Aquarium Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden

Positive experience: Let’s just say… if you’ve ever been to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, then visiting the Chattanooga Aquarium feels a little like going from a five-star cruise to a paddleboat in a pond. Don’t get me wrong—the building is nice, the staff is friendly, and they do have a couple cool exhibits. But after all the hype, I expected more. You walk in thinking you’re about to witness an epic undersea adventure… and instead, it feels like someone’s very expensive fish tank collection. They split it into two buildings (saltwater and freshwater), which sounds cool until you realize that means twice the walking and half the wow. A lot of empty space, a few turtles pretending to care, and one very suspicious-looking catfish giving side-eye like he knew I was underwhelmed. It’s not terrible. It’s just not $40-per-ticket level awesome either. If you’ve got young kids or just need to kill a couple hours indoors, it works. But if you’re coming expecting “Finding Nemo: Live,” you might end up just finding your way to the gift shop early. Worth a visit once—but if you’ve seen Atlanta’s aquarium, keep your expectations swimming somewhere in the shallow end.

Fantastic experience: There are so many butterflies there! The coolest part is you get to walk among them. You can try to reach out your hand to see if they will land on it, but I've never had any luck with that. They also have a window you can look through to see them in their cocoons during the hatching process. Highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful museum and butterfly garden. So many species to see, several interactive opportunities, and water areas outside for kids to play in and cool off.

Fantastic experience: We had a great time at the aquarium. It's set up nicely and everything was perfect. We got a ton of pretty photos and one of my favorite parts is the butterfly garden. I have little ones and they had plenty to keep them excited

Fantastic experience: Nice aquarium, i enjoyed the butterfly room as well.

Fantastic experience: Great place. Everything very interesting. Butterflies were wonderful. Lots flying around and many landed so that you could take pictures. Wonderful exhibition of the fish, turtles, alligators, etc. excellent narratives discussing the exhibits. Very clean. One of the best aquariums I’ve been to.

Fantastic experience: We were hesitant because of the price, however we thought it was well worth it!! We were in there over 2 hours and both buildings are very well designed. Also we were able to park across the street for free, which was a nice surprise! Educational and really neat exhibits. My favorite part was getting to pet the string rays and sturgeons. There is also a neat butterfly garden. Perfect for a rainy day!

Fantastic experience: Absolutely beautiful aquarium. We enjoyed all the different aquatic life and the butterfly garden was amazing

Fantastic experience: Enjoyed seeing the butterflies land on my hand or hair. It was fun for everyone.

Fantastic experience: We traveled from Nashville to see the aquarium. It is truly amazing. It has fresh and salt water and many varieties of fish. However, the area is not very pretty and there are few restaurants. It felt like an abandoned city, but maybe it was because of the season!

Fantastic experience: Really good, a little rich for my blood though

Fantastic experience: Great visit to aquarium! Several lots nearby for parking, but pricing varies by lot, so you may want to look into prices. Spent three hours walking around and exploring inside and there is plenty to do outside with bridges, walking areas, and water features. Areas for kids to pet sturgeons and another to pet various types of rays. Walkways and doorways for wheelchairs/ strollers. If buying tickets in person, you must go to the building with the blue awning, and not the actual aquarium buildings. They offer discounts for military, teachers, I think emergency responders, and some other zoo/ aquarium memberships (not ours though).

Fantastic experience: My grandchildren enjoyed the many exhibits.

Fantastic experience: Wonderful collection of exhibits and a perfect place to introduce kids to the beauty of aquatic and marine life

Fantastic experience: Two buildings with splash pad area in the middle for kids to swim and waterfall stairs around the corner. Located so close to food etc. very well thought out, beautiful and family friendly. Will be returning!

