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Half-timbered houses, beers as big as my head, I must be in Germany. Well, don't think that, fellow travelers. Today we're here in Helen, Helen, Georgia, not Helen, Germany. And today we have for you are the don'ts of visiting Helen. And this is one of those cities that has gone all in on turning itself into a Bavarian village cuz this town, the logging industry was huge here and it kind of died away here in the North Georgia mountains and they went all in on tourism in the early '70s, late '60s, early '70s to make this town the most Bavarian village you can imagine. And I want to tell you, don't miss out on walking down Main Street and taking in all the over-the-top, you know, German
half-timbered houses, all the stuff cuz it is really beautiful. You're like, "Oh, this is really cute." Like if you go to Oberammergau in Germany, it has that vibe where the buildings are painted on the outside and all kinds of really cool stuff. I mean, it's just a fun place to be and it's a very popular place to be. So, when you're enjoying those, you know, half-timbered houses and things, I want to tell you this, um, don't forget about the festivals when they have them here. It does book out. So, I want to tell you this. One, don't forget Oktoberfest here. It's not just like a couple weeks. It's like a whole month or a bit more of Oktoberfest festivities here in Helen and you can have a great time when
you're here. At Christmas time, with the Christmas markets, oh my goodness, they put up they have this whole Christmas vibe. So, if you can't get to Germany to the markets, you can come here and enjoy and it's wonderful. But what I want to tell you is this is we're about 2 hours from Atlanta. This is a very, very popular place for people to come on the weekends well, in the summertime because you have the hikes in the mountains which I'll talk about later. You've got the river you can go rafting in, I mean, or a tubing in. You have all kinds of stuff. But I want to tell you, don't forget to book early your accommodation when you are looking at, you know, coming here during Oktoberfest, the Christmas markets, or in the summertime on the weekends. Now, you're like,
"Mark, what are you talking about? Look, there's nobody at the beer garden." I'm filming this like at 7:00 in the morning, okay? That's why there's nobody here because this place can get very popular. So, I want you to know that. So, it doesn't matter if you're coming here for the wine, or if you're coming here for the beer, or the architecture, or the river, or whatever. Another thing to think about is accommodation. And don't worry, there's plenty of accommodation when you come here. But, I want to tell you, if you're looking for chain hotels, don't think they're going to be right in the center. They're going to be a little bit farther up Main Street, kind of far away from things.
So, you have to walk a little bit farther if you want to go and enjoy a drink at King Ludwig's Beer Garden and things like that. So, if you're looking for places to stay and you want to be kind of right down where the action is when you're here, look at some of the local hotels, motels, the inns that are here. I mean, we're at the Helendorf Inn, and it's a nice place to be. A lot of our motels set up with the doors on the outside. But, a lot of them that are on the river have a great view of the river. You can take that in, which is really pretty. So, you do have that option. Also, there's a lot of cabins you can rent when you're here, too. Whether you're going with VRBO or one of those other agencies, there are a lot of them here
that you can do. So, you can have a good time, and there's a lot of accommodation options. So, don't think you're just stuck at some kind of chain. Oh, no, no. You can have local places, as well. But, also, I want to tell you this, don't forget to come and have some beers when you come here. Because the restaurants Look, you're going to have all kinds of German fare to try, but also German beers and local beers, as well. You can try from here in the US. I mean, you come here, who wouldn't love a Sasquatch with a beer?
It's like drinking with me, except I have no hair here. So, you know, it's very similar. Now, if you come here to King Ludwig's Beer Garden, one thing I want to tell you is don't think you're going to get the big old glass masses, you know, the big beer steins like you get in Germany. You're going to get plastic ones. And remember, don't take your beer out, you'll get in trouble. But, beer still tastes good, even if it is in a plastic mug. But, I want to tell you this, don't miss out on coming here to King Ludwig's Beer Garden. Right on Main Street, you're outside. You can enjoy it. And this is one of those places, this is where I really like coming to Helen because I want to tell you this, don't think you
won't meet other tourists when you're here. Because so many people come here, and they have a lot of activities where you interact with other tourists. Like, if you're tubing or rafting, you know, down the river, you're going to bump into other travelers, too. So, you get to make friends here. And also, the communal beer garden kind of things, you're sitting together having a good time with other tourists, which is cool cuz your kids can play with other kids. You can meet other people. So, it's really, really nice. But, I will tell you, when you come to the beer garden, don't forget you can't take your alcohol outside of there. So, don't think this is like New Orleans or Savannah where you can walk around with open liquor.
