth Experience in Murfreesboro, the waterfalls of Manchester and South Cumberland State Park.

Nashville to Chattanooga road trip attractions: Earth Experience

Also called the Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History, Earth Experience in Murfreesboro is all about archaeological relics. That means gems and minerals, but mainly dinosaur bones.

The highlight is the big T-Rex skeleton, but you can also visit the working paleontology laboratory, see how replica bones are moulded and cast, then touch petrified wood and dino bones.

Best stops between Nashville and Chattanooga: Manchester, Tennessee

The town of Manchester isn’t especially riveting, although you can visit Common John Brewing and the Beans Creek Winery.

It is, however, the gateway to several photogenic waterfalls. The closest to the town centre are Blue Hole Falls and Big Falls in Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park. Head a little further west, and there are plenty more – Rutledge Falls has a glorious swimming hole at the bottom.

Nashville to Chattanooga drive: Fiery Gizzard State Park

Fiery Gizzard State Park is pretty big, and it covers a significant chunk of the Cumberland Plateau. There are several hiking trails and camping spots, plus a series of waterfalls. The largest of these is Foster Falls, but the easiest to access from the I-24 is Sycamore Falls near Tracy City.

This is only a 12ft waterfall, but it’s wide and there’s a great swimming hole at the bottom.

More Tennessee travel

Other Tennessee travel guides on Planet Whitley include:

• Plan your visit to the Hunter Museum of American Art and Sculpture Fields at Montague Park in Chattanooga.
• What to expect at Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District in Chattanooga.
• Practical visitor guide to Lane Motor Museum and the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.
• What to see on the Louisville to Nashville drive.
• What to know before visiting Madame Tussauds Nashville.