Nashville surprises people. They come for the honky tonks and leave talking about the food, the neighborhoods, the energy of a city that feels like it is always in the middle of becoming something. I live here, which means I have the privilege of knowing where to go beyond Lower Broadway — the coffee shops that locals actually use, the restaurants worth the line, the museums that never get crowded, the parks that feel like a real exhale. This is the guide I give to friends and family when they visit. Consider it yours.
Places to Visit
Tennessee State Museum — Free
This is my first recommendation for anyone visiting Nashville, and I say that knowing most visitors will immediately think of the Country Music Hall of Fame instead. The Tennessee State Museum is free, the parking nearby is easy, and the collection is genuinely extraordinary — spanning everything from the First People of Tennessee all the way through to Dolly Parton’s stage costumes. The Children’s Gallery is one of the best family spaces in the city. Do not skip this one.
Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park — Free
Most visitors walk right past it without realizing it is there. Nashville has a state park in the heart of downtown, directly across from the State Capitol Building — 11 acres with a paved walking trail lined with markers tracing important moments in Tennessee’s history. It sits right next to the Nashville Farmers’ Market and the Tennessee State Museum, so you can spend an entire morning in this corridor without spending a dime.
Ryman Auditorium
The Mother Church of Country Music. The Ryman served as the original home of the Grand Ole Opry for decades and it is still one of the most beautiful, most acoustically perfect performance spaces in the country. If you can get tickets to a show here, prioritize it — the experience of sitting in those original wooden pews, the stained glass windows behind the stage, the history in every corner of that room — it is genuinely hard to describe. The self-guided tour with the chance to stand on the stage is a wonderful alternative if you cannot make a show work.
The Grand Ole Opry
The Opry is worth the trip out to the Opryland area — about 8 miles from downtown, so plan a rideshare. Shows run Tuesday through Saturday and feature a mix of legends and rising artists performing together on the same stage. It still broadcasts live radio, which means the MC pauses the show for “commercial breaks” and waves the audience to cheer on cue — one of those only-in-Nashville moments that makes the whole experience feel like a time capsule. Pro tip: do not try to get a rideshare immediately after the show ends. Walk to Opry Mills or the Gaylord Opryland Resort, have a drink, let the post-show chaos die down, then head back.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
If country music is in your blood, this museum is everything you want it to be — costumes, instruments, recordings, video archives, and a collection that covers the full sweep of country music history. Allow at least two hours. Add the RCA Studio B tour when you book tickets. It is a separate guided experience at the historic recording studio where Elvis recorded 250 songs, where Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and Roy Orbison made music history. You get to sit at the original Steinway grand piano. It is remarkable and worth every extra minute.
Johnny Cash Museum
Smaller than the Country Music Hall of Fame but extraordinarily well done. Stage outfits, personal artifacts, recordings of Johnny and June, and a wall of gold records that stops you in your tracks. The curation is thoughtful and the storytelling is excellent. Budget about 90 minutes and go in the morning before the Broadway crowds build.
Frist Art Museum
Nashville’s premier art museum lives inside a stunning Art Deco building that was originally a post office. The collection is entirely traveling exhibitions — which means something new is always on display and there is always a reason to go back. The Martin ArtQuest on the second floor is a hands-on studio space where visitors of any age can make their own art, usually themed around the current exhibition. A genuinely lovely afternoon in The Gulch.
National Museum of African American Music
Located inside the Fifth + Broadway complex, this museum covers every genre of African American music — jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, hip hop, and more — with exhibits celebrating the profound influence of Black artists on American music. Allow 90 minutes and go knowing it is a serious, moving museum. Consistently underestimated by visitors and consistently one of the best things in Nashville.
Centennial Park and the Parthenon
Nashville has a full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon sitting in a 132-acre park right in the city. It is bizarre and wonderful and completely worth seeing. The park has a lake, a walking trail, a band shell that hosts free concerts in spring and fall, and a dog park. The Parthenon itself functions as an art museum with a permanent collection. This is where locals go on Sunday mornings, which means it is usually peaceful and genuinely beautiful.
