About 4 years ago, I fell in love with the show The Vampire Diaries while being on maternity leave. I ended up finding out a year or so later that they filmed the show in a town called Covington in north Georgia. A real life Mystic Falls if you will. I instantly told myself that it was on my bucket list to visit there even if it was just for 20 minutes and I can officially say that I got to do it.
Robert is the true MVP for driving me there even though it was kind of out of our way on our way to Tennessee. But, he did it for me and I will forever be grateful that he did it so that I had the opportunity to literally just step foot into the town.
I wasn’t able to do much because we only spent an hour there but I did look up a to of information on what you could do if you’re a huge Vampire Diaries, the Originals, and Legacies fan. I just spent my hour in the town square walking around taking photos at every corner but there is seriously so much to do when you get down to it.
Town Square
This is obviously the most iconic section of the town because you have the clock tower that we all know and love plus the Mystic Grill is located there. Yes, it’s a real restaurant and if you plan on eating there I highly suggest getting in line before they open at 11 AM. We didn’t eat there but when we arrived in Covington, there was a huge line up the side already at 10:30 AM so it’s definitely a must see from the outside at least. From what I have read, the inside isn’t the same AT ALL but that’s because it was filmed on a sound stage for that part but they did use the outside.
Just right outside the front entrance of the Mystic Grill is the infamous alley way where you may have watched Damon snap a neck or two, Stefan suck someone dry of their blood…ya know typical Mystic Falls behavior. The alley way actually has a Vampire Diaries store where you can see some of the iconic outfits from the show, the Gilbert hour door, and purchase all kinds of goodies. They have t-shirts, hoodies, candles, room spray, blood bags, vervain, and even jewelry. I could’ve spent all my money in there but I just grabbed Elena’s ring and definitely felt like a kid in a candy store.
Across the street is the official Vampire Stalkers store and tour spot. If you choose to purchase a ticket on the tour, you get access to a whole lot more than just what you see in the town square. You have the ability to go around and see the outside of everyone’s houses and also go on the property of what we know as the Lockwood Mansion. I do plan on going back one day and getting to do this part of the Mystic Falls experience. This store also has t-shirts, vervain, candles, etc.
If you go on the tour you get to visit the outside of Elena’s house, Caroline’s house, and more.
You do have the option to go to these spots yourself but be careful because these are people’s houses and you are on private property. The tour owners have exclusive access to these and have spoken to the owners of the house. So I highly suggest doing the tour so you don’t get in trouble. First and foremost, this is a real town!
I wasn’t able to go around and look at all the houses but I swear we did pass by Elena’s coming into the town. There is also a Covington welcome center where they have the official Mystic Falls welcome sign that you can take a photo with as well.
Like I said, I only had an hour so I spent most of the time just walking around the town square taking photos of whatever I could there.
It was totally worth the short time.
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