Experiencing Helen – the Bavarian Village in the Appalachian Mountains

We’ve been visiting Helen, GA for over a decade. From our home in Central Florida, the mountains of Northern Georgia is a day’s drive away and a popular destination for many of us that want to escape the tropical Florida weather.

All the town’s buildings have been accented with Bavarian facades to look as though it is nestled in the Alpine Mountains.

The main road goes right through the downtown area, so there is a bit of traffic, but there are lots of crosswalks and the traffic cruises slowly, as much for the pedestrians as for the horse-drawn carriages toting people around and stopping to share stories and history.

There are a variety of merchants selling everything from traditional German wares and mountain-inspired goods to touristy memorabilia–and everything in between–to commemorate your trip. I have ogled over Southern Comfort Quilts on the river on every visit, indecisively leaving empty-handed until this trip when I found a perfect throw sized quilt to come home with me.

Our boys have loved visiting Jolly’s Toys with each visit, always finding something worth negotiating with us for extra cash over. While they have many commercially made items, they often have some you don’t see often, and even some wooden toys custom made. Our son is into toys that he can build or assemble before playing with and he found the perfect rubber band gun on this trip.

If food or treats are on your list, you have a wide variety to choose from. While the Fest Halle is the best place for traditional German fare, in our opinion, it’s only open later in the day most days, so plan accordingly, or visit one of the other stops downtown. We sampled ice cream and coffees this trip.

We enjoyed a big lunch at Muller’s Famous Fried Cheese Cafe. A local recommended it when we he overheard us talking about finding gluten free options for me, and he was right. With many options to choose from, and prices are reasonable, portions large, service excellent! We enjoyed the covered patio outside, and it was dog friendly, so Luna could join us.

The lock bridge that was along the river downtown has been removed and an iron statue is in the center of town for locks to be added. But do still stroll along the river! In warmer weather, you’ll see people floating in tubes, and you can find one of the tubing companies to join them, if that is on your list.

The General Store at the far end of town offers quick grab items or grocery items if you are lodging nearby. You will pay for the convenience, but their selection of fresh meats and produce, as well as dry good is ample if you don’t want to lug it with you.

In June there is a Hot Air Balloon Festival weekend. Your sunrise and morning views will be dotted with them floating up and away. It is quite a sight to see if you’re staying in town, and we enjoyed a morning coffee on our porch watching them several years ago!

The entire town is dog friendly and only a few places they aren’t able to come in. It can be busy on the sidewalks afternoons and weekends, and it can get pretty warm on the sidewalks with not a lot of shade, so be mindful of that. There are water bowls at many establishments and pup cups are available for purchase at many of the coffee and sweet shops in town. There are a few grassy/park areas for them to cool off and take care of business, just be sure to pick up after them.

A downfall of the town for us with my asthma is that Georgia still allows smoking in many public places, so we had to walk through some clouds of smoke and avoid the outdoor Biergarten in town. Luckily it wasn’t a busy time, so it wasn’t bad, but we have been there during peak times and it was a struggle.

On previous trips, we stayed in hotels or an AirBnB right in town, spending several days exploring, and even experiencing their annual Oktoberfest celebrations on one visit, and spending time hiking the mountains and seeing waterfalls in the surrounding areas. In Autumn, you’ll find corn mazes and festivals, as well. Each season offers something new, which is probably why we return so often!

Since there aren’t any RV areas nearby, we just made a day trip from the Carolina Landings Thousand Trails campground we were staying in (that blog linked here), so it was only about an hour away. If you are staying in town, parking is included at the hotels, however, if you drive into town, parking fees will apply. We found most of them were $10 for the day, until midnight.

Last year we visited Washington State and enjoyed the West Coast Bavarian village of Leavenworth. It is similar in it’s facades and offerings and it was neat to experience both. After this return trip to Helen, it is hard to say which is better than the other since there are many differences between them. Check out our blog on Leavenworth, Washington, and see if it is worth adding to your list of places to visit and compare for yourself!

If you are interested in visiting, I highly recommend checking out the visitor’s bureau website HelenGA.ORG (linked here) since they have great tools to research lodging and activities, as well as an events calendar to plan your trip at the perfect time of year for you (if Oktoberfest is on your list, check out their September calendar so you don’t miss the parade and big celebration)! You can also find their live webcam and see the city yourself!

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