5 Chattanooga Museums to Visit

Posted by on Thursday, January 25th, 2018 at 5:41pm.

Maybe you’re new to the Scenic City or have lived here for years and just never toured your own town! Either way, Chattanooga has a lot to offer by way of museums for every interest from music to classic cars to experiences curated just for kids. 

Coker Tire Museum

1317 Chestnut St, Chattanooga, TN 37402 
(423) 265-6368

Coker Tire has been providing wheels and tires for vintage cars since the mid-50s and is still going strong today. If you catch a tour there, you’ll see more than just wheels, though! The company’s facility is filled to the brim with vintage cars, motorcycles and automotive memorabilia. It’s a veritable car lovers paradise, but is also just cool for anyone in the family to see. Catch a tour of The Coker Tire Museum at one of their cruise-in events or enjoy one of the free tours Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit cokertire.com/tours.


Hunter Museum of American Art 

10 Bluff View Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37403
(423) 267-0968

One of the most recognizable buildings in Chattanooga, The Hunter Museum’s contemporary buildings were built around a 1905 classical revival mansion on a ninety-foot bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. The building and the grounds (which feature several sculpture art pieces) are worth the trip alone, but if you make it inside, you’re in for a showcase of 100 years of architecture and the finest collection of American art in the Southeast. The collection of the Hunter Museum spans the history of American art from the colonial period to the present day, and covers a wide variety of media including painting, sculpture, contemporary studio glass, and crafts. The also have several fun temporary exhibits that change regularly and many events like weekly yoga classes and guest speakers. For more information, visit huntermuseum.org.


Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum 

4119 Cromwell Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37421
(423) 894-8028

The Tennessee Valley Railroad has been described as a moving museum, offering an interactive, historical experience in a full-sized train. This is a great opportunity to enjoy going back in time to a slower-paced era when railroad travel was a way of life. The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum also has special events like the always popular North Pole Limited where the kids can ride on an imaginary journey to the North Pole with refreshments, storytelling, and sing-a-longs before meting Santa. For more information, visit tvrail.com.


Creative Discovery Museum 

321 Chestnut St, Chattanooga, TN 37402
(423) 756-2738

One of the nation's top children's museums, the Creative Discovery Museum inspires children's passion for learning through play. Over 209,000 visitors a year experience hands-on learning in the museum’s core exhibits: RiverPlay, The Little Yellow House, Arts Alley, Excavation Station, Inventors' Clubhouse, Rooftop Fun Factory and The Lookout Tower. A full doctors office with scrubs, x-rays and dolls to treat, a room full of instruments to play with hands-on and a pit for digging for dinosaur bones are just some of the things you’ll find in the museum. Creative Discovery Museum is specifically designed for children of all ages, so there is something for everyone. Bonus - show your ticket stub from the Tennessee Aquarium and get $2 off admission. For more information, visit cdmfun.org.


Songbirds Guitar Museum 

35 Station Street, Chattanooga, TN 37408
(423) 531-2473

Songbirds Guitar Museum is a guitar-oriented, pop culture museum experience for the whole family. Explore its collection of rare, vintage guitars and take a look at the evolution of the guitar from the 1920s through the 1970s. This museum, along with the city of Chattanooga itself, made it on The New York Times’ 2018 list of places to visit, and it’s no small wonder with exhibits including more than 30 Gibson Sunburst Les Paul guitars, over 300 custom color Fender guitars and more than 1,700+ fretted instruments in their constantly growing anthology. For more information, visit songbirdsguitars.com.

Leave a Comment

Format example: you@domain.com
Format example: yourwebsitename.com