No, no, no. You got to stay in the beer garden for that, okay? Got some good German beer here. Cheers. It's not Sam Adams, it's King Ludwig. And if you're worried your kids might get bored while you have a tipple or two, well, look. They can practice their chess as well, all right? So, now let's show you some more of this beautiful town because honestly, come on, look at this architecture. Isn't this just like cutest can be? You're just going to have a great time when you're here. So, let's show you some more.
Don't doubt you will have plenty of opportunities to have pretzels when you are here because of all the German restaurants, the bars, stuff like this, this is the de facto kind of beer snack thing you're having so many places. So, don't worry. Plenty of chance to have pretzels when you're here. Oh, look. I can get pretzels here, too, at the beer garden. Honestly, you'll see more German flags flying here than you do a lot of places in Germany. One of the fun things I want to remind you, don't forget to see who has live music when you're here. Because having the oompa bands, the music and everything when you go to the beer halls, when you go to the restaurants, when you're going around town, can make
for a fun evening. And after a couple beers, it's like, wait, I know this song. I want to sing along. So, it is kind of a fun thing. But, they're not every single night, so it's good to check out what night they're going to be there. So, just ask and they'll help you out. Also, if we're going to talk about food, don't forget you're going to have a lot of great German food when you are here. Like, here at the Heidelberg, you can eat very, very well. And I want to tell you, they do a good job here. There's actually it's legit German food. This isn't like half done German food. It's like legit when you're looking at Schweinshaxe, you know, the big like ham hock kind of stuff, you know, the pork
shoulder kind of stuff. Those things, the schnitzels, all kinds of stuff. You can eat very, very well. It can be a little heavy. And for some people it can be a bit much. So, don't think it's just German food. There are other options here. But when it comes to eating, one thing I want to tell you is don't wait to eat. Most of the restaurants here are closing like at 9:00 at night. And if you're thinking, "Oh, I'll just do Uber Eats to bring something. I'll order Domino's to the hotel." Don't think there's late night eating when you are here cuz you will be out of luck. And Domino's, honestly, doesn't even deliver here. You like you have to go to the end of the town to the gas station and meet
them there to pick it up. So, one of those things you might want to know about late night eating. Now, what's cool is a lot of the hotels here will have little kitchenettes or they'll have fridges. I would recommend in bringing snacks for you so you have things. Or with a portion size they give you here, get the doggie bag so you have something to snack on later. Cuz if you've been out all day enjoying the Chattahoochee, you know, river and you're going around and having a good time, and then you're here at the beer garden, you're going to have quite the hunger. And if you're back your hotel and you can't get any food, it's not going to be a good thing. So, just be aware of that. See, proof
that it's not just German food when you come here. So, for those of you that don't like German food, I eat my wife, you have options when you are here. Don't think it's just German food. Oh, look, another German flag. And to stress that it's not just German food here, I do want to tell you, don't forget to go to Dottie's and have breakfast when you are here cuz their cat head biscuits are phenomenal. Like, if you have egg and cheese and bacon and all that kind of gravy and anything like it's really nice and it's right here off of Main Street if you're coming into town or out of town, so you can hit this up. Opens up
at 8:00. So, if you've got a flight back in Atlanta like we do, we're finishing off with a fantastic breakfast here at Dottie's. But, yeah, I mean, that's the thing is when you come to Helen, you think it's just going to be the German food again and again, and there are other options out there. But for me, my favorite is the breakfast here at Dottie's, all right? But if you come here, why wouldn't you just eat German food? I don't know. Now, if you're going to be enjoying some of those tasty subs when you're here, you might need to take a tinkle, you know, to go to the bathroom when you are here. One thing I do like, they know they have a lot of tourists that come here, and a lot of those tourists need to use the
