Such a fun visit while in Knoxville…read more The staff at the front desk was welcoming and informative. We particularly enjoyed seeing the model rooms and learning about the architecture. I want to go visit those houses now! Free museum. It's not too big but you can spend 1-2 hours here.

This museum is great for Knoxville. It's not very big, but you'll spend 1-2 hours there…read more Story time: It was weird. When we arrived, the lady up front for our check-in asked how we had heard of them. I'm like... "Uh... It's art. We go where art is. We love art." I couldn't think of any other answer that fit the boxes she was checking. I love art, and that's where you can find me. It didn't fit any of her checkboxes, she waited a moment like she was waiting for me to say something else before saying, "Oh, that's a new reason we're going to have to add" or something like that. One of the usher girls understood what I was saying. No shame on the lady... it was just odd. I don't just hear about museums. I see if a city has one and I go. In my world, that's a 100,000 percent normal thing. I still laugh about it. You'll have fun here. If you've visited major art museums in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Philly, Chicago, NY, or SF, you'll still have fun here, but it won't be the famous paintings you're looking for. If you're in Knoxville and have time to spare, I'd visit, but it's not an absolute must-do thing.

We had been to Knoxville several times but never had the opportunity to visit the East Tennessee…read moreHistory Center. They have different price ranges for kids, adults and senior citizens (age 55 +) to tour the museum. It was an informative walk through on the first floor with several rooms contains various stories about the struggles for southern families, musicians and women. There were several areas to sit and listen and watch the video. I was very pleased to see they had captions turned on so my spouse and I could enjoy the videos as well. Before we left we purchased a few items from the gift store. They had lots of T-shirt's 40% off as well as books for only $1. It's definitely worth the visit.

What a GEM in Knoxville! Sundays are free admission with…read moreencouragement to donate (no complaints here). Folks up front were super friendly and gave us the rundown of the layout. Very kind and we felt welcomed right away. We fully expected this to be a small space with some cool stuff but it surprised us by being big and filled with SO MUCH history! It was such a pleasant surprise and we spent way longer looking around and reading than we planned. I learned a lot while exploring and was truly impressed with this history center. I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you're in the area!

We had some time in Downtown Knoxville and decided to check out the mansion. The staff are super…read morenice, and we enjoyed talking with them. We were given a tour with just our family which was really cool. We all really loved the tour. It was great for our son who could touch a lot of objects. They also had a table to try and write with a quill. I would recommend the mansion if you love history.

This is a very well landscaped and very well preserved mansion, that was Built-in 1792. Governor…read moreWilliam Blount and his family resided here.The mansion sits up on a Hill overlooking the Tennessee river. There are some very old antiques inside the mansion and most of the mansion is all original. All of the rooms were pretty large and had high ceilings about 10 ft. There are beautiful gardens out side and around the building. This mansion is located downtown Knoxville and the courthouse is right down the street. It was very cool to see how they lived way back then with no electric. They had candlelight chandeliers and wood burning stove. All their equipment they used to make their clothes and their food was all original as far as I know. There was 3 or 4 outside buildings as well that was used for their equipment and their work.

It's $20 to walk through and check out the historical buildings.She told me that it was about .7…read moremiles but I tracked it and it was 1.43miles... so you'll definitely get your steps in. They have a cute little shop, bathrooms and limited food. But a good place to check out if you like history.

It's apparently a Smithsonian affiliate, but you'd never look around and wonder whether you were on…read morethe National Mall, which is kind of the point. The array of historic cabins and exhibit-filled barns at the base of a rolling hill conveys the appropriate atmosphere. The level of detail in the artifacts and their presentation is high. Owing to my disposition I found extensive information on health and medicine, but there were plenty of other topics to explore. The live farm aspects of the museum held a large number of peacocks for some reason (but only one peahen that I could see, which the peacocks did not appear to be happy about), as well as various pigs and goats. There was a significant admission charge (lower with AAA), and I wondered if it would be worth it, but having given myself two hours, I ended up using most of that and giving up towards the end more for lack of energy than lack of exhibits. Younger children will appreciate the animals, while older adults will read into some of the exhibits more, but anyone visiting in good faith is likely to find something of interest.

