Getting Around Knoxville
Knoxville is a car-oriented Southern city, and how easily you get around depends a great deal on where you're staying. Downtown is compact and pleasant on foot, but once you move into the outer neighborhoods and suburbs, a car becomes the practical choice. The city does have a public bus system, a free downtown trolley, and a growing greenway network for walking and cycling, so a visitor without a car can still manage — provided you plan around the bus schedule and base yourself centrally.
Public Transportation: Knoxville Area Transit (KAT)
Knoxville Area Transit, known locally as KAT, runs the city's bus service throughout the City of Knoxville and parts of Knox County. The system is anchored by the Downtown Station bus terminal, an ultra-modern facility that serves as the focal point for public transportation in the city. If you're relying on buses, this is where you'll make most of your connections.
- Frequency: Most KAT bus stops are served on an hourly interval, which makes exploring the city by bus somewhat difficult. Plan your day around the schedule rather than expecting to show up and go.
- Bikes on board: All KAT buses are equipped with flip-down bicycle racks, so you can combine cycling with transit.
- Vehicles: Many KAT buses are powered by biodiesel or other alternative fuels.
- Special services: KAT also operates special routes for some events and dedicated bus services for the University of Tennessee.
Trolleys
The Knoxville Trolley Lines are the most visitor-friendly piece of the transit network. The trolley runs several free downtown and University routes during business hours, plus a "Late Line" route on Friday and Saturday nights during the University of Tennessee fall and spring semesters. Most daytime stops are served on ten- to twenty-minute intervals — far more frequent than the regular bus service, and free, which makes the trolley an easy way to move between downtown attractions and the university area.
Buses Into Knoxville
For arrivals from outside the city, Greyhound provides national bus service from its location on East Magnolia Avenue. Megabus offers service from Washington, D.C., Christiansburg, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Nashville, with buses arriving and departing at the Knoxville Transit Center on Church Street East; fares can be as low as $1. Vonlane also runs a luxury coach service from Nashville. If you're coming into town by intercity bus, the Transit Center puts you within reach of the downtown core.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
The source material does not describe Knoxville's taxi or ride-hailing landscape in detail. In practice, downtown and the university area are the easiest places to find a ride, and a car is the default way to reach the outer parts of the city where bus service is infrequent and sidewalks are sometimes missing.
Walking and Biking
Walking is convenient downtown, but in other areas most major roads are not amenable to pedestrians or bicyclists. In the outer areas of the city, because bus service is infrequent and some places don't have sidewalks, traveling by car is the way to go. Parking is usually easy to come by in most of the city, though it can be mildly difficult at times downtown and around the University of Tennessee.
Knoxville is slowly building a paved greenway system that allows cyclists and pedestrians to travel into downtown from nearby suburbs such as Sequoyah Hills and Island Home. Several greenways are worth knowing about:
- Third Creek Greenway (Bearden Village): Begins at Bearden Elementary School on Kingston Pike and parallels Sutherland Avenue along Third Creek's wooded path. Where the trail ends at Neyland Drive, you can continue on the Neyland Greenway to reach Volunteer Landing, the stadium, and parts of the University of Tennessee campus. A spur of the Neyland Greenway connects to World's Fair Park near Neyland Stadium.
- Sequoyah Greenway: A gravel walking and running path in the median of Cherokee Boulevard in Sequoyah Hills. Cycling the broad boulevard roadway is a pleasant and reasonably safe ride; keep right and most automobiles will have room to pass. Sequoyah Hills Park and the Tennessee River parallel much of the boulevard's southern side, and the neighborhood is largely pedestrian friendly. Access is available at several parking areas along the boulevard and at the Laurel Church of Christ parking lot, using the crosswalk at Cherokee Boulevard and Kingston Pike. A spur of the Third Creek Greenway leads to the Laurel Church lot, but it is extremely steep and not in the best repair — bicyclists may need to dismount and small children will need lots of help.
- Jean Teague Greenway: Runs from West Hills Elementary School to West End Church of Christ and is ideal for walkers and families with young children. It passes through West Hills/John Bynon Park, where it divides into a loop winding around athletic fields and playgrounds, and crosses Winston Road near the YMCA. Parking is available at the elementary school when school is not in session, at the park entrance on Winston Road, and at West End Church of Christ on East Walker Springs Lane.
- Cavet Station Greenway: Follows Gallaher View Road from East Walker Springs Road to Middlebrook Pike. It is a less idyllic experience for a recreational biker, though nearby residents use it as a convenient jogging path. A sidewalk runs on the opposite side of Gallaher View, with a crosswalk at Walker Springs Road.
- Victor Ashe Park: A large, popular park in North Knoxville with a paved loop for walking or biking, an unpaved trail, and ample parking. It's also popular as a dog park, with fishing available, and sits adjacent to Badgett Field and Northwest Park.
Getting From the Airport Into the City
McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) is the main gateway to Knoxville, located a few miles south of downtown in nearby Blount County. It is served by American Eagle, Delta Air Lines, and United Express, with non-stop flights from a range of cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Memphis, Minneapolis, New York (LGA), Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Washington (DCA and IAD).
Because the airport sits outside the city in Blount County, the most straightforward way into downtown is by car — whether a rental, a taxi, or a ride-hailing pickup. If you're planning to rely on KAT buses during your stay, note that the bus network is focused on the City of Knoxville and parts of Knox County, so you'll want to arrange your airport transfer separately before you arrive.
Arriving by Car or Boat
If you're driving in, southbound Interstate 75 and westbound Interstate 40 converge in the middle of Knoxville via Interstate 275 and run concurrently through western Knoxville, splitting again at the western edge of Knox County. The Tennessee River also runs through Knoxville and is accessible by personal watercraft; many boaters navigate it for both pleasure and travel, and some arrive at Neyland Stadium by boat, avoiding the city's worst traffic and parking problems. The Holston and French Broad Rivers join just upstream of Knoxville to form the Tennessee, which is navigable all the way to the Gulf of Mexico thanks to TVA dams along the river and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.