Fantastic experience: The Tennessee Aquarium stands out as my favorite aquarium experience to date. Its thoughtful layout divides the aquatic wonders into distinct journeys: the Ocean Journey for saltwater fish and the River Journey for freshwater species. Highlights include encountering river giants, mesmerizing jellyfish, and the majestic giant sea turtle. The facility is impeccably clean and designed for easy navigation, ensuring an enjoyable visit. Plan to spend about an hour exploring each journey, making it a perfect day of underwater exploration.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful! My favorite was the octopus, which was very active during my visit. Allow time to visit the center of town and the pedestrian bridge across the Tennessee River. Chattanooga is architecturally stunning.

Fantastic experience: Highly recommend this Aquarium! For those that don’t know, there are two sides. The fresh water- which is a lot larger, and then the salt water. We went with friends and all of us have kids under 4 (which are FREE!) and had a blast! They have a touch tank section on either side as well which is so cool! The staff was all really nice and we ended up getting a membership and the lady who helped us went to school at TTU in my hometown. She was so kind & got us even more excited to experience the Aquarium with our son & friends. The bathrooms were actually very clean and the whole area as a whole was which is great to see with all the kiddos. Warning- if you have littles and have a stroller they have 1 elevator so the line can get long & they have spiny doors and separate doors for stroller/handicap. That is my one negative is I wish they had thought more about young families as the majority of people there had strollers/young kids Overall great experience & highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: An incredible experience, I was amazed by the size and variety of things to see. Well worth a look on your trip to Chattanooga, if I lived there I would go often. Warning, you may fill up your phone with too many photos! I'll only post a few, I could crash someone's computer otherwise ten stars!

Fantastic experience: Great aquarium, the petting tanks with Sturgeon, sharks, and rays is such fun. The aquarium is accessible and laid out is such a natural way. You just follow the path. It can be crowded so plan ahead.

Fantastic experience: Different!!! Never saw a aquarium vertical! Worth the time.

Fantastic experience: Loved it, can go at your own pace and many things to see

Fantastic experience: Absolutely Beautiful, big, very educational with all the information and names of fish and animals.

Fantastic experience: The saltwater building is good and my son loved the butterfly room. The freshwater building is a little repetitive.

Fantastic experience: This aquarium is an absolute must for anyone to enjoy. Whether it’s for the kids, a school field trip, or even a casual Saturday afternoon date. You can rest assure knowing that your time, and money will be well invested. It is located in one the most popular tourist attractions in beautiful downtown Chattanooga, TN. So if you’re ever looking to treat your family to a Finding Nemo experience, this is the place to go. Prices were fair, it gets very busy!! So do not get flustered about the line because they move very quickly and the staff is very friendly.

Positive experience: Kids loved it...had a wonderful time in the city

Fantastic experience: Amazing aquarium!! The habitats are great; they clearly take great care of all the creatures. The staff are also very friendly and helpful. The highlight of my entire vacation was when I got to pet my favorite freshwater fish (sturgeons) here.

Fantastic experience: Cool place way better than the Atlanta one

Fantastic experience: This is a trip you don't want to miss. The place is superbly maintained and pleasant to explore and experience .

Fantastic experience: Who says there's no SHARKS or ALLIGATOR in Tennessee??

Fantastic experience: Went here for Grandparents Day with the granddaughters. All of us really enjoyed this wonderful interactive attraction. The Aquarium is divided into two large buildings and a trip to the IMAX theater across the street, all included in the single ticket. Prepare to get your steps in! I highly recommend this to anyone who visits Chattanooga.

Fantastic experience: The Tennessee aquarium was definitely a beautiful experience and well kept

Fantastic experience: Great place to visit once or if you love butterflies. They were very active. The rest of the aquarium is well built with plenty of viewing areas. First time visiting, and noticed how wide the walking path is. Plenty for curious and educational types. A family member has an annual pass, so I got in for free as the plus 1.

Fantastic experience: One of best aquariums have ever been to it. The layout is fabulous to view the exhibits.

Fantastic experience: Such a beautiful space to wander throughout the day.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful aquarium well well worth the money spent

Fantastic experience: Great experience for the price. 2 aquariums for the price of one. Wonderful way to spend a few hours indoors.

