Vacation on a dime in Chattanooga

Planning a vacation is difficult, planning a vacation for a family is even more difficult and planning a family vacation on a budget is down right frustrating. Luckily planning a trip to Chattanooga for a family on a budget is easy with these simple techniques. When booking a hotel you first want to decide if you will have your own transportation. If you do then staying near the Hamilton place mall will be more cost effective, with several hotel choices starting at 100/night. However if you do not have your own transportation than you will want to stay near downtown to be close to the action. The recently built Springhill suites by Marriot offers luxury accommodations at an affordable price. A bonus with this hotel is the amazing view of the river just outside. With your home away from home now in place it’s time to take a look at the best and most affordable experiences that Chattanooga has to offer.
The first stop on our budget friendly tour is the Chattanooga zoo, which offers chimpanzees, jaguars, and some friendly and pet-able goats for the bargain price of 8.95 per adult and 5.95 per child, plus kids 2 and under are free! At a small additional fee of 5 dollars you can ride a camel or for 1 dollar you can ride on the zoos famed carousel which boasts an array of colorful creatures hand carved in the traditional carousel fashion. The next place that if easy on the wallet and fun for the family is the Creative Discovery museum, this fun filled museum is a kid’s paradise.

With all of this exploring you are bound to get hungry, these restaurants are budget friendly, and unique to Chattanooga. The first restaurant on this tasteful tour is Good Dog, this locally owned and operated joint boasts the best dogs in the south and while good dog has some amazing hot dogs and vegetarian chilli, their breakfast is not to be missed. Open at 7 am until 10pm they are a family friendly local dining stop that is available whenever you are. The prices range from 4.00-9.00 and this amazing establishment has vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options available. Aretha Frankenstein’s is our next haunt. This one of a kind restaurant is known for it’s monstrous pancakes. These pancakes are huge but if pancakes aren’t your thing they have other breakfast samplings as well. They also have some pretty impressive lunch sandwiches and with almost all the prices around the 7 dollar range this makes our second spot for our budget friendly restaurant list. *Disclaimer- (The locals know how great this place is so get there early to beat the crowds on the weekend otherwise you could be waiting an hour or more.) Last but not least on this delightfully delectable tour is the Fork and Pie bar, a newcomer to the area this quirky establishment has quickly made it’s mark as a place not to be missed. With a relaxed family friendly atmosphere and pie so good that it will make you think of Grandma, you would expect the prices to be sky high but much like grandma these folks understand penny pinchers. The prices on this menu stay right around the 7 dollar mark. The portions are large as well. When you visit do not leave without trying the pie of the day.