🌿 RelaxedLong weekend · from Chattanooga, TN
Helen — A Bavarian Village, Mountain Waterfalls & the Russell Scenic Highway
Two and a half hours southeast of Chattanooga, tucked into a bend of the Chattahoochee River in the North Georgia mountains, Helen is a full-blown re-creation of a Bavarian alpine village — cobblestoned, gingerbread-trimmed, and improbably charming, drawing millions of visitors to its river tubing, biergartens, and mountain setting. This unhurried three-day weekend uses Helen as a base for the surrounding southern Blue Ridge. Day one settles into the village itself and drifts down the Chattahoochee on an inner tube. Day two explores nearby Unicoi State Park, the double cascade of Anna Ruby Falls, and the arts-and-history community of Sautee Nacoochee. Day three climbs the Richard Russell Scenic Highway to the edge of Brasstown Bald — Georgia's highest point — before the drive home. Alpine kitsch, mountain water, and high scenic roads, all at a restful pace.
Day 1 — The Bavarian village of Helen & Chattahoochee River tubingDay 2 — Unicoi State Park, Anna Ruby Falls & Sautee NacoocheeDay 3 — The Richard Russell Scenic Highway & Brasstown Bald
Day 1 — Helen, GA
Day 1 — Helen, GA
🚗 2 hr 30 min driving📍 4 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Chattanooga, TN → Helen, GA
2 hr 30 min8:00 AM → 10:30 AM
Downtown Helen — Alpine Village
A struggling logging town reinvented in 1969 as a Bavarian alpine village, Helen is now Georgia's improbable little slice of the Alps — cobblestone lanes, timber-framed and gingerbread-trimmed facades, biergartens, and shops full of nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks, and imported chocolate, all wrapped in the wooded mountains of the southern Blue Ridge. Spend the morning wandering the compact village on foot: browse the shops, cross the little bridges over the Chattahoochee, and soak up the cheerful kitsch. It's a delightfully odd, wholly walkable base for the weekend. The village runs on Oktoberfest energy in the fall, but is a pleasant stroll in any season.
10:30 AM📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
🍽️ Lunch11:30 AM
Old Bavaria Inn Restaurant, Helen
For lunch in Helen, lean into the theme: the Old Bavaria Inn serves schnitzel, bratwurst, sauerbraten, and German beer on tap in a riverside biergarten and timbered dining room overlooking the Chattahoochee. Live oompah music and long communal tables complete the alpine effect. It's a fun, relaxed first meal that sets the tone for the weekend, with a deck right over the water for a warm-weather lunch.
2 options · tap to switch
☀️
Afternoon
Chattahoochee River Tubing
★ 4.3Floating the Chattahoochee on an inner tube is Helen's signature summer ritual, and the most relaxed way to spend a warm afternoon. Local outfitters in the village rent tubes and run a shuttle upriver; you drift back down through and past town on the gentle current, dangling your feet in the cool mountain water for an hour or two of doing absolutely nothing. The river runs shallow and slow through the village stretch, making it easy and unhurried — the very definition of a lazy river. Tubing typically runs from late spring through early fall; bring water shoes and something to keep valuables dry.
12:30 PM📍 See location
🌙
Evening
🛏️
Riverside Lodging in Helen
Book a room or cabin along the Chattahoochee in Helen so the river's murmur is the soundtrack to both nights. The village and its edges are lined with alpine-themed inns and hotels — many with balconies over the water — plus a scattering of mountain cabins in the surrounding hills for more seclusion. A riverside room puts the shops, biergartens, and tubing put-in within an easy walk. Reserve well ahead for Oktoberfest weekends, when the whole village books out.
Day 2 — Unicoi State Park & Sautee Nacoochee, GA
Day 2 — Unicoi State Park & Sautee Nacoochee, GA
🚗 10 min driving📍 5 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Helen, GA → Anna Ruby Falls / Unicoi State Park, GA
10 min8:00 AM → 8:10 AM
Anna Ruby Falls
★ 4.8Just north of Helen, Anna Ruby Falls is a rare double waterfall, where Curtis Creek and York Creek plunge side by side — 153 and 50 feet respectively — before joining to form Smith Creek. A paved, gently graded trail of about half a mile follows the tumbling water uphill to a viewing platform at the base of the twin falls, an easy and rewarding morning walk suitable for most abilities. The surrounding hemlock-and-hardwood forest is cool and shaded, the creek loud and clear alongside the path. A small visitor center and gift shop sit at the trailhead. It's a gentle, scenic start to the middle day.
