15 Things to Do in Nashville, Ranked

Top 15 · Local ConsensusUpdated August 2026

Nashville's visitor map is tighter than the metro sprawl suggests. Most of what draws people here sits in a walkable downtown core: the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman, the honky tonk strip on Lower Broadway and two more music museums within a few blocks of each other. The rest spreads along a few clear lines, with Music Row and Centennial Park to the west, the Opry House and the Shelby Park greenways east across the Cumberland, and gardens, a zoo and the state museum out on the edges. Plan by district, walk downtown, and drive or ride for everything else.

The top 15, ranked

Ranked by how consistently each pick appears across official Nashville sources, the local destination marketing organization, and recent independent roundups.

1. Top pick
   #1
   Best for First timers and anyone curious about the music · #1 of 15

   Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

   MuseumDowntown and SoBroOpen daily, morning to late afternoon$20 to $40

   The two floor permanent exhibit walks country music from ballads and string bands through Nashville's studio era to the present, using instruments, stage clothes, handwritten lyrics and listening stations rather than text panels alone. You see Maybelle Carter's guitar, Elvis's gold Cadillac and a wall of rhinestone suits in the same building. The Hall of Fame rotunda at the end is a quiet circular room lined with bronze plaques, and it reframes everything you just walked through. Rotating exhibits cover single artists and regional scenes, so the museum is genuinely different between visits.

   Local tipIf you want RCA Studio B, buy the combination ticket here, because the guided tour leaves by shuttle from this building and the studio has no walk up entrance.

   Kid friendly · Indoors · 2 to 3 hours Listed by 4 sourcesOfficial site →
2. Top pick
   #2
   Best for Standing in the room that matters · #2 of 15

   Ryman Auditorium

   Music venueDowntown and SoBroDaytime tours run daily, with shortened hours on show daysVaries

   The 1892 tabernacle turned concert hall held the Grand Ole Opry for three decades and still has the curved wooden pews, the arched stained glass windows and the balcony that gave it a reputation for sound. Daytime tours put you on the floor and on the stage, and take you through backstage dressing rooms named for Opry members. At night it runs as a working touring venue, so the calendar swings from bluegrass and gospel to rock and comedy. From the back of the balcony you can still hear an unamplified voice clearly, which is the whole point of the building.

   Local tipIf a show you like is on your dates, buy a ticket instead of a daytime tour, since sitting through a full set tells you far more about the room than walking an empty floor.

   Kid friendly · Indoors · 1 to 2 hours for a tour Listed by 4 sourcesOfficial site →
3. Top pick
   #3
   Best for A live show that could only be Nashville · #3 of 15

   Grand Ole Opry

   Music venueEast Nashville and OprylandShow nights vary through the week, with more dates in summerVaries

   The Opry is a live radio broadcast that has run continuously for a century, and the format has barely changed: six or seven acts play two or three songs each, with the sponsor reads delivered from the stage between segments. The lineup mixes Opry members, older legends and newer artists, and the full bill is often announced close to the date, so part of the deal is not knowing exactly who you will get. The Opry House is a large modern theater with a circle of oak cut from the Ryman stage set into the floor, and performers still step onto it to sing. Daytime backstage tours walk you through the dressing rooms and out onto that stage.

   Local tipCheck which venue is printed on your ticket, because some dates are staged at the Ryman downtown rather than the Opry House, and the two are twenty minutes apart.

   Kid friendly · Indoors · 2 to 3 hours Listed by 4 sourcesOfficial site →
4. #4
   Best for Honky tonk music with no cover · #4 of 15

   Robert's Western World

   Music venueDowntown and SoBroOpen daily from late morning until the small hoursFree

   Robert's sits in the middle of the Lower Broadway honky tonk strip and is the room locals still send people to, because the bands play traditional country instead of a rotating classic rock set. It was a boot store before it was a bar, and the wall of boots is still stacked behind the stage. Bands work a long rotation from late morning until the small hours, there is no cover, and a bucket goes around for tips. The kitchen turns out a fried bologna sandwich that has become the standard order on the block.