Nashville Public Library — Main Branch
The main branch downtown is a beautiful building worth visiting beyond just borrowing books. The East Reading Room is stunning. The Civil Rights Room and the Votes for Women Room are both thoughtfully curated. The children’s area is enormous with thousands of books, a puppet theater, and a climbing wall. Check the library website for current hours as the building has experienced some recent closures.
Cheekwood Estate and Botanical Gardens
About ten minutes from downtown in Belle Meade, Cheekwood is a 55-acre botanical garden surrounding a 1930s Georgian mansion with a permanent art collection. Beautiful in every season and especially stunning in spring during Cheekwood in Bloom. A peaceful half-day that feels completely removed from the energy of downtown even though it is not far at all.
Arrington Vineyards
About 25 miles from Nashville — an easy and beautiful drive. The vineyards are gorgeous, the frosé is delicious, and there is live music on weekends in summer. Pair it with lunch in Franklin on the way back and you have one of the best days you can have within an hour of the city.
Lower Broadway and the Honky Tonks
You have to do it. Lower Broadway runs wall-to-wall live music from around 10 or 11 AM until 3 AM with no cover charge at any of the venues. The experience of walking the strip and hearing music spill out of every open door is genuinely unlike anything else in the country. A few spots worth knowing:
Friends in Low Places — Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s three-level bar is the newest and most talked-about addition to Broadway. The rooftop Oasis bar has some of the best views on the strip and a slightly more relaxed vibe than the floors below. They serve Trisha’s family recipe chicken tenders, which are good. Get there early for a spot on the roof.
Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge — The most legendary bar on Broadway, open since 1960 with walls covered in photos of every country legend who has ever played here. Go mid-morning when you can find a seat and actually hear the music.
Casa Rosa — Miranda Lambert’s bar with a rooftop balcony and a second-floor Mexican restaurant that is actually good. Worth stopping for a drink and a meal.
Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar — Just off Broadway on 2nd Avenue. Two grand pianos, two incredibly talented musicians taking requests. One of the most fun evenings in Nashville regardless of what kind of music you love.
Acme Feed and Seed — At the corner of Broadway and 1st, with a rooftop overlooking the Cumberland River. A slightly more laid-back option than the big-name bars further up the strip.
Live Music Beyond Broadway
The Bluebird Cafe in Green Hills is where Nashville musicians perform their own songs in a songwriter-in-the-round format in a room that holds fewer than 100 people. Book ahead — it sells out, and it is one of the most genuinely moving music experiences in the city. The Station Inn in the Gulch is the best bluegrass venue Nashville has. City Winery, 3rd and Lindsley, and the listening rooms across the city offer a completely different caliber of experience than Broadway and are where the locals who love music actually spend their evenings.
The Neighborhoods
12 South — Walkable, charming, full of locally owned boutiques and restaurants. The “I Believe in Nashville” mural is here. Draper James is on the main strip. This is the Nashville that visitors fall in love with and want to move to.
The Gulch — Nashville’s most polished neighborhood, with excellent dining, the “What Lifts You” wings mural, and boutique shopping at spots like Two Old Hippies and e.Allen. Biscuit Love is here for breakfast and it is worth every bit of the wait.
East Nashville — Where the artists and musicians live. The best street art, the best independent coffee and vintage shops, and a restaurant and bar scene that belongs to the people who actually live there. Five Points is the heart of it. Turkey and the Wolf is here. Peninsula is here. Hanna Bee and Grimey’s are here. Go with no plan and just wander.
Germantown — Nashville’s oldest neighborhood and one of its most beautiful. Tree-lined streets, Victorian homes, and some of the best restaurants and bars in the city including Little Hats Italian Market and Geist.
Restaurants Worth Knowing
Hot Chicken: You cannot leave without it. Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack is the original — the family that invented the dish still runs it. Hattie B’s is the more accessible experience with outstanding sides including pimento mac and cheese that should be mandatory. Order one heat level below what you think you want your first time. This is friendly advice, not a dare.
Pancake Pantry: Nashville institution since 1961. There will be a line. Go anyway. The blueberry pancakes are what people drive across town for. Get there early on weekends.
Turkey and the Wolf: East Nashville location of a beloved New Orleans spot. The fried bologna sandwich — piled with house-made chips and an extraordinary mustard — is one of the best lunches in the city. Get a frozen margarita with it.