Fantastic experience: Great experience for my family and I! Great views and information about the different species.

Fantastic experience: Chattanooga has a wonderful fresh water and salt water aquariums. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon. If you have a chance, do the behind the scenes tour. It's week worth the price.

Fantastic experience: Was better then the Denver aquarium, lots of exhibits and really cool otters!

Fantastic experience: Nice place and great variety of ocean and fresh water fish, creatures

Fantastic experience: Take your time, don’t move with the crowd, move at your own pace. It can be as quick as 2 hours or as long as the whole day if you take time to read and enjoy it!

Positive experience: I really enjoyed my visit. I especially enjoyed the Stingray and Butterfly exhibits. Seahorses and jellyfish.

Positive experience: It was nice. Was excited about the butterfly exhibit but there weren't many butterflies. Admission is overpriced for sure. Kids enjoyed tho.

Fantastic experience: Great exhibition both fresh water and ocean. Alot to see and enjoy. We will go back it's good for the old or young.

Fantastic experience: One of my favorite places to take friends and family whenever time permits! With two buildings, there's plenty to see, and I could easily spend an entire day in the aquarium!

Fantastic experience: This was an awesome experience. There was so much to see at every turn of a corner. Will definitely be back to visit

Fantastic experience: I love butterflies. They shoved me in a room with 3,000 of them. Made my day.

Positive experience: Alright, nothing against the place. I enjoyed the layout but man! These parents need to get control of their entitled kids. Yes, I said it! No respect for the props or fishes they were petting. There were kids splashing the water were the fish were allowed to pet and there was another one swinging at the butterflies inside the exhibit room. I can tell the worker lost energy on correcting them but for the parents to just stand there let it happen…?! Yeah, I gave them a mad look and was about to say something. It was only until they saw me dog them down did they grab their kid. But cmon!! Respect the animals and their environment! B***ng aside, I loved the layout and the connection some of the works made with you upon asking questions.

Fantastic experience: I have always loved this place and it was just as wonderful with my kids. Buy tickets in advance. They sell a limited amount per day and can sell out. We discovered this while trying to go on the weekend. Plan on a minimum of 4 hours. The aquarium is two large building with multiple floors. Stroller and wheelchair friendly. Bathrooms are large and clean and easy for children to use. There is a gift shop in both buildings and each is a little different but basically the same. They have picnic tables and shade around the buildings so families or groups can plan a lunch between the two buildings. This can help with smaller children and letting them run a little more. There are a lot of interactive displays and room for kids to be kids (within reason). All around the outside are water areas for people to walk through to cool off or let kids swim/splash. This can be done independent of the aquarium and is free but a really nice feature of you are planning a full day out or paying for all day parking. The membership pass is absolutely worth it and can be really nice even if you are out of town. It covers two adults and five children.

Fantastic experience: Had an amazing time. So many different exhibits to see. All the fish aquariums were beautiful. Great place to spend a couple hours for young and old alike. Only takes a couple hours to see both buildings. Think it's a must visit.

Fantastic experience: Great place for the kids and adults

Fantastic experience: One of the cooler aquariums I've been too! Learned a lot about the local waterways and diversity. Definitely make a stop while you're in Chattanooga.

Fantastic experience: One of the best time we had.

Fantastic experience: Just loved all the different butterflies! So many and so pretty!

Fantastic experience: Great place to bring young and young of heart aged kids. They have penguins, stingray petting tank and butterfly enclosure where butterflies roam freely. Followed by tanks cleverly disguised in displays to educate one about the inhabitants. This is one of three buildings that serve as the Tennessee Aquarium.

Fantastic experience: Really enjoyed the aquarium. Both were set up specially with room for all. Plenty to see. Penqiuns were so cute. We took pictures and it took a good two hours to get through. It has elevators as 3 stories, which makes it accessible for all. Employers extremely nice.i

Fantastic experience: I love learning new things, and this place has a lot to learn.