   Local tipIt is all ages until early evening and twenty one and over after, so bring children in the afternoon, when the daytime bands are often the best players on Broadway anyway.

   Indoors · 1 to 2 hours Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
5. #5
   Best for The city's strangest landmark · #5 of 15

   The Parthenon at Centennial Park

   LandmarkMidtown and Music RowOpen daily, with a later start on SundaysUnder $20

   Nashville built a plaster Parthenon for its 1897 centennial exposition, liked it too much to tear down, and rebuilt it in concrete to last. It is a full scale replica of the Athens temple, matched in proportion and detail down to the pediment sculptures, and inside stands a gilded Athena forty two feet tall. The lower level works as a small art museum, with a permanent collection of American paintings from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries plus rotating shows. Outside, Centennial Park spreads over lawns, a lake and a band shell, all free and open through the day.

   Local tipTickets are sold only at the door, so bring a card and go on a weekday morning when the Athena chamber is close to empty and the light through the doorway is best.

   Kid friendly · Both · 1 to 2 hours Listed by 4 sourcesOfficial site →
6. #6
   Best for Understanding where the music came from · #6 of 15

   National Museum of African American Music

   MuseumDowntown and SoBroOpen daily, with a later start on Mondays and Sundays$20 to $40

   NMAAM traces more than fifty genres back to their African American origins across five galleries, moving from spirituals and the ring shout into blues, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, and hip hop. The Rivers of Rhythm corridor runs the length of the museum as an interactive timeline where you can pull up recordings and follow how one form branched into another. Every gallery has something you do rather than read: mix a track, sing with a gospel choir, record a verse and take the file home. It stands at Fifth and Broadway, a block from the honky tonks, and it makes the rest of musical Nashville legible.

   Local tipTake the wristband at the entrance and tap it at every station, because it saves your recordings and mixes and sends them to you after you leave.

   Kid friendly · Indoors · 2 to 3 hours Listed by 4 sourcesOfficial site →
7. #7
   Best for Music history in the actual room · #7 of 15

   Historic RCA Studio B

   Historic siteMidtown and Music RowGuided tours run daily, departing from the museum downtownOver $40

   Studio B is a plain brick building on Music Row where Elvis Presley cut more than two hundred sides and where Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers and Waylon Jennings recorded through the years that built the Nashville Sound. The guided tour puts you in the live room with the original piano and the acoustic tile, and guides play masters back through the monitors so you hear what the space did to a voice. It is small, undressed and still a working studio at times, which is exactly why it lands. Tours run by shuttle from the Country Music Hall of Fame downtown rather than from the door.

   Local tipBook the combination ticket ahead of your visit, since shuttle seats are limited and the studio does not take walk up visitors.

   Indoors · 1 hour Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
8. #8
   Best for A half day away from the downtown noise · #8 of 15

   Cheekwood Estate and Gardens

   GardenWest Nashville and Belle MeadeClosed Mondays and major holidays$20 to $40

   Cheekwood is a 1930s limestone mansion set on fifty five acres of formal gardens, built by the family behind Maxwell House coffee. The house now works as an art museum of American painting and decorative arts, and the grounds hold a Japanese garden, a walled herb garden, a wisteria arbor and long views west over the hills. The calendar is built around seasonal installations, with tulips and flowering trees in spring, exhibitions through the summer and a light display over the winter holidays. It sits about twenty minutes from downtown and rewards a slow pace rather than a quick loop.

   Local tipCome in the morning during summer, since the gardens have limited shade and Middle Tennessee afternoon heat is genuinely draining.

   Kid friendly · Both · 2 to 4 hours Listed by 4 sourcesOfficial site →
9. 9
   Best for Families with a full morning · #9 of 15

   Nashville Zoo at Grassmere

   ZooSouth NashvilleOpen daily, with shorter hours in winterVaries

   The zoo occupies the old Grassmere farm south of downtown and has grown into a serious collection, with Sumatran tigers, clouded leopards, Amur leopards, white rhinos and a kangaroo walkabout where the animals move freely along the visitor path. Keeper talks run through the day on a posted schedule, and the big cat and rhino habitats are built for long sightlines rather than glass boxes. The Grassmere Historic Home and its farm animals sit on the same grounds and open seasonally, which gives the visit a second layer. The playground and water play area near the entrance are large enough that leaving becomes a negotiation.

