Nashville is several cities at once: the birthplace of country music, a hot-chicken capital, a Civil War history corridor, a live-music street that runs from noon to last call, and — improbably — the home of a full-scale Greek Parthenon. Davidson County's population is roughly 715,000; on a busy weekend, every honky tonk on Lower Broadway is standing room only from lunch onward.
The 19 attractions below cover all of it, organized by category. Day trips to Franklin and Nolensville (both 20 miles south) are included where the attraction is strong enough to justify the drive.
Jump to: Live Music · Music Museums · Hot Chicken & Southern Food · History & Heritage · Unique Nashville · Planning Notes
Live Music
Nashville has live country music every day of the year — free to walk into on Broadway, ticketed at the Opry and Ryman. The city's music identity spans the rowdy honky tonks on Broadway to the intimate songwriter rooms where the hit records start.
Grand Ole Opry Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · Ticketed
The world's longest-running live radio broadcast, founded in 1927. Originally broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium downtown, the Opry moved to its current 4,400-seat hall at the Opryland complex in 1974. About 200 shows a year feature active country artists, Opry members, and occasional legends — tickets run $40–100. The Saturday night broadcast is the flagship event and has featured every significant country artist of the last century.
Ryman Auditorium Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · ~$28 (daytime tour)
Built in 1892 as a revival tabernacle; the Grand Ole Opry's home from 1943 to 1974, earning it the title "Mother Church of Country Music." The 2,362-seat hall still hosts concerts, awards shows, and daytime self-guided tours (~$28). Original church-pew seating, near-perfect acoustics, and a stage where Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Hank Williams Sr. all performed during the Opry years. One of the genuinely irreplaceable rooms in American music history.
Nashville's Lower Broadway (Honky Tonk Highway) Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · Free
A four-block strip of bars, boot stores, and live music venues along Broadway between 1st and 5th Avenues. Entry is free to every bar; live bands play from noon through 3 AM, seven days a week. Tootsie's Orchid Lounge (open since 1960) and Robert's Western World are the oldest and most authentic. Arrive before 8 PM on weekends to move freely — the strip gets genuinely packed after dark.
Bluebird Cafe Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · Free (no cover most nights)
A 100-seat listening room in the Green Hills neighborhood, 5 miles from downtown. Famous for in-the-round songwriter shows — the writers perform their own compositions, seated in a circle, acoustic. Garth Brooks was discovered here in 1987. The venue was the inspiration for the ABC series Nashville (2012–2018). Reservations open 30 days in advance and fill within hours for weekend shows; walk-in seats are available at the door.
Music Museums
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · ~$30
The most comprehensive country music archive in the world — 350,000 square feet, 2.5 million artifacts. The permanent collection spans Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams to Taylor Swift, with Elvis's gold Cadillac and Nudie Cohn's rhinestone suits as permanent fixtures. Rotating exhibitions cover living artists and deep genre history. Attached to Historic RCA Studio B (separate ticketed tour, ~$25), where Elvis, Dolly Parton, and Roy Orbison all recorded.
National Museum of African American Music Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · ~$25
Opened January 2021 on Broadway, one block from the Country Music Hall of Fame. The only museum in the United States dedicated entirely to the African American music legacy — blues, gospel, jazz, R&B, soul, hip hop, and the African American roots of country music. 150+ years of music history across five interactive galleries. Visitors can record themselves in a vocal booth and explore a 360-degree musical timeline.
Hot Chicken & Southern Food
Nashville invented hot chicken — fried chicken coated in cayenne paste, served on white bread with pickles. The dish originated at Prince's in the 1940s and has since become the city's most imitated food export. Loveless Cafe and Arnold's represent a different tradition: the biscuit-and-gravy, meat-and-three diner culture that predates the hot-chicken phenomenon.
Prince's Hot Chicken Shack (Original) Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · $10–20
The originator of Nashville hot chicken, in continuous operation since the 1940s. Family-owned for over 80 years; great-niece Andre Prince Jeffries ran it for decades. Located on Ewing Drive, well off the downtown tourist strip. Cash only, minimal décor, no reservations. Heat levels run mild / medium / hot / extra hot / XXX — the last level produces a physical reaction in most people. Wait times can exceed 45 minutes on weekends.
Hattie B's Hot Chicken Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · $12–20
More accessible than Prince's — multiple Nashville locations, card accepted, open until 3 AM on weekends. Founded 2012. Six heat levels from Southern (no heat) to Shut the Cluck Up. The line moves quickly despite the crowds. Sides include pimento mac and cheese, black-eyed pea salad, and buttermilk ranch slaw. The Midtown original on 19th Avenue is the flagship.
Loveless Cafe Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · $15–25
Open since 1951, 12 miles west of downtown on Highway 100 at the edge of the city. Famous for hand-rolled biscuits, country ham, and house-made preserves. James Beard Award-recognized. Weekend waits run 45–60 minutes. The original roadside motel rooms out back are still standing. Live music most Saturdays on the back porch.