restroom. So, you know, one, don't don't pee in public, obviously. That's You don't have to do that. But don't forget they actually have public toilets here you can use um in town by the beer garden, all kinds of stuff. So, that is a nice thing to do. But the logistics thing that I really wanted to tell you is uh the parking. One thing I want to tell you is especially in those busy times, don't expect a lot of parking, or if you do find a parking spot, I want to tell you this. Don't drive around. Just drop off your car and walk cuz Main Street, whether you want to go, you know, on the little like roller coaster thing, you want to go to the beer garden, you want to walk around, see the shops, for the
most part, they're all on Main Street. And this is a small town, so you can see everything on foot. So, what I would recommend, if you're going to come in for a day trip, you're going to do something, just go, find a spot, park the car, and leave it, and not worry about it, okay? Also, don't think you can just park in some of the hotel parking lots and not get in trouble, cuz a lot of the hotels will actually ask for people's, you know, um license plate, so they have that, so they know whose car should be there, who shouldn't be there. Not really a big issue you come in on the downtimes. However, it's one of those busy times, do know they might be a little bit more enforcing
when it comes to for paying guests only when it comes to parking. Something I want to tell you is don't think the weather is going to put a dampener on the festivities when you are here. I'm here right now. We've got a beautiful sunny day. But the thing is, it can get cold, it can get rainy, it can get mucky. But you know what? They're still prepared to have fun for the tourists when they're here. So, don't be worried that like, "Oh, it looks like it's going to rain. Could there be snow up there? Oh my goodness." Look, probably not snow, but like these kind of things people worry about. And that's really they took the kind of like that Alpine vibe and they're like, "Oh, we're we're going to have a good time no
matter what. We're going to have our beers. We're going to have our outside drinks, whether it's rain, sun, whatever. They're going to have fun. So, don't let the weather keep you away. So, I will say the difference is when it's nice weather, this is what it looks like inside the places, and this is what it looks like outside the place with people. So, just be aware of that. And I will tell you, don't speed through town because the Helen Police Department, they're out in force, so they're making sure that all the tourists and all the people who are safe cuz you're walking all the time up and down Main Street, and they don't like when people put people in danger. So, be smart. Just
park your car. Enjoy your time. Don't speed through the town. And I want to tell you, don't think King Ludwig's Beer Garden is the only beer garden in town. You can come here to the Hofbrauhaus. They've got their own beer garden stuff, and so you can enjoy some tasty suds all over town. You know, I said there's a lot of great restaurants. One thing I want to make sure you do, don't pass up coming to Hofer's Bakery. They have all kinds of great tasty baked goods here, but also there's a deli. So, if you want to get those German sausages to cook back at your hotel or to take home with you, you can get those. But honestly,
their strawberry and like cream cheese Danish or the blueberry one, oh my god, they the Linzer cookies, I mean you just go in and you want to eat everything they have. And what's cool is you want to grab some German like treats like if I want to get my German curry ketchup, they have that here, too. But also there's a bakery, so you can come here for breakfast. Look, they're serving breakfast and lunch and going there for that. So, if your hotel doesn't have breakfast or you're tired of cooking for yourself, boom, Hofer's Bakery is fantastic. And maybe you just did a morning walk, a hike on the Anna Ruby Falls little thing here and going back through there. Guess what? It's right here, and you can enjoy the tasty
baked goods that they have. And yes, they have pretzels there, too. Oh, look, another pretzel. Can't go wrong. Now, if you're like my wife Jocelyn, you're going to love this town. Don't think it's just beer here in Helen, Here in North Georgia, you've got Georgian wine. So, you can go to some of the wineries around here or just taste the wine in some of the tasting rooms. So, it's not just beer, there's good wine here, too. And don't worry, kids, there's more than just that chess set by the beer garden, okay? If you got your kids you have a good time. They actually have indoor fun at the Helen Fun Factory. Yes, indoor go-kart and they have that. They have nice arcade, laser tag, all