Part history museum, science museum, and children's museum. There's a little something for everyone…read moreat the American Museum of Science & Energy. The museum tells the story of Oak Ridge's role in World War II and the top secret Manhattan Project. The way the museum is laid out tells the story in a chronological way where you'll begin by learning about how Oak Ridge came to be, its role in the war, and its role in nuclear research in the years since the hydrogen bomb was first dropped over Japan. Plan to spend about 2 hours here depending on how hands on you want to be. As you progress through the musuem it becomes more hands on and reminiscent of a children's museum where you can get hands on with science theories. The space has multiple exhibits, an introduction video, and gift shop. On certain days/times a bus tour is offered to the plant sites that will also include admission to the museum but I was not visiting on one of those days but would like to check it out if Im ever in the area on the right day.

Located in Main Street in Oak Ridge at the end of the shopping strip. Much larger inside than…read moreanticipated and many interactive exhibits, movies, and teaching sessions. An affordable option ($10 per adult and $5 per child) in comparison to other local museums, too. I would say the best ages for this spot would be 8 and up. There is quite a bit of reading and many of the hands-on displays are complex. It is great for adults, too, and I learned so much about our city and nation's history...and science tidbits I had forgotten in the (longgg) time since high school. There is quite a bit of information on the Manhattan Project and the formation of Oak Ridge as a whole, including videos in the auditorium and in that specific section of the museum. We loved learning more! Did you know that when FDR died, his VP had no clue that M. Project was even underway? Or that Oak Ridge had over 75,000 people but did not show on a map? We loved the staff interaction, including the sessions that they lead throughout the afternoon in the auditorium. The one about static electricity was really cool and informative. My squirmy 10 yo was captivated! There were so many STEM exhibits and one of the lab rooms was open with many stations to build circuits, look into microscopes, etc. My kiddo enjoyed what he referred to as "practice for the claw machine," as well. Side notes: The gift shop had some really neat items (typical gift shop pricing) and the water fountains had the bottle filling spout. There are benches everywhere you look and it is all one level, making this a highly-accessible spot to visit. You will likely spend at least 1.5-2 hours here. Definitely worth the money!

The Sunsphere is an amazing architectural wonder and remnant from the 1982 World's Fair in…read moreKnoxville. My visit to the Sunsphere made my day. The 342' steel structure was designed by Don Shell and completed in 1982. The glass on the 75' sphere is coated with gold dust. During the World's Fair, a small restaurant operated at the top and visitors could visit the observation deck for $2. We were passing through Knoxville and my daughter wanted to visit. Today, visitors can pay to go up to the observation deck of the giant structure. ($10 for adults). You can buy tickets on line or at the Sunsphere. When we arrived, the Sphere was closed until 1:30, so we did not go up in it. But we enjoyed walking around and taking photos. There is parking a block south and the walk through the park is lovely. There is a drop off circle near the Sunshpere as well. Let's are not allowed in the structure.

Sunsphere is cool, but also overpriced. We were walking around Knoxville and it was fun to go up…read moreand get her 360° view. It was also nice to get out of the heat and humidity and feel a little air conditioning. Once you've looked around, there's not much else to do. Maybe read a sign or two, but I'd say 10 minutes is the most anybody might realistically spend up at the top, so $40 for the four of us felt a bit steep. I will say this, if we hadn't gone up, then we would not have noticed the Knoxville Museum of Art, which we wound up going to and that was awesome!

Not too expensive. We had a lot of fun here today with 3 separate activities. A shooter type game…read more A haunted house and a lost in a house of mirrors

Awful experience. Even with the discount we received from purchasing a package deal from another…read moreattraction was a waste of money. We entered the game depicting robots and were seated in lounge like chairs with seat belts that faced a large tv screen. We were given 3D glasses and were excited for the opportunity. Partway through the game my blaster just stopped working so I couldn't even participate in the remaining game (which was most of it.) There was no compensation offered for a refund or even an apology from the staff about the poor experience. The other young adults in our party also stated that the whole experience was mediocre/average at best. Save your time and money. There's plenty more engaging and enjoyable experiences in the area. If you skip this glorified carnival game, you'll thank yourself later.

