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7 Things NOT To Do in Gatlinburg, TN
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Jun 10, 2025
As someone who lives near the Smokies and frequents the main strip every chance I get, I can tell you from first-hand experience that there are several ways to approach a visit to Gatlinburg. Or really any vacation for that matter. But no matter how you approach it, a vacation is an endeavor of diminishing commodities. So here I humbly offer some of my greatest Gatlinburg misses so you can learn from my mistakes. Full Article: https://www.thesmokies.com/not-to-do-gatlinburg/
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seven things not to do while visiting
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Gatlinburg according to
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locals living near the Smokies we
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frequent the main strip every chance we
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get and we can tell you from firsthand
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experience that there are several ways
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to approach a visit to gburg or really
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any vacation for that matter but no
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matter how you approach it a vacation is
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an Endeavor of diminishing Commodities
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so we humbly offer some of our greatest
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Gatlinburg misses so you can learn from
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our mistakes number one don't fall for a
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tourist trap these days nearly
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everything under the sun is reviewed
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online restaurants attractions you name
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it and there are a ton of Temptations to
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spend your hard-earned vacation dollars
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along the Gatlinburg strip tourist traps
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are dime a dozen as are less than great
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eateries reviews can sometimes take the
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adventure out of a vacation but as we
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who once got food poisoning from a back
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alley thae place on the way to the Six
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Flags Over Georgia sometimes adventure
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and all it's cracked up to be number two
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don't skip on local gyms we're often
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perplexed by people who travel long
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distances and wind up doing the same
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stuff they can do at home places like
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shony Pizza Hut or McDonald's are fine
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really they're fine but we always say
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live a little and try something you
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can't get back home the lauder's
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barbecue three Jimmy's good time eery
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and Crockett's Breakfast Camp are among
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our favorite spots number three don't
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stop at every gift shop in Gatlinburg
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some folks love of vacation knick-knacks
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at the mountains at the beach or in
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France you can see shop after shop after
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shop selling the same things in
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basically the same price range but we
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recommend picking one or two curio shops
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and then moving it along number four
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don't pass on the specialty don't go to
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restaurants with a particular food in
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their name and not at least try the
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specialty you don't go to the Smoky
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Mountain Trout house and order the
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barbecue at least not on the first visit
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certainly if you've been a couple of
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times you have our permission to
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experiment but if you're walking out of
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the restaurant and somebody says how's
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the trout you darn well better know how
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to answer number five don't fall for
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freebies look we understand the Allure a
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free room maybe a free meal or perhaps
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something else awesome all in exchange
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for giving up 2 hours of your time to
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hear a time share pitch however know
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what you're signing up for they don't
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want to give you more time they want you
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to share your time with them sometimes
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they're not time sharers they're time
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thieves
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remember the clock starts ticking on
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your vacation the minute you leave your
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driveway you only have so many hours
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left therefore try not to waste any of
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them being bombarded by carefully vetted
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buzzwords number six don't leave your
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car and trash bins unlocked never forget
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this is Bear Country and unfortunately
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black bears in the area have learned to
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associate cars with food and they
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absolutely know how to open doors the
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same goes for garbage cans this of
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course is dangerous for both people and
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bears so be sure to lock up whenever you
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visit the area and never purposely offer
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food to a black bear number seven don't
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forget to pack your patience keep in
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mind that Gatlinburg is a tourist town
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and it will likely be crowded especially
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on the weekends and holidays streets may
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be crowded and restaurants may be short
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staffed your trip will be what you make
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of it so make sure to be patient and
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expect delays here and there although
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we're sure you'll still enjoy a great
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vacation at the Smokies as long as you
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plan ahead and set your expect ations
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accordingly make reservations where you
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can buy tickets at Advance and avoid
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peak times for best results what are
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things you recommend not doing in
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Gatlinburg Tennessee let us know in the
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comments below and don't forget to like
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subscribe and hit the Bell so you don't
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miss our next video from the smokies.com
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