A Visit to Helen, GA - An Old World Bavarian Village in North Georgia!
I recently visited the charming mountain town of Helen, Georgia to for a quick getaway trip. Situated in the north Georgia mountains, this quaint town looks somewhat out of place in the deep south with it’s distinctive Bavarian-Alpine architecture and German inspired restaurants and shops. It's fun to look at and it is perfect for a very unique trip with the area’s natural mountain beauty, the town’s European charm, and
plenty of options for eating German inspired food!
This village is about a 4.5 hour drive from my place, and thankfully involves no major interstate driving which delivers refreshing scenery and keeps out monotonous highway driving boredom. Helen was once a logging and mining town, with asbestos being one of the products being taken. With the decline in those industries facing the town in the late 60s, new mandated zoning laws created a “new” old world Bavarian-style village to enter into the tourism market. A Bavarian themed city in the southern United States was born!
My personal opinion on Helen, Georgia is it’s a great quick getaway for those that want to enjoy German food and culture or like being in the outdoors but don’t want the hustle and bustle of Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. On this trip (my second time here) we stayed at The Helendorf River Inn, Suites & Conference Center in a cozy river view room. It was literally a two minute walk and we were looking through stores and had wonderful restaurants to choose from! Two food highlights for my family were eating an amazing breakfast a Hofer’s, and tasty fried cheeses, schnitzels, and apple strudels at Mullers Famous Fried Cheese Café!
Breakfast at Hofer's!
Lunch at Muller Famous Fried Cheese Cafe
The town is very clean, including the outdoor public restrooms – which is a refreshing change from other places I’ve visited! The day and a half I was there I always saw police patrolling on foot and driving through town, so it felt like a very safe environment. We took an early morning trip outside of town to hike up to Anna Ruby Falls, which is a beautiful 153 foot waterfall accessible with a paved trail. Even though it is paved, there are some decent inclines walking up so keep that in mind if you have any walking issues!
After we left the falls we stopped at Fred’s Famous Peanuts on a whim. It’s a large roadside stand and honestly we didn’t expect
much… until the young man working there gave us a sample of the fried peanuts! I now wish I had bought more peanuts, as did the people we gave some to back home! I will be visiting Fred again!
Also just outside of Helen is Nora Mill Granary and Grist Mill. It’s always interesting to visit a REAL working mill on a river (or it is to me!) and there are plenty of ground products made there, as well as other snacks, jams, butters, and treats available. I picked up some Pumpkin and Apple butter here before going across the street to Nacoochie Village Antique Mall, which is a massive 7,000 square foot home built in 1873! While there I bought another RC Cola thermometer to add to my Royal Crown Cola collection.
Finally, back in Helen a stop at Betty’s Country Store is always a must. Betty’s is a fully stocked IGA grocery store fulfilling all of your grocery and snack needs while you there… but it is so much more. If you like antiques like I do, you will be in awe walking around checking out the collection of antiques, vintage signs, coolers, and old product displays throughout the old country store! And this is a great place to grab a snack and soda in an iced cold bottle, or chose from the massive collection of candies in their candy room. There is
also deli, bakery, and butcher services in the back. Betty’s Country Store is a must stop location for me!
One thing I would like to add to this review- and this is mostly directed to the people and those in charge of the town. I realize that no town wants empty store fronts, but PLEASE try to keep out the generic “souvenir shops” that sell THE EXACT SAME THING at each store, mostly all imported Chinese junk. I see that a few of them have popped up on this trip that I did not notice when I was there seven years ago. That kind of thing is what is killing (or killed) the uniqueness of places like Branson, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge. It makes the places look cheap. Put bluntly, it sucks going into store after store and seeing the same imported crap from China. Obviously, European imports are expected and welcome! Luckily, this isn’t widespread yet, and MOST of the stores we visited were very unique and memorable! But don’t fall into the trap that so many other tourist towns have! But don’t let a few “junk” stores stray you away from visiting Helen! There is still so much to see and do!
That pretty much covers the day and a half I spent there. It was a refreshing visit that was laid back and filled with good food. This is not the kind of place that you’d go spend several days at or even a week, as I feel like you would run out of things to do – but this a must stop to add to your road trip through the south or for a nice weekend mountain getaway!
More photos and video from the trip below!
