The Best Things to Do in Nashville
Nowhere compares to Music City—it doesn’t matter if you have a banjo in the airplane overhead bin or if you can’t tell a harmony from a melody. Because Nashville isn’t just about the music, it’s also filled with people willing to try new things and do things differently. Even on a short visit, you’ll feel that unique energy! As a result, the city fosters an entrepreneurial spirit that results in funky music clubs for dancing, quirky boutiques for shopping, and one-of-a-kind roadside eateries.
Planning a trip to Nashville? Here’s a list of the top things to do during your visit!
Sample whiskey at a distillery
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Ergo, when in Tennessee, drink Tennessee whiskey. Bourbon made here is considered Tennessee whiskey, and there is no shortage of different Tennessee whiskeys to sip or places to sip them. The Tennessee Whiskey Trail is an organized itinerary to the state’s signature distilleries, which are scattered across the state, like the world-famous Jack Daniel Distillery and George Dickel. Not up for a day trip? Pick a few distilleries that are in city limits and leave the driving to Mint Julep Tours.
Listen to live music
Music City overflows with musicians and songwriters and opportunities to hear them. So whether you love to two-step or you prefer something with a different kind of beat, be sure to make time for music during your visit. See below for some our favorite picks:
Country: The Grand Ole Opry
If there’s one thing you really must do while in Nashville, it’s see the Grand Ole Opry. Really. Even if you think you don’t like country music, consider it a must. Since 1925, this weekly showcase of country music has drawn crowds to Nashville. Every show at the Opry is still broadcast live on the radio and streamed online—but nothing beats the experience of being there.
Bluegrass: The Station Inn
It doesn’t look like much (or anything) from the outside, but inside this cinder-block box is the city’s most popular venue for bluegrass and roots music. The Station Inn is perhaps the country’s best bluegrass club, and it showcases fine artists every night of the week.
Honky-tonk: Robert’s Western World
Robert’s Western World is often voted the city’s best honky-tonk by locals. Originally a store selling boots, cowboy hats, and other country music regalia, Robert’s morphed into a bar and nightclub with a good gift shop and even a Sunday morning church service with gospel music.
Explore the Civil Rights Room
The second floor of the main Nashville Public Library houses a powerful freestanding exhibit on the Civil Rights Movement that took place in Nashville in the 1950s and 1960s. Nashville was the first Southern city to desegregate public services, and it did so relatively peacefully, inspiring activists throughout the South. This history is an important part of Nashville’s legacy, and the library is a fitting location for the exhibit because the block below on Church Street was the epicenter of the Nashville sit-ins during the 1960s.
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Shop for locally-themed gifts
One of Nashville’s charms is the creativity apparent in every corner of the city, not just its music venues. This is particularly evident in its boutiques, which stock one-of-a-kind and locally made items. If you’re looking for a souvenir to take home or a gift that will make your friends want to plan a return trip with you, check out great shops like Planet Cowboy, Any Old Iron, or Three Horses Hat Co. But if you’re more into browsing than buying, that’s fun, too. Shopkeepers love to talk about their wares and the city that gives them inspiration.
Tour the Moore-Morris History and Culture Center
When the Moore Morris History and Culture Center opened in 2024, it gave the city of Franklin a permanent, multistory, interactive museum that explores the history of Williamson County in great detail. Wander through these exhibits and hear about tavern-owners on the old Natchez Trace, Black soldiers and Black enslaved people who faced hardship and cruelty for decades, and the ways in which Franklin has fought to preserve its history while owning up to its past.
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Try hot chicken
Nashville’s most lauded food experience is not to be found in a fine restaurant or even at a standard meat-and-three cafeteria—it’s served on a plate with a slice of Wonder bread and a pickle chip. It is hot chicken, a very spicy pan-fried delicacy, made with bone-in breast and secret spices. Legend goes that in the 1930s a woman made an extra spicy dish to punish her philandering boyfriend. But it turned out that he liked it extra hot, and both Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack and a national obsession were born.
Visit the National Museum of African American Music
This museum, honoring the groundbreaking work of musical artists in genres from hiphop to gospel to jazz, opened in 2021 with a front-and-center location on Broadway and an impressive collection. Exhibits cover religious music, the blues, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Harlem Renaissance, putting the music in context of bigger issues of the times. Also, many of the exhibits are interactive—you can record and mix your own songs—and as a result appeal to visitors of all ages. The ways in which the museum connects music from different eras make it a particularly welcoming multigenerational activity.
Take in the sights at Centennial Park
Nashville’s best city park, Centennial is most known as home of the Parthenon, the center of activity in this 132-acre gem. Another one of the park’s highlights is the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument which features five women, four of whom were Tennesseans, who all fought for the right of women to vote. The park is also a pleasant place to relax. A small lake surrounded by vibrant flower gardens provides a habitat for ducks and other water creatures, and paved trails are popular with pedestrians during nice weather.
Go paddleboarding
Middle Tennessee’s flatwater lakes and rivers are perfect for paddling. Nashville Paddle Company is situated on Percy Priest Lake and offers stand-up paddleboard (SUP) instruction and lessons. Rentals are also available for those who want to take a board or a kayak and go for a weekend. With more than a dozen yoga teachers, they also offer SUP yoga as well as SUP fitness classes, which are workouts that use both land and water to get your core in tip-top shape.
(Full disclosure: The author of this book is one of the owners of Nashville Paddle Co.)
Take a print shop tour
Part gallery and part historic landmark, Hatch Show Print is one of the country’s best-known places to buy and see printed art. Hatch has been making colorful posters in their iconic letterpress style for more than a century. Visitors to the shop, which is connected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, can gaze at the cavernous warehouse operation through windows and buy small or large samples of their work, including reproductions of classic country music concert posters. This is a great place to find a special souvenir of your trip to Nashville!
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