8:10 AM📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Unicoi State Park Lodge Restaurant
★ 4.4The dining room at the Unicoi State Park Lodge serves seasonal Southern buffets and plates in a handsome timber-and-glass hall overlooking the park's forested hills and lake. It's a relaxed, scenic spot for a mid-day meal between the falls and the afternoon in Sautee Nacoochee, with big windows framing the woods and an unhurried, lodge-country atmosphere. A convenient and pleasant choice tucked right inside the state park.
9:10 AM📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
Unicoi State Park Lake & Trails
★ 4.4Spread across more than a thousand wooded acres just outside Helen, Unicoi State Park centers on a 53-acre lake with a swimming beach, kayak and paddleboard rentals, and easy shoreline trails. It's an unhurried afternoon of choices — a lakeside walk, a paddle on the calm water, or simply a chair on the beach with the mountains rising behind. Miles of gentle forest trails thread the park for those who want to stretch their legs. The relaxed, low-key state-park setting is a welcome change of pace from the village bustle.
12:00 PM📍 See location
Sautee Nacoochee
A few minutes south of Helen, the twin valleys of Sautee and Nacoochee are the quiet, cultured antidote to the alpine village — a scattering of art galleries, the Sautee Nacoochee Center (a community arts and history hub in an old schoolhouse), craft studios, and the photogenic Nacoochee Indian Mound with its little white gazebo in a green meadow. The Habersham Winery tasting room and old country stores round out an unhurried afternoon of wandering. It's a genuinely lovely, low-key corner of these mountains, and a fine place to slow down before dinner back in Helen.
1:00 PM📍 See location
🌙
Evening
🛏️
Second Night in Helen
Return to your riverside base in Helen for a second night — the village's restaurants, biergartens, and ice-cream shops are all within an easy evening stroll. Staying put both nights keeps the pace relaxed and the logistics simple, with the Chattahoochee running past below your balcony. If you'd prefer a quieter second night, the cabins and the lodge at nearby Unicoi State Park are a wooded alternative just minutes away.
Day 3 — Russell Scenic Highway & Brasstown Bald, GA
Day 3 — Russell Scenic Highway & Brasstown Bald, GA
🚗 2 hr 50 min driving📍 3 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Helen, GA → Richard Russell Scenic Highway (GA 348)
20 min8:00 AM → 8:20 AM
Richard Russell Scenic Highway
The Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway (GA 348) is one of the great mountain drives of North Georgia — a serpentine ribbon of roughly 14 miles climbing out of the valleys above Helen through the Chattahoochee National Forest, crossing the Appalachian Trail at Hogpen Gap. Pull-offs and overlooks along the way frame long views over ridge after ridge of the southern Blue Ridge, spectacular in fall color and misty and green the rest of the year. Take it slowly, stop often, and let the switchbacks and vistas set the pace of the last morning. It's a drive to savor rather than hurry.
8:20 AM📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Brasstown Bald Summit
★ 4.8At 4,784 feet, Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia, and on a clear day its summit observation deck offers a breathtaking 360-degree panorama reaching into four states — the whole crumpled sea of the southern Appalachians laid out below. From the parking area a steep paved half-mile path (or a seasonal shuttle) climbs to the mountaintop visitor center and tower. The air is markedly cooler at the top, and the interpretive exhibits explain the ecology and long human history of these mountains. It's the scenic high point of the whole trip — a fitting final summit before turning back toward Chattanooga.
9:20 AM📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
🍽️ Lunch12:00 PM
Bigg Daddy's Restaurant, Helen
Back down the mountain, Bigg Daddy's is a relaxed Helen spot for a late lunch before the drive home — a broad menu of American and Southern favorites, seafood, and steaks in a comfortable dining room near the village. It's an easy, generous final meal that lets the afternoon settle before pointing the car north. A dependable, unhurried close to the weekend.
2 options · tap to switch
🌙
Evening
🚗
Drive
Helen, GA → Chattanooga, TN
2 hr 30 min5:00 PM → 7:30 PM
Plan your own escapeExplore more trips →