   Local tipTicket prices change by date, so a weekday booked online is usually the cheapest way in, and the animals are noticeably more active in the first hour after opening.

   Kid friendly · Outdoors · 3 to 4 hours Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
10. #10
    Best for One artist, told properly · #10 of 15

    Johnny Cash Museum

    MuseumDowntown and SoBroOpen daily, morning to evening$20 to $40

    This is a single artist museum built on the largest private collection of Cash material, assembled by a collector who worked closely with the family. You get handwritten lyrics, stage clothes, gold records, letters, film clips and a salvaged stone wall from the lake house that burned, along with listening stations for the prison albums and the late American Recordings. It is compact and densely packed rather than sprawling, which suits a career that was itself tightly focused. The location on Third Avenue South is a block off Broadway, so it slots easily between other downtown stops.

    Local tipIt is a small building that jams up in the middle of the day, so arrive right at opening or in the last hour, when Broadway is loud and the galleries are quiet.

    Kid friendly · Indoors · 1 to 2 hours Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
11. #11
    Best for Art inside a building worth seeing · #11 of 15

    Frist Art Museum

    MuseumDowntown and SoBroClosed Tuesdays and Wednesdays$20 to $40

    The Frist holds no permanent collection, which turns out to be its strength: it runs borrowed exhibitions that swing between old master painting, photography, design and contemporary work, so what is hanging is genuinely different each time you come. The building is Nashville's 1934 art deco post office, and the marble halls, aluminum grillwork and terrazzo floors are as worth the walk as most of the shows. Upstairs, the Martin ArtQuest gallery is a free hands on studio for children with printmaking, animation and drawing stations. Admission is free for anyone eighteen and under, which makes it one of the better family stops downtown.

    Local tipCheck what is on before you commit, and either way walk through the lobby, since the deco interior is public and costs nothing to see.

    Kid friendly · Indoors · 1 to 2 hours Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
12. 12
    Best for Free state history done properly · #12 of 15

    Tennessee State Museum

    MuseumGermantown and the CapitolClosed Mondays and major holidaysFree

    The state museum moved into a purpose built hall at the north end of Bicentennial Capitol Mall, and it is free, which makes it the best value downtown. Six chronological galleries run from the earliest peoples of the region through frontier settlement, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the civil rights era and the twentieth century, built around original objects rather than reproductions. There is a deep collection of Tennessee decorative arts and a large rotating exhibition space on the ground floor. Children get a dedicated discovery area with hands on stations, and the whole building is easy to move through.

    Local tipPair it with Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park just outside, where a granite map of Tennessee, a wall of state history and a fountain for each of the state's rivers fill the long lawn below the Capitol.

    Kid friendly · Indoors · 2 to 3 hours Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
13. #13
    Best for The most affecting free hour downtown · #13 of 15

    Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library

    Historic siteDowntown and SoBroOpen during library hours, with short hours on SundaysFree

    Nashville's lunch counter sit ins in 1960 made it the first major southern city to desegregate its downtown counters, and the students who organized them went on to lead much of the national movement. The library's second floor room is built around a circular white counter with stools you are meant to sit on, ringed by a glass wall carved with the ten rules of conduct the students carried into the stores. Large black and white photographs line the walls, including the confrontation on the courthouse steps, alongside a timeline that ties local events to national ones. A short film plays next door, and none of it costs anything.

    Local tipThe room sits inside the Nashville Room at the north end of the second floor, and Sunday hours are short, so go on a weekday if your schedule allows.

    Kid friendly · Indoors · 45 minutes to 1 hour Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
14. #14
    Best for Getting outside without leaving town · #14 of 15

    Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Nature Center

    ParkEast Nashville and OprylandGreenway open daily, dawn to dusk. Nature center closed Sundays and MondaysFree

    Shelby Bottoms protects more than nine hundred acres of Cumberland River floodplain on the east side, with roughly five miles of paved accessible greenway and another five of primitive trail running through bottomland forest, wetland and open meadow. It connects straight into Shelby Park, so you can start at the nature center, walk or ride out to the river overlooks and come back past the lake and ball fields. The nature center is free, runs regular guided walks and lends binoculars for the herons, hawks and migrating songbirds that use the wetlands. It is the closest thing to open country you can reach from downtown on a bike.

