Best Shopping Malls in Tennessee: Great Shops, Good Restaurants and Lots of Mall Events, Too

One of my favorite US states is Tennessee. There are so many wonderful places to visit and so many great things to see. Shopping is also fabulous in Tennessee, and the state has some of the best shopping malls in the country. The last time I was in Tennessee, I visited quite a few of the states best shopping malls, but these were my favorites.

100 Oaks Mall, Nashville, Tennessee - 100 Oaks Mall in Nashville is just three miles south of the downtown area, so it's very easy to get to. It was a great mall before but, apparently, they've also been doing a $90 million face lift. New medical offices have been added, as well as two large new restaurant areas, and a focus has been paid to attracting smaller shops to the mall so there's even more variety. 100 Oaks Mall is a great shopping mall for shopping at stores such as Michael's, Dress Barn, Ross Dress for Less, and TJ Maxx. And, as the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre has now taken over the upper floor, it's even a fabulous place to shop for people getting medical treatment as Vanderbilt is issuing patients with beepers so they can shop while they wait to see their doctors.

Columbia Mall, Columbia, Tennessee - In the middle of Tennessee lies the city of Columbia. One of its main attractions is the Columbia Mall, which features anchor stores like JC Penney, Sears and Bath and Body Works, as well as Payless Shoes, Footlocker, GNC, Zales and a ton of other stores. Columbia Mall isn't a particularly large mall but, what it lacks in size, it makes up for in events. They often have mall events such as book fairs, Red Cross blood drives, craft fairs and more. It's a friendly mall with some nice shops and great restaurants and it's pretty easy to find.

Hamilton Place Mall, Chattanooga, Tennessee - Hamilton Place Mall is huge. In fact, it's one of the largest in Tennessee. Anchor shops include JC Penney, Dillard's, Belks, and Sears, as well as Ann Taylor, The Children's Place, The Limited, Gap Kids, Abercrombie & Fitch, Talbots and tons more. There are also more than 30 places to eat from pizza and hamburgers to salads and Chinese food - pretty much something for everyone and at typically low mall prices.

Old Hickory Mall, Jackson, Tennessee - Old Hickory Mall isn't large but it does have a nice variety of shops. With around 75 stores, plus a bunch of eateries and snack places, Old Hickory Mall has Bath and Body Works, Belks, JC Penney, Footlocker, Victoria's Secret and Sears Optical, just to mention a few. There are also two of my favorite eateries, Subway and Cinnabon, which makes it a great place to visit for those two features alone. Cinnabon also has Seattle's Best Coffee, which still remains one of my all time favorite coffees.

Greenwich Village Mall, Oak Ridge, Tennessee - I especially liked Greenwich Village Mall in Oak Ridge because of the building its in. It's in a World War II Manhattan Project building, as Oak Ridge, Tennessee was a town built during the Second World War to be part of the Manhattan Project to build America's first nuclear bomb. Greenwich Village Mall isn't huge, but it has character. It's built next to the historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge too, so there are also plenty of art festivals, gardens, a playhouse, and awesome restaurants to visit too. Greenwich Village Mall itself also houses artists' studios as well as specialty shops and art galleries. Oak Ridge itself is also interesting to visit because of its history and pretty location.

These are just a few of the many excellent malls in Tennessee. Most of them are not enormous, but what I like about them is they have a Tennessee down-home 'feel' to them that's definitely welcoming to someone who is used to the hustle and bustle of international cities.