Arnold's Country Kitchen Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · $10–15
Cash-and-carry cafeteria on 8th Avenue South, open since 1983. Choose a protein (roast beef, turkey, meatloaf) and three sides from a rotating lineup of turnip greens, fried okra, mac and cheese, and field peas. James Beard Award semifinalist multiple times. Weekday lunch only: 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM, closed weekends.
Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint (Original, Nolensville) Must-see
Williamson County · Nolensville · $12–20
Pat Martin's flagship, 20 miles south of Nashville in Nolensville. Tennessee's most celebrated whole-hog BBQ — a 12-hour wood-burning process, open pits, West Tennessee-style sauce. The redneck taco (pulled pork on a hoecake with slaw) is the signature dish. Multiple Nashville locations exist, but the Nolensville original is the pilgrimage.
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History & Heritage
The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's Estate) Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · ~$20
Andrew Jackson's plantation home, 12 miles east of downtown. Jackson lived here from 1804 until his death in 1845; the Federal-style mansion is largely original, with period furnishings and personal letters intact. The formal garden holds both Andrew and Rachel Jackson's tomb. The 600-acre property also interprets the lives of the enslaved people who worked the plantation — the exhibit covers named individuals and their specific roles, unusually thorough for a presidential historic site.
Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · ~$25
Greek Revival mansion built in 1853, 10 minutes from downtown. Before the Civil War, it was the country's most famous thoroughbred horse farm — five horses from Belle Meade directly sired Kentucky Derby champions. Now a museum with costumed guides, wine tasting in the carriage house, and the original stallion barn where champions like Iroquois were stabled.
Tennessee State Museum Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · Free
Free admission. Opened in its current building in 2019 — 60,000 square feet covering Tennessee from prehistoric inhabitants to the 20th century. Major sections address the Trail of Tears, Civil War campaigns, the 1925 Scopes Trial, and Nashville's country music emergence. The collection holds 600,000 objects — the largest state history collection in Tennessee.
Carnton Plantation (Battle of Franklin) Must-see
Williamson County · Franklin · ~$20
In Franklin, 20 miles south of Nashville. On November 30, 1864, the Battle of Franklin produced approximately 9,500 casualties in five hours — one of the bloodiest single-day engagements of the entire Civil War. Carnton Plantation served as the primary field hospital; bloodstains are still visible on the original wood floors. Four Confederate generals were laid out on the back porch after the battle. The adjacent McGavock Confederate Cemetery holds 1,481 soldiers — the largest private Confederate cemetery in the United States.
Unique Nashville
The Parthenon (Full-Scale Replica, Nashville) Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · ~$8
The only full-scale replica of the Athens Parthenon in the world, built in 1897 for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition. Located in Centennial Park, 2 miles from downtown. Inside stands a 42-foot gilded statue of Athena — the largest indoor sculpture in the Western Hemisphere. The exterior is free to view from the park; interior gallery entry costs about $8. It consistently surprises visitors who expect a novelty and find a serious architectural and sculptural achievement.
Tennessee State Prison (The Green Mile, 1999) Must-see
Davidson County · Nashville · Free (exterior)
The 1898 Gothic Revivalist stone prison in West Nashville — turrets, stone walls, arched gates — was the exterior filming location for The Green Mile (1999) and has appeared in multiple productions since. Decommissioned in 1992 and vacant for decades, it is now being converted to mixed-use development. The exterior is visible from the road and photographed constantly. Guided film-location tours are offered periodically.
Schermerhorn Symphony Center Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · Ticketed
Home of the Nashville Symphony, opened 2006. Designed specifically for orchestral sound by David M. Schwarz — the 1,872-seat Laura Turner Concert Hall uses variable acoustics and a natural daylight system; large windows open at intermission to reveal the Nashville skyline, particularly striking at dusk. Also hosts film-with-orchestra events and touring chamber ensembles.
Adventure Science Center (Nashville) Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · ~$18
Interactive science museum and digital planetarium in Fort Negley Park, overlooking downtown. 175+ hands-on exhibits across health, earth science, and physics. The 75-foot Science Tower is the centerpiece — a themed climb with city views at the top. The planetarium runs multiple shows daily. Best for families with children, though the rocket and physics exhibits draw adults.
Bridgestone Arena (Nashville Predators) Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · Ticketed
17,000-seat arena one block from Lower Broadway. Home of the Nashville Predators (NHL), consistently ranked one of the loudest arenas in hockey — playoff crowds here are a specific phenomenon worth experiencing. Concerts and events run year-round. A Predators home game paired with an evening on Lower Broadway is a reliable Nashville night, October through April.
Planning Notes
Getting around: Downtown Nashville — Lower Broadway, Ryman, Country Music Hall of Fame, NMAAM — is walkable within a half mile. The Parthenon is 2 miles west (rideshare recommended). Loveless Cafe is 12 miles west; The Hermitage is 12 miles east; Belle Meade is 10 minutes from downtown. Franklin and Nolensville are both 20 miles south — combine Carnton Plantation and Martin's into a single southern day-trip.
When to visit: Spring (March–May) and fall (September–November) offer the best weather and manageable crowds. CMA Fest in June draws 80,000+ to downtown and sells out months in advance. Summer weekends are loud and packed throughout Lower Broadway. A Thursday arrival gives you the best version of the city before the weekend surge.