One of the lesser know but most relaxing vacation destinations in the southeastern United States is Blue Ridge, Georgia. Blue Ridge is located in the most northern part of Georgia nestled in amongst some of the most scenic mountain areas in the southeastern United States.

Blue Ridge is a really small town with a picturesque little downtown area and some of the nicest antique shops in all of Georgia. Blue Ridge is referred to by some as the antique capital of Georgia. It is located about 90 miles north of Atlanta and is about 30 miles from the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. This quaint little town is known as the Gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The serenity you experience in Blue Ridge will make it hard to believe you are only an hour and a half outside of Atlanta. It is nothing like the busy metropolis of Atlanta nor the more touristy mountain vacation areas of the southeast.

While the more touristy type places like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are very nice places to visit if you're looking for a mountain vacation, Blue Ridge is a place to get away from all of those arcade type attractions and just enjoy nature and the beautiful surroundings the mountains have to offer.

Not to worry if you want something to do though, the downtown Blue Ridge area has many specialty shops, some of the best antiquing in all of Georgia as I mentioned earlier, a theater, art galleries, many tasty restaurants and much more. One of the biggest attractions around is to take the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway around a 26 mile loop throughout Fannin County. It stops right in the middle of the downtown area so you can't miss it.

A vacation in Blue Ridge Georgia is all about relaxing and if you want, you can just sit downtown all day, watch the train go by and sip a cup of coffee. Right across from the train station is a great little cafe that serves the best coffee and coffee drinks in town. You will enjoy the atmosphere, as this unique little cafe is a refurbished bank, complete with a vault and a large steel door. Of course the vault never closes. You can grab a cup of coffee to go or spend the morning or afternoon in one of their plush couches or chairs.

Earlier I referred to Blue Ridge as a really small town because its population is about 1,100 people. However, Blue Ridge and Fannin County boast some of the nicest cabin rentals with the best mountain or wooded views to enjoy a weekend getaway or a week long vacation. You will never have trouble finding a place to stay around Blue Ridge because there are actually more cabin rentals in Fannin county then there are people living in Blue Ridge.

If you are looking to get away from everything and have a nice quiet vacation in a beautiful log cabin, then Blue Ridge Georgia is definitely the place to go.

Alan LeStourgeon operates a vacation rental web site where you can find comfortable cabin rentals, recreational and hiking vacation information and information about log cabin furniture.