Anyone been to Nashville

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DH and I want to do a US city next year for our milestone birthdays. Nashville popped up.

Anyone been?? Is there much to do and take in besides country music shows (which we will love btw).

Lots to do, tons of places to listen to live music day and night.

Country Music Hall of Fame - excellent (and I’m not a country fan).

Hop on Hop off Trolly Bus.

There’s and “art crawl”, motor museum (forget the name”. A day shopping for your cowboy boots and hats.

Quite good foodie scene.

Thank you @SparklyBrickVipercan I ask if you found it expensive for eating & drinking??

Yes, in October 2022. One of our best holidays ever and would go back in a heartbeat. Just cooking dinner but will share our itinerary later.

It was a good few years I was there. I did notice portions were smaller and it wasn’t as cheap as it used to be.

I know work colleagues who went to Florida did say they’d found eating out to be expensive.

I've been a few times. If you like country music there's loads on. Nashville is a booming city and it got bigger every time I've been. Lots of nightlife and restaurants. There's also some interesting, historical places to visit. Further afield the Great Smokey Mountains National Park is beautiful.

We enjoyed it but it was as part of a road trip. I don't know if I would spend my whole holiday there. How long are you going for?

We went for 5 days as a standalone trip in late October. The weather was perfect for walking about.

mostly we just enjoyed the bars and music (and lots of fried chicken!) but did a day trip to Lynchburg to do the Jack Daniels distillery tour and a morning in Franklin for a bit of a break from the city and to see the amazing Halloween decorations. In terms of cost - it was about the same as the UK. I think that was the day we stopped at the mall too - I can recommend the Kate Spade outlet

We went to a show at the Opry and stumbled across the dukes of hazard museum/shop and a nice but weird restaurant in a parking lot there; Caney Fork River Valley Grille - that was our best meal; they had lots of taxidermy on display but the weird bit was the huge fish pond inside!

If I went to Nashville I’d also be trying to get to Dollywood!

It’s a 3.5 hour drive!

Outside of the Country Music Hall of Fame, there was almost no sign of Dolly or Taylor Swift in Nashville in terms of merchandise/trinkets - we were disappointed in that as I love Dolly and DD is a massive Swiftie. We assumed it’s because they are litigious in terms of unofficial products using their image.

We were there for 7 nights as part of a road trip back in 2013, so lots has probably changed. BNA airport was a great intro...all porch rockera and knitted blankets. We unwisely stayed somewhere near the railroad and it was LOUD at night! Somewhere like 12 South would have been better. Other than that, there was plenty to do, including wandering in and out of venues on the main street all day and night (recommend the 3 stages of Tin Roof - mostly rock- if it is still there and the honky tonk at the top of the street) which only require a contribution to the tip jar. We ate mainly in chains as I am coeliac, so I don't remember it being particularly expensive. There's an outlet mall is that's your thing. Memphis is an easy drive if you want to visit, and has plenty of great music museums too; DH is still wearing his wardrobe of Stax shirts.

Not to burst your bubble OP, but things have gotten hugely expensive in the US lately. I haven't been to Nashville but was in Philly and New Orleans in late October and I was stunned at the cost of things. I know what things usually cost as I go to visit cousins there every two or three years and honestly, last year was something else price wise. Just saying.

Also, I refuse to travel to the US while the Marmalade Moron is president. That's just me though I suppose.

I'm sure you'll have an absolute blast, enjoy yourselves.

I’d still be trying to go!

Nashville was one of the best places I’ve ever been!

We had so much fun, went the Grand old Opry, Bluebird Cafe, and country music hall of fame.

it is expensive but then I think the US generally
is. it was almost $10 for a bottle of beer in most bars.

If you like live music I’d defo recommend Nashville

If anyone's prepared to send a road trip itinerary I'd love to see it.
Just need to to persuade DH ( or someone else to come with me!!)

Is it doable without a car?

Yep it’s great fun , but would not dream of going to the USA
until trump has gone !
we have a choice let’s just use our money wisely

Definitely include Pigeon Forge for Dollywood and Gatlinburg for the Smokies. 3.5 hours driving is nothing in the US.

Find a state park or caves halfway and stop off and stretch your legs.

We didn’t have a car - mostly because we knew we’d be spending a lot of time drinking! We got a coach trip to Lynchburg and used uber to get to the Opry and Franklin.

Ours was a bit constrained, as I don't drive (visually impaired) and DH doesn't find it easy. As it was a while back, I may have some of these in the wrong order.

Flew into Nashville and stayed for a week.
Visited a Civil War Battle site and Natchez Trace
Stayed in Brownsville, where there's a local museum, a blues shack and Tina Turner's elementary school
To Clarksdale, for the blues clubs (Ground Zero and Reds) and the crossroads where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil for the ability to play guitar. We also had a gospel brunch at the Shack Up Inn
To Dockery Farm, birthplace of the blues
To Memphis, for a vast number of museums. The civil rights museum will take most of the day, as will Stax. Recommend the paddle boat river trip too. We went to a couple of gigs, but Nashville and Clarksdale were way better for music.
Flew home out of Memphis

You could do way more miles than we did, but we were pretty busy on this itinerary.

Franklin is a gorgeous small town. It's the sort of place they film Hallmark Christmas movies. Some celebrities live there. From memory it's about 40 minutes drive from Nashville.

There are a couple of Civil War houses/battlefields in the Franklin area (basically farmers ended up with battles happening in the fields next to their houses). They're interesting.

Nashville is very car orientated. I stay with family and they drive everywhere, even to avoid a ten minute walk.

We didn't have a car and didn't feel we needed one.

We got the bus from the airport, and used a bus to get to The Opry.

We tend to walk everywhere when we can.

This is a timely thread thanks for starting it OP!
Does anyone have a recommendation for a place to stay in Nashville for someone travelling on their own? Ideally walking distance to bars and restaurants.

You don’t mention a budget but we loved Holston House. We drove there from
home but then didn’t move our car for the 3 days we stayed.

i've stayed in Nashville twice in the past year (5-6 weeks total), and plan to go again July/August. My joint favourite city (equal to New York but much less expensive). First time there I was on my own; second time with current squeeze. Whether on one's own or in company, it all depends what you are looking for in Nashville as to a good area to stay. Downtown hotels are expensive. I stayed in the same air b&b on both occasions. I am a fan of 'proper' country music - none of your Taylor Swift or 'bro country' - so where I chose to stay & go reflected that. A close friend is pals with a quite well-known independent country singer who plays there from out of state & she was kind enough to give recommendations for bars, clubs, venues, & areas. If you have similar interests to mine, I can give some tips on these. I stayed in East Nashville. Good area in terms of record/retro clothing stores, Nashville's best country music dive bar, and another serious music venue. But the scale of the place means that if you aren't staying downtown & don't have a car (as with myself on both trips) you will need to rely on cabs. Ubers are inexpensive though - if you are lucky $13 from E.Nashville to downtown during the day; more expensive later; and returning at night can run to $40 or so. There are quite inexpensive airb&b apartments downtown so downtown will be partly walkable - but I skipped these as they are clearly owned by individual companies. in apartment blocks attracting young people partying. Downtown Nashville is the most out & out party city I have ever visited; more so than Las Vegas, however the Nashville drunks are 100% better behaved. Not a hint of trouble whereas had one been amongst such enthusiastic parties in British cities at midnight there would be fights breaking out. I could add more...