Day trips from Nashville · Town
Tennessee Aquarium
132 miles from downtown Nashville · about 2 hours
Downtown Chattanooga riverfront, TN
The Tennessee Aquarium is two connected buildings on the Chattanooga riverfront, one following a river from the mountains to the Gulf and one covering the ocean. It is the anchor of the whole downtown riverfront district and the reason most families make the drive.
- Address
- One Broad Street, Chattanooga
- Admission
- Adults $29.95, children 3 to 12 $18.95, under 3 free
- IMAX
- $9.95 adult, or add to admission for $6
- Hours
- Sunday to Friday 10am to 7pm, Saturday from 9am, last entry 5pm
Permits, fees and access
Online tickets are general admission rather than timed, so you do not have to pick a slot. The Scuttlebutt Reef exhibit opened in 2026. Remember Chattanooga runs on Eastern time, so the doors open an hour earlier than a Nashville clock suggests.
One thing to know first
Two buildings is more than people plan for and the aquarium comfortably eats half a day. If you are also going up Lookout Mountain, pick one or accept that you are rushing both.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 15, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.