For our anniversary, David and I headed up to Bryson City so we could stay at Lakeview at Fontana. A couple of years ago, David found Nantahala National Forest and wanted to start making an annual trip out of it. I had only been once when I was in high school, so when this trip to Lakeview worked out, we were both looking forward to checking it out. Here is our Bryson City Travel Guide, which is such a quaint town in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Bryson City: What to Do

Bryson City has such cute shops to stop in and visit while you are in town. It was about a 10 minute drive from Lakeview, and we spent one morning checking out the stores, and got lunch to go.

Some of my favorite shops include Humanité Boutique (seen here), Madison’s on Main, McClanahan’s, and Friends of the Marianna Black Library Used Bookstore.

We loved going into Nantahala National Forest. It rained a couple of days we were there, but we are wanting to go back to white water raft. The Nantahala Outdoor Center is a great place to sign up for zip lining, rafting, or kayaking. There is a swinging bridge further into the forest, and there is a nice area to have a picnic by the river.

Heading the opposite direction, back through Bryson City, there are awesome waterfalls to check out. You can rent tubes right outside of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and you can tube past one of the falls. We opted to hike to see all three, and it was only about a 2 mile hike round trip.

Top Two Photos: Indian Creek Falls

Juney Whank Falls

Tom Branch Falls

We also went into Cherokee to the Oconaluftee Visitors Center to see the elk that are out. It was maybe one of my favorite parts of the trip!

There are two great breweries right in Bryson City as well. Nantahala Brewing Company is a great place to have an afternoon drink. I really liked their summer ale while David enjoyed their IPA. Mountain Layers Brewing Company has a rooftop deck overlooking the river, and is another great spot to check out.

Where to Eat

River’s End has been on my list of restaurants to try for a while, so I was excited to get a great spot on the back porch. I ordered the Greek salad with grilled chicken and it was delicious.

We had our anniversary dinner at the Bistro at the Everett. David ordered the Bacon & Blue burger and I had the Black Bean & Pimiento Cheese burger. It was a great spot and the staff was incredibly friendly.

We had lunch at Pizza by the River, which was maybe our favorite spot. We ordered the pepperoni pizza and cheese sticks.

Another place that’s great for lunch is High Test Deli. David and I grabbed lunch to go from here on the day we went hiking, and we really enjoyed it. They have homemade ice cream sandwiches that looked absolutely delicious as well.

Where to Stay

David and I cannot rave about our stay at Lakeview at Fontana enough. We had the best time, and really hope to make this an annual trip.

Bryson City Itinerary

Day 1:
10:00AM – Began our Road Trip in a 2019 Toyota Camry
1:00PM – Arrived in Mocksville to have lunch at Miller’s Restaurant
4:00M – Checked in at Lakeview at Fontana
5:00PM – Happy Hour at Lakeview at Fontana
6:30PM – Dinner at River’s End
8:00PM – Walk around Nantahala Outdoor Center

Day 2:

8:30AM – Breakfast at Lakeview at Fontana
9:30AM – Explore Bryson City
12:00PM – Lunch at Pizza by the River
1:30PM – Beer at Mountain Layers Brewing Company
2:00PM – Poolside at Lakeview at Fontana
5:00PM – Happy Hour at Lakeview at Fontana
6:00PM – Treetop Soaking Tub at Lakeview at Fontana
8:00PM – Dinner at The Bistro at the Everett

Day 3:

8:30AM – Breakfast at Lakeview at Fontana
10:00AM – Explore Nantahala National Park (this is where we did the swinging bridge)
11:45AM – Lunch from High Test Deli
12:30PM – Spa Services from Lakeview at Fontana
3:00PM – Hike Deep Creek Trails to the Waterfalls
5:00PM – Happy Hour at Lakeview at Fontana
7:00PM – Elk Watching at Oconaluftee Indian Village
8:30PM – Dinner at Anthony’s
9:30PM – Live Music at Nantahala Brewing Company

Day 4 :

8:30AM – Breakfast at Lakeview at Fontana
9:00AM – Hit the road back to Raleigh