Knoxville

Knoxville needs 1 day: going up the Sunsphere, the 81-meter golden tower built for the 1982 World's Fair, with views of the University of Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains in the distance, and touring Market Square, the historic plaza with markets and live music, the same afternoon. April-June and September-October bring the mildest weather. It's inexpensive, among the cheapest cities in the US Southeast. It was Tennessee's capital between 1796 and 1812, and its Sunsphere -one of the few visible remnants left from a World's Fair in the US- became a cult symbol after appearing, barely recognizable, in an episode of The Simpsons.