kinds of stuff. So, you can go and have a good time with your kids when you're there. Or if the kids are a little bit older, they can go and have their good time while you're literally just a block and a half up the way enjoying a few beers at a beer garden. Or one of the bars nearby. I mean, it's really nice that everybody can enjoy their time when they're here, whether you're an older couple or whether you're some buddies going out or you're some ladies want to go on a little, you know, trip together or you're a family going out. Helen makes a really nice trip, especially if you're going to be based in Atlanta and you want to get a great weekend away. I can see why this place gets so full of families and couples and
friends and all kinds of stuff. So, yeah, lots of stuff for all ages here. It's not just go-karting, there's a haunted house you can go to, there's rope course you can go to, there's zip-lining. I mean, there's tons of stuff for the family to do, but honestly, tubing is the best one. But if you come here in the winter or early spring, you're probably not going to be doing any of the tubing cuz it's a little chilly in the water. Now, don't worry, if the bad weather does keep you inside, don't forget you can do antiquing when you are here. There's plenty of antique stores around, whether you're in Helen or you come more down towards Cleveland, you've got a lot of places you can stop out and check out. of them have some fun things. We
picked up a few things that I'm not really sure how we're going to get home with our luggage, but we'll figure it out on the way. But antiquing is a thing you can do when you are down here. And it's just fun to go through cuz you'll see stuff when you were a kid and longer in the past and some stuff that's relatively new stuff that shows up in an antique store. So, do check that out when you drive around. So, it gives you something else to do. Especially like today we have this beautiful sunny day, but I know later on today we're going to pouring down rain. So, uh, our afternoon's probably going to be spent looking at other antique shops. If you really want something else to do, don't
forget you can come to Baby Land, which is actually for the Cabbage Patch Kids. Yes, you see with the Cabbage Patch Kids. Yes, there's a huge store here for everything Cabbage Patch Kid, which is pretty cool. But when you come in, they actually have like old school Cabbage Patch like a little mini museum to show it off. But what's great is your wife will be super like geeking out and loving it here. So she's having a great time. So come see where little Cabbage Patch Kids come from. So when you're in Helen, Georgia, don't forget to go just up the road like 15 minutes to Cleveland, Georgia and visit Baby Land where every Cabbage Patch baby ever made, ooh, ever born was born right here at Baby Land General. This has
been the like coolest thing for me this whole trip. Absolutely love it. So don't miss Baby Land General. Now if you want to leave Helen go to a town, if you need to go to a Walmart or something like that, you have Cleveland, which is about 15 minutes south of Helen. They've got a nice little kind of It's not really a square. You've got the old courthouse museum here. And then there's kind of like a roundabout you can go to with a lot of little like restaurants on it you can go to eat here or antique malls, but it gives you more of like a town thing. If you don't want all the Bavarian-ness, but you want a cute little town in North Georgia, this is a cute town you can visit while you are visiting Helen.
If you want a little German treat, don't forget to stop by Das Ice Cream Cafe and you can get spaghetti ice. They literally have a press where they press the vanilla ice through that it looks like spaghetti. They shave some little white chocolate on top to look like Parmesan cheese and they put a little strawberry sauce on there as well. It's one of those fun things to do when you are here. It's right on the main street. So grab one. You can come here and they actually have a like little outdoor ice cream shop right by the bridge when you're downtown. So you have some good tasty stuff. You have some good tasty stuff here. Can you tell my tongue is a little bit over sugared? But it is really good. And look, another
German flag. Well look, another pretzel and another German flag. I mean, it is Helen, Georgia, what can you say? I'll be honest, the live music at King Ludwig's Beer Garden and everything, it's just such a fun experience. Like, don't pass it up. I mean, I know it's kind of a cheesy place sometimes, but this is one of those places that really helps you celebrate the love of just being a tourist is enjoying Helen. So, definitely come here. Don't miss out on it. You know what? If you need a coffee, you can grab some coffee, too. They have that. It's not just beer and wine and pretzels. Though, I'm sure if I looked hard enough, I could find another pretzel pretty easily.