Peninsula: James Beard Award winner in East Nashville. Iberian Peninsula-inspired cuisine, a remarkable gin and tonic menu, and fine dining that never feels stuffy. Book ahead.
Hearts: Australian-inspired brunch in 12 South and East Nashville. The twice-baked French toast and zucchini corn fritters are the orders. Very popular on weekends.
Little Hats Italian Market: In Germantown with free parking and a completely unpretentious deli atmosphere. Soups, sandwiches, pasta, and Italian pantry staples. The kind of place you would eat at every day if you lived nearby.
Assembly Food Hall: Downtown on Broadway, 30+ vendors under one roof including Prince’s Hot Chicken, plus three live music stages. The best solution for a group with different cravings.
Loveless Cafe: About 25 minutes from downtown and completely worth the drive. Authentic Southern breakfast — biscuits, country ham, red-eye gravy — with a smoker running all day out front. A Nashville institution in the truest sense.
Coffee and Bakeries
Red Bicycle — Multiple locations, Germantown and the Nations being the favorites. Great coffee, outstanding crepes, excellent for meeting up with friends.
Poindexter at the Graduate Hotel — Glamorous and slightly over the top in the best way. Worth a stop for coffee even if you are not staying at the hotel.
Hanna Bee in East Nashville — Laid-back, friendly, right next to a bookstore, and exactly what a coffee shop should be.
D’Andrews Bakery and Café — James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Bakery, downtown Nashville. The macarons are extraordinary.
Five Daughters Bakery — Home of the 100-layer donut, which is exactly as substantial as it sounds. Cut it in half and share it with someone.
Brightside Bakeshop in East Nashville — Tiny, beloved, and the cinnaroll sells out early. Order online the afternoon before.
Donut Distillery — Mini donuts with cocktails, beer, or mimosas. A very Nashville combination that somehow works perfectly.
Shopping
Parnassus Books in Green Hills — Ann Patchett’s independent bookstore and one of the best in the country. The events calendar is always full of author readings and signings.
The Bookshop in East Nashville — Small, brilliantly curated, impossible to leave empty-handed.
Grimey’s in East Nashville — New and used vinyl, cassettes, CDs, and books downstairs. Listening parties and events throughout the year. A destination for serious music fans.
Draper James in 12 South — Reese Witherspoon’s flagship store. The clothes are great and the atmosphere inside is genuinely warm and inviting.
The Golden Slipper in Germantown — Gifts, jewelry, home goods, and weekend candle-pouring workshops. One of those shops that makes you want to buy something for everyone you know.
Hatch Show Print downtown — A working letterpress print shop creating concert posters since 1879. Watch the presses run and take home a print. Nothing else like it in the city.
Nashville Farmers’ Market — Open daily with fresh produce, rotating chef pop-ups, over 30 local vendors, and live music. Pairs perfectly with the Bicentennial Mall and the Tennessee State Museum for a full free morning.
Day Trip: Franklin, Tennessee
About 30 minutes south and one of the most beautiful small towns in Tennessee. A walkable downtown square with independent boutiques, galleries, and restaurants, significant Civil War history, and genuine Southern charm that Nashville’s growth has not yet diluted. Combine it with Arrington Vineyards on the way back for a near-perfect Tennessee day.
A Few Practical Notes
Getting around: Downtown is walkable. The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge offers beautiful river and skyline views. For the Opry, Cheekwood, and anything outside the core, rideshares are your most practical option. Surge pricing during CMA Fest and stadium events is significant — plan accordingly.
Best time to visit: Spring — April through early June. Beautiful weather, full events calendar, outdoor spaces at their best. Fall is also excellent. Summer is hot and crowded, particularly during CMA Fest in June.
Make dinner reservations. Nashville’s restaurant scene has grown dramatically and the best tables go fast, especially on weekends.
Cowboy boots: You will see them everywhere. You will probably want a pair by the end of your first day. You have been warned.
Nashville rewards the curious visitor — the one who gets off Broadway at least once a day, tries an unfamiliar neighborhood, and sits down for the songwriter round at a listening room instead of the fourth honky tonk. Come hungry and give yourself more time than you think you need. You are going to love it here.