Fantastic experience: Really learning about how to save the planet and taking care if the environment. The aquarium is an excellent place to learn

Fantastic experience: Wonderful place to go for a day of family fun! Lots of amazing animals and sea creatures. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Bathrooms were clean,and it was verrrrry busy the day we went ,so I was definitely impressed. We were allowed to bring our stroller and water bottles in, and there was a food truck outside, plus plenty of restaurants within walking distance. We were able to visit one building, leave ,eat, then come back and finish the other building. All in all, for both buildings and we skipped IMax, it took almost 3 hours ,but we started rushing during the end. I would suggest planning at least 4 hours for the full experience parking was a challenge, but we found a paid parking garage about 3 blocks away for nine bucks. The aquarium was worth every cent, and we plan on coming back again.

Positive experience: A bit disappointed in the butterfly room. Since there was only 2 flying around.

Fantastic experience: Part of the TN Aquarium, one of the best and second to none.

Fantastic experience: Extra large, multiple floors to view, expensive, but if you're going for a one day visit especially for a family event or date night, very great location. I'll be visiting it again when we have enough money to walk around and experience it again

Fantastic experience: Love this place, always a great experience

Fantastic experience: Always have a great time here. Must go for families.

Negative experience: Creepy descriptions on website and posted around the place.

Fantastic experience: 10/10 would recommend This place is super awesome and a good experience! Deffly worth the money. Only thing that could make it better would be the IMax movies be fish related like shark taleS, Nemo, happy feet.

Fantastic experience: Very nice aquarium, butterflies were up close and personal.

Fantastic experience: Really nice place to go with your family!! Staff is very friendly, I'll have to come back here

Positive experience: Everything was awesome but the guy taking pics. What is the purpose if he's not going to look b4 he snaps the pic & you have 3 kids. No purpose to snapping b4 everyone is posed for the pic.

Fantastic experience: My whole family loves this aquarium!! We love having a membership here so that we can visit whenever! There are so many animals to see here! And behind the scenes experiences that allow you to get closer to the animals. Employees/volunteers are always eager to help or answer your questions!

Fantastic experience: Great place to take the kids!

Fantastic experience: We love this aquarium. We have gone to several major aquariums and this is one of our favorites. We love the fresh and salt water side separation. The information signs are great. We got a membership and it is worth every penny. We have gonna a few times this year and the kids are always excited to go again.

Positive experience: The aquarium was fun but it was a little lackluster for how big and expensive it is. A bunch of exhibits were closed and it just felt like it was missing that wow factor. I would like to go back and see it at 100% whenever we come back in town.

Fantastic experience: It's always good to come and visit these places

Fantastic experience: Both buildings were so incredible and the dude at the stingray bay was so helpful and friendly

Fantastic experience: What a beautiful aquarium, we had the whole place to ourselves because it's off season!

Fantastic experience: Loved the butterfly exhibit

Fantastic experience: The Aquarium is a great place to bring the family to enjoy all the cool creatures they have in confinement for public viewing pleasure.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful plants, not quite as much variety as in the past, still enjoyable and nice.

Fantastic experience: What an amazing facility! This has to be one of the best aquariums in the world.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful butterflies and very nice habitat. Even managed to coax a butterfly onto my granddaughters hand.

Fantastic experience: The butterfly garden is my favorite!! Add otters and penguins...too much cuteness!

Fantastic experience: Butterflies are such beautiful insects! And the flowers in here were perfect for the Butterflies.

Fantastic experience: Really nice place, well maintained and the staff were all very polite and friendly

Positive experience: I was hoping for more butterfly variety. Don't get me wrong the ones that are there are just breath taking.

Fantastic experience: Had a great day here with all the family. I've been to some of the best in the UK but none come close to this wonder.

Fantastic experience: This is most truly a beautiful place. I highly recommend a visit here along with the other building in the tour. Was worth the wonderful experience, so many creatures that I have never ever seen, and I am in my mid 60's.