I know. Oh, look, more chances for pretzels. Now, don't forget about the hikes you can do around here. There's a lot of beautiful hikes around Helen, around the area with the state parks, the national forest, all kinds of stuff around there. Probably the best one and the one most people go to is here at Anna Ruby Falls. Yes, there it is. You can do that. It's actually paved all the way here, though it gets a little uh steep sometimes. So, don't think it's an easy uphill climb, hike, walk. So, it can give you a little bit of a ooh, a little bit of stuff, but honestly, it's definitely doable and it's beautiful here. Also, you have the Soto Falls you can go to. You can got You have uh Raven Cliff Falls you can go
to and hike there. Plenty of beautiful hike when you are here, but don't forget stay on the trails, partly because the ecological impact of it, but also partly for your safety. So, be aware of that. And don't forget to bring some shoes cuz even though Anna Ruby Falls is paved, there's other hikes you might go on that aren't and so, you don't want to ruin those nice shoes. And the thing is, when you go on these hikes, it is just truly beautiful, but give yourself time and make sure you don't forget to plan for your hike back cuz you want to be here when they start closing things up. Now, near Helen is another town I really recommend you visit, Dahlonega. Don't miss out on it cuz there's a cute little
town. You've got the old courthouse here, which is the gold museum, because remember here in North Georgia, you had a gold rush. Like the original gold rush in the US was here. So, you have that and so there's the gold museum that's here. You can go to the There's the old jail, you can check that out. They have a museum for that. But honestly, just being here on the square, tons of really good restaurants, like really good food that's here. Also, you have the Dahlonega General Store you can check out and so you have that. Also, this is place is beautiful at Christmas time when they do the Christmas market stuff. So, it is a really worth a day trip if you're going to be in Helen. It's about
40 minutes from Helen, so you can do that. Also, you know, they do have the antique shops that are here, too. Plenty of antique shops here from antiquing coming up from Atlanta. And you'll see a lot of people will come up here on the weekends. So, do be aware of that. And also, don't forget this is also where the University of North Georgia is. So, you have a lot of young people here as well. So, some fun stuff like ghost tours and things you can do as well. But yeah, if you're in Helen, you got an extra day, coming here to Dahlonega is well worth it. Now, I don't know if you can see it, but yeah, up here you have the Georgia Mountain Coaster. See it right there coming down?
You ride these little sleds down there and you can control the speed. But it's a nice little fun thing to do whether you got little people with you or maybe you're a bigger person like myself who would enjoy it, but you can do that. It's right here, literally right by the river. And if you don't want to go down while you wait for your friends, well, you can grab some ice cream right here or you can go to the International Cafe, grab a drink or something or just wander down Main Street. So, you have that. But yeah, the Georgia Mountain Coaster, fun little thing to do when you are here. Look, another German flag. Look, Ryan gets a pretzel, too. Literally everywhere we got pretzels. One thing you also need to
know, don't worry about karaoke because there are plenty of karaoke things going on the weekends here or anytime there's tourists, just be expected to see a wide variety of uh skill levels when it comes to karaoke. But it is one of the fun things you can do when you are here in Helen, especially at night time. People had a few drinks and the toasted tones start coming out. Look, I do want to tell you, don't think they don't lean all the way in to the tourist kitsch when you're here. Remember, this stuff is like 50 years old and less since they've transformed the city into be this Bavarian Alps like
wonderland. And the thing is they go all in. So, yes, you will have the candy stores, you will have the dress up in old-timey clothes picture kind of stuff. The really true like old-school tourist town kind of stuff that they have it here, but they go all in on it. So, that actually everybody's in on it. So, it's just a really great thing to do because sometimes people go, "Oh, well, that's so touristy. That's so kitschy. Why would I do that?" Well, sometimes it's just really fun to do those kind of things and you can do that when you're here and the people and the locals, they know that, too. So, it makes it a really
fun time. But, also the tourists that are here, we all get into it, too. So, make sure you have a good time when you do come here to Helen, Georgia. It is a beautiful place to be whether you're going to do some of the nature hiking or you're just here to enjoy the architecture or maybe having a beer or two or tasting some of the Georgian wine. Have yourself a great time here in Helen. And if you have other do's and don'ts of coming to Helen, please put it down in the comments below so we can help other travelers enjoy this beautiful town. Anyway, I'll say bye from here in North Georgia.
