Birmingham AL to Knoxville drive: Best stops, distance & time
The distance from Birmingham, AL, to Knoxville, TN, by car is 257 miles, with a 3h50m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Birmingham to Knoxville drive are DeSoto State Park, Chattanooga and the Lost Sea Adventure.
Planning a Birmingham to Knoxville road trip
The drive from Birmingham to Knoxville takes you from a history-soaked city in Alabama to the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.
Birmingham, Alabama, has a rich civil rights heritage. This is best explored on a civil rights tour which links the key sites and, crucially, puts them into context. Other Birmingham experiences include ghost walks and multi-brewery beer tours.
For museums, you’ve got the McWane Science Center, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark and more.
If planning to visit several of them, a Birmingham Area Multi-Attraction Pass will save you money.
The top-rated Birmingham accommodation picks are the Drury Inn and Suites Birmingham Grandview and the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Birmingham South.
Highlights of Knoxville include World’s Fair Park, which hosted the 1982 World’s Fair. The often-dazzling Sunsphere is the major landmark, here. You can also visit the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and Knoxville Museum of Art.
Other Knoxville experiences include ghost tours and downtown walking tours that pick out local secret spots, while serving up coffee and ice cream.
Top Knoxville accommodation options include the handily-located Graduate Knoxville, the affordable Hampton Inn and Suites Knoxville Downtown and the character-packed Oliver Hotel. To compare prices, search here.
Birmingham to Knoxville distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Birmingham to Knoxville is 257 miles. You can expect a driving time of around three hours and 50 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-59 then I-75.
The best stops to add to a Birmingham to Knoxville road trip itinerary are DeSoto State Park, Chattanooga and the Lost Sea Adventure.
Birmingham to Knoxville road trip attractions: DeSoto State Park
DeSoto State Park near Fort Payne, Alabama, offers a wealth of activities, including horseback riding and kayaking on the Little River. There’s an Olympic-sized swimming pool near the DeSoto State Park picnic area, and Screaming Eagle Aerial Adventures runs a zipline course.
For most visitors, though, this Alabama state park is about the waterfalls. The photogenic, cascading DeSoto Falls tend to hog the attention, but there are plenty of others within short walks of car parks.
Best stops between Birmingham and Knoxville: Chattanooga
Chattanooga in the foothills of the Appalachians is home to the National Medal of Honor Heritage Museum and the Tennessee Aquarium. But it’s mostly an outdoorsy place. Great Chattanooga experiences include rafting on the Middle Ocoee River, backcountry tours in Swincars and kayak adventures to the Nickajack Bat Cave. You can also try Segway tours, guided ghost walks and trolley tours.
Birmingham to Knoxville drive: The Lost Sea Adventure
The Lost Sea Adventure in Sweetwater, Tennessee, is a somewhat different take on a cave tour. There’s a walk for three quarters of a mile, where guides explain the history of the caverns and the geology of the cave decorations.
However, once you get to the bottom of the cave, there’s a twist – you get on a boat and take a ride across the Lost Sea. This is supposedly America’s largest underground lake.
More Birmingham AL road trips
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More Knoxville road trips
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