3 Excellent Gatlinburg Museums You’ll Want to Visit

When you stay at our Gatlinburg cabins and take the short drive to the city, you’ll find that there are a lot of fun things to do. Some of the attractions are museums where visitors can learn about cool topics through interactive and fun activities. If you’re looking for an activity that’s both educational and exciting, a museum is a great choice! Need some recommendations? We’ve got you covered! Here is a list of 3 excellent Gatlinburg museums:

1. Hollywood Star Cars Museum

At the Hollywood Star Cars Museum visitors can see the cars featured in their favorite movies and television shows. The museum’s expansive collection includes the 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Futura from the 1984 Ghostbusters film and the 1981 DeLorean Time Machine from 1985’s Back to the Future. You can also see several of the sleek sports cars driven in The Fast & the Furious Series. Along with the cars from the big and small screens, the museum also features some vintage vehicles that were owned by celebrities. See Dolly Parton’s 1997 Cadillac D’Elegance, Elvis Presley’s 1975 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, and more!

2. The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum

The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum is another one of the great Gatlinburg museums. We see salt and pepper shakers in every home and restaurant, yet we don’t often think about their history or where they came from. This unique museum was started when one woman was running out of room for her expansive collection of salt and pepper shakers. It consists of more than 20,000 sets and you’ll see all of them as you wander through the attraction. They come in many different themes and shapes. For example, one of them resembles the Great Smoky Mountains’ most popular animal, the black bear. In addition to housing the salt and pepper shaker collection, the museum teaches visitors about other interesting things. For example, see where salt and pepper come from! If the museum inspires you, you can get a unique salt and pepper shaker set of your very own. There are fun designs that include popular cartoon characters and more! Another great aspect of this attraction is that it is pet friendly! Fido will stay comfortable and out of the heat, rain, or cold!

3. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium

At Ripley’s Odditorium Museum, you can see a great selection of one-of-a-kind items. For instance, you can see a Hogwarts sculpture made out of 600,000 matchsticks. More interactive exhibits include the Floating Kugel Ball Fountain. It is a 10,518-pound ball with facts about the Smoky Mountain area! The attraction also includes exhibits that are even more unique. One of the most well-known ones is the collection of shrunken heads. It dates back to the early 1920’s when Robert Ripley acquired the first one from a trader in Panama City. Today, the collection includes over 100 authentic shrunken heads. As for other things to see, Ripley’s Odditorium Museum has many themed galleries that cover art, pop culture, and history. There is something for everyone to enjoy!

We hope you explore these fun Gatlinburg museums during your stay with us! Looking for more activities in the Smoky Mountain area? Check out our list of fun things to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge!