Known for
Live country music along Lower Broadway and historic recording studios
Must-see landmarks
Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Parthenon
Free to visit
Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park and the Tennessee State Capitol
Days needed
2 to 3 days for downtown, Broadway and the music museums
This state park stretches beneath the Tennessee State Capitol, its plaza set with a granite map of Tennessee, walls tracing the state's history and a carillon that rings through the day. Entry is free every day. The walk south towards Broadway is a longer one across the edge of downtown.
Instruments, stage wear and rare recordings trace country music's story inside galleries that open daily from 9:00 to 17:00, with tickets that can add on the Hatch Show Print letterpress shop and the Historic RCA Studio B recording studio. National Museum of African American Music is an 8 minute walk north.
The only museum dedicated to the music created, influenced and inspired by African Americans moves visitors through gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and hip hop galleries with an interactive wristband. Hours run Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00, Sunday and Monday from noon. Ryman Auditorium is a minute's walk away.
Riverboat captain Thomas Ryman built this hall in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle; it hosted the Grand Ole Opry for 31 years until 1974, earning the nickname Mother Church of Country Music. Self-guided tours run 9:00 to 16:00 daily, shorter on show days. Lower Broadway, and the alley Opry stars once used, is right around the corner.
Honky-tonks pack this stretch of Broadway with live bands playing for tips from around 10:00 into the early hours, Tootsies Orchid Lounge among the oldest, its own history recalling Willie Nelson's line about the 17 steps from the Ryman's stage door to its own. Johnny Cash Museum is a 3 minute walk east.
Photographs, instruments and stage costumes trace Johnny Cash's career across this museum on 3rd Avenue South, voted USA Today's best music museum in America four years running. John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge is a 5 minute walk east, the best spot downtown to watch the sun go down over the river.
Opened in 1909 to carry cars between downtown and East Nashville, this truss bridge over the Cumberland now carries only walkers and cyclists, its deck framing the skyline on one side and Nissan Stadium on the other, a fitting close to the day at sunset.
Nashville Ballet presents Live in Studio A plays The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet on 11 September at 19:30.
Bert Kreischer plays Ascend Amphitheater on 12 September at 19:00.
Nashville Symphony plays Schermerhorn Symphony Center on 22 September at 19:30.
Josh Johnson plays Ryman Auditorium on 25 September at 19:00.
Most of the honky-tonks lining Lower Broadway charge no cover, with bands playing for tips from around 10:00 into the early hours; walking in to hear a song, then moving on to the next stage, costs nothing beyond a tip in the jar.
As a Tennessee state park, entry is free every day from dawn to dusk; the plaza's granite map and history walls reward a slower second look than a busy morning stop allows.
Crossing this car-free span over the Cumberland costs nothing, and sunset is the best time, downtown's towers lit up on one side and East Nashville on the other.
Self-guided tours of the Capitol run free on weekdays from 9:00 to 16:00, and free 45 minute guided tours run several times a day; large bags and backpacks are not allowed and all bags are checked at the door.
Walking the lake, lawns and the Parthenon's exterior costs nothing; the museum inside the replica, with its gilded statue of Athena, charges its own admission.
Browsing the market house and sheds beside Bicentennial Mall is free, with a food court, a nursery and weekend vendor stalls to wander even without buying anything.
Granite stars set into the sidewalk on Demonbreun Street honour Nashville's music industry figures, free to see any hour, a block from the Country Music Hall of Fame.
This Civil War fort's boardwalks and markers are free to explore from dawn to dusk, with a small visitor centre open Tuesday to Saturday telling the story of its construction by enslaved and free Black labourers.
Nashville grew up on a bend of the Cumberland River after its founding in 1779, became Tennessee's state capital in 1843, and by the mid-20th century had earned the nickname Music City around WSM radio's Grand Ole Opry broadcasts and the publishing houses, labels and studios that followed downtown. Live country music still fills the blocks around the Ryman every night of the week.
Downtown holds the honky-tonks, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman within a few blocks of each other, with the Cumberland River and the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge at its eastern edge. Music Row, southwest of downtown, keeps the recording studios that built the industry, and the redeveloped rail yard of the Gulch sits between the two, with restaurants and street art. East Nashville, across the river, mixes music venues with a quieter residential feel.
Spring brings Middle Tennessee's severe storm season: the National Weather Service logs roughly two thirds of the region's tornadoes in March, April and May. Summer turns hot and humid, and autumn settles into milder, drier weeks that suit walking downtown. Two to three days cover the music museums, Broadway and the Ryman at an easy pace, with more time worth setting aside for the Grand Ole Opry, the Parthenon or a day trip to the Hermitage.
Downtown, Broadway and the Music Row studios sit close enough to walk between, and WeGo Public Transit's buses cover the rest of the city from a downtown hub. The Grand Ole Opry House and the airport both sit well outside downtown, and a car or rideshare is the practical way to reach either one. The city has been the centre of the country music business since a radio show began broadcasting from it in 1925, which is why it answers where to go in the United States for anyone following live music.