I will be first to say this place when we pulled in I doubted we would enjoy it. I saw a lot of…read morelittle kids and we had a 2nd grader with us. I guess I am spoiled with a hometown children's museum of play.. I am so glad we went in to give it a chance, the employees here are wonderful. Very welcoming. The exhibits are diverse and many hands on touch this or that ability. There were some dated videos of the Appalachian culture but honestly it gave it an appeal and definitely a time gone by. The exhibits and explanation of the Manhattan project were very interesting. All of us walked away learning a lot about oak ridge and that era around world war 2. We spent a good two hours in the museum and didn't read it all, we happened to be walking in right before a school group of 30 little kids and parents. Initially it was loud but there was enough space that we didn't have to be around all the chaos real little kids bring. Some of the exhibits were geared for smaller kids but our 2nd grader had no problem enjoying the experience. I mean who doesn't love a "doll house" that has two levels, For the price and exhibits I would suggest it to anyone especially if you have a history buff in your family.

Pulling in, it's an old school and it doesn't look very big. You walk inside and are greeted by an…read moreattendant and a big bear off to the left. They have a small gift shop with stuffed animals, patches and small things. If your disabled, don't worry about steps..they have ya covered with ramps throughout the museum. As you walk through it's very well put together. The farm room where the children can grab a basket and grab the plastic apples out of the tree on the wall and make their own dinner plate out if magnetized pictures of foods. They have a pretty big life-sized doll house, which was very cool along with old relics of dolls etc from different eras. They have a water room where the kids can send floating boats down a make believe lock at the dam. At the end, they have a train room that is pretty cool with towns all lit up and a train going throughout them.. very cool place. Very neat place. $8.00 for adults $7.00 for seniors aged 62+ and children under 3 are free.

The visitor center is located in the Childen's Museum of Oak Ridge. To be honest, I was expecting…read moremore out of the visitor's center since a lot of the time there's a small associated museum or exhibits, but it was quite bare with only a small looping video. I liked the concept of the park in that you get to explore the community, but since the bus tour wasn't running with no plan or date when it would come back, it was hard to make a cohesive plan. I would say plan on visiting the K-25 history center + overlook and the American Museum of Science and Energy for sure, and then just wandering around the community looking at the placards. If you're into the stamps, there's a three part stamp (the rest of the parts are in Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico).

An off the beaten tract for typical visitors. Department of…read moreEnergy sponsors a bus tour. Make reservations on line and early. We went in a rainy day and it was still fabulous. Seeing up close the impact of the Atomic era was eye opening. So much More to the history besides the actual bombing. Take a day to do this historical site.

I am beyond a true crime enthusiast. I pretty much only read and watch true crime oriented media…read more This was my second trip to the museum. I was worried that there wouldn't be any new exhibits but I was surprised and happy to find the opposite to be true. They have definitely expanded and updated since my last visit. If you enjoy true crime and/or history this is a great spot to visit. On the crime side of things they have a wide range of crimes-not just serial killers or murder. (They do have a Ted Bundy VW beetle and 2 John Wayne Gacy clown costumes on display). They also have areas for financial crimes, etc. History wise they start off in medieval era, then the Wild West, mafia to present day. Nice exhibit on 911. Interactive exhibits too, like DUI and autopsy. Well worth the price of admission to me. Easily a couple hours of stuff to do. Especially nice on a rainy day!

If you have itty bitties, think before going!!…read more This is a great museum with lots of exhibits with detailed insight at them all. So there is LOTS of reading. So this becomes a 1.5-2 hour engagement. It can be dark in areas, so if you're the owner of old eyes. Break out the iPhone flashlight. The rooms are designed to be progressive thru the years (the Middle Ages were messed up!!!). So the pacing is well thought. We went in the off season and it wasn't crowded. I could see during the season, it could be a challenge. Lots of middle aged women that listen to "those podcasts". So husbands be wary when wives start nodding at one another. A great place to go on a "weather" day. As a side note, the staff made a point of stating that all but four display items were authentic and not recreations.