Louisville to Gatlinburg drive: Distance, time & best road trip stops
The best road trip stops on the Louisville to Gatlinburg drive are Lexington KY, the Museum of Appalachia and Knoxville TN. The distance from Louisville to Gatlinburg by car is 286 miles, with a 4h36m driving time.
Planning a Louisville to Gatlinburg road trip itinerary
The Louisville to Gatlinburg drive takes you from the biggest city in Kentucky to a Tennessee mountain resort city.
Louisville is the biggest city in Kentucky, and has a strong range of attractions to enjoy. The Louisville Mega Cavern has underground zipline tours, the Churchill Downs race track hosts America’s most famous horse race – the Kentucky Derby – and the Louisville Slugger Factory makes the world’s most famous baseball bats. You can take factory tours and there’s a museum attached.
Good Louisville experiences include Old Louisville ghost tours, the Kentucky Derby Museum and a tasting tour of multiple bourbon distilleries. The food and history tours are also worth checking out.
Top Louisville accommodation choices include the history-drenched Brown Hotel and the art-packed 21C Museum Hotel.
Why you should visit the Kentucky Derby Museum
The Kentucky Derby Museum isn’t just about the nation’s top horse race – it’s about the phenomenon that surrounds it. Museum entry tickets include the chance to see the trophies, learn the backstories of famous winners and watch an immersive theater screening. Best of all, they also include a walking tour of the Churchill Downs Racetrack. Find out more here.
David Whitley, author of Best3Stops.
The mountain resort city of Gatlinburg has the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the doorstep.
To explore the national park, either take an audio self-driving tour or go guided with a hiking tour or a small group bus trip.
Other Gatlinburg experiences include ziplining, ghost tours, the Impossibilities magic show, a wine and moonshine tour and the Moonshine Mountain Coaster.
Louisville to Gatlinburg distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Louisville to Gatlinburg is 286 miles. That makes for a driving time of around four hours and 36 minutes. The quickest route is mostly along the I-64 and I-75.
The best stops on a Louisville to Gatlinburg road trip itinerary are Lexington KY, the Museum of Appalachia and Knoxville TN.
Best stops between Louisville and Gatlinburg: Lexington KY
Lexington, Kentucky, is renowned as a hub for the world of horse-breeding. However, there is much more to the city than studs.
Interesting Lexington experiences include downtown food tours, guided art walks, zipline tours through the Kentucky River Palisades. You can also try bluegrass cocktail tours, visiting a thoroughbred horse farm and visiting Mary Todd Lincoln House.
Louisville to Gatlinburg drive: Museum of Appalachia
The Museum of Appalachia in Clinton, Tennessee, offers an evocative feel for life in a mountain village. More than 250,000 exhibits are stored throughout the site, including musical instruments, quilts and folk arts.
But it’s the whole, rather than the individual, that counts here. The farm and village scene is brought to life with dozens of olde time log buildings.
Louisville to Gatlinburg road trip attractions: Knoxville
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.
- Discover more attractions on the guide to the Knoxville to Gatlinburg drive.
More Louisville road trips
Atlanta to Louisville | Bowling Green to Louisville | Louisville to Chicago | Louisville to Cincinnati | Louisville to Cleveland | Columbus to Louisville | Louisville to Detroit | Evansville to Louisville | Louisville to Gatlinburg | Louisville to Indianapolis | Knoxville to Louisville | Louisville to Lexington KY | Louisville to Memphis | Louisville to Nashville | Pittsburgh to Louisville.
More Gatlinburg road trips
Chicago to Gatlinburg | Houston to Gatlinburg | Knoxville to Gatlinburg | Memphis to Gatlinburg | Nashville to Gatlinburg.