    Local tipThe paved greenway runs west toward the pedestrian bridge and downtown, so renting a bike in East Nashville turns this into a half day loop instead of an out and back walk.

    Kid friendly · Outdoors · 1 to 3 hours Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →
15. #15
    Best for Lunch and a look at how the city eats · #15 of 15

    Nashville Farmers Market

    MarketGermantown and the CapitolMarket House open daily. Farm Sheds busiest Friday through SundayFree

    The market has traded in some form since the eighteen hundreds and now fills a covered campus between Bicentennial Capitol Mall and Germantown. Open air Farm Sheds hold produce growers and craft vendors on the busy days, while the enclosed Market House runs year round as a food hall with counters covering Ethiopian, Jamaican, Vietnamese, barbecue, tacos and biscuits. A garden center occupies the north end, and picnic tables sit throughout the campus. On site parking is free for a couple of hours, which is not something you can say about much of downtown.

    Local tipThe Farm Sheds fill up Friday through Sunday, but the Market House counters run every day, so a weekday lunch here is fast, cheap and easy to park for.

    Kid friendly · Both · 1 to 2 hours Listed by 3 sourcesOfficial site →

Where things cluster

A quick orientation so you can group stops instead of crossing Nashville twice.

1. Downtown and SoBroThe compact core between the Cumberland River and the interstate loop, holding Lower Broadway, the Ryman, three music museums and the Frist. Everything here works on foot, and the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge carries you over the river to the east bank for the best free skyline view in the city.
2. Midtown and Music RowWest of downtown along Broadway and West End Avenue, where the recording studios, Vanderbilt and Centennial Park sit within a mile of each other. Music Row itself is a quiet residential grid of converted houses, and a short bus ride or rideshare links the whole area back to Broadway.
3. Germantown and the CapitolThe blocks north of Broadway climb to the State Capitol, then drop down the long lawn of Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park to the Farmers Market and the brick streets of Germantown. It is about a fifteen minute walk from Lower Broadway and makes a good half day on foot.
4. East Nashville and OprylandAcross the river, East Nashville is a low rise grid of bungalows, coffee shops, record stores and the Shelby Park greenway system. Further out along the Cumberland, Opryland holds the Grand Ole Opry House, a resort and an outlet mall, roughly twenty minutes by car from downtown.
5. West Nashville and Belle MeadeLeafy, hilly and residential, the west side holds Cheekwood, the Warner Parks and the old Belle Meade estate. You will want a car out here, and the drive along Harding Road under the tree canopy is part of what you came for.
6. South NashvilleSouth of the interstate the ground rises toward Fort Negley and the Adventure Science Center, then flattens out toward the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. It is a short drive from downtown and the least walkable of the visitor areas, so plan to park once and stay put.

Make it a day

Map

Best time to visit

April, May, September and October are the reliable windows, with warm days, cool evenings and the gardens either in bloom or turning. Summer is hot and humid in a way that shortens outdoor plans, and afternoon thunderstorms roll through often, so build the indoor museums into the middle of the day from June through August. Winter is mild by northern standards but grey and wet, and it is when Cheekwood runs its holiday light display and the Opry stages part of its season downtown at the Ryman. Crowds peak around the big June music festival and around home football Saturdays in the fall, when downtown hotel rates climb sharply. Almost nothing closes seasonally, though the gardens and outdoor sites look thin through January and February.

Plan with confidence

Nashville things to do FAQ

Parking, timing, cost, and weather answers for a smoother visit.

How many days do you need in Nashville?

Two full days covers the core: one for the downtown museums and Broadway, one for whichever outer area matches your interests. Three days lets you add a night at the Grand Ole Opry plus a half day at Cheekwood or the zoo without rushing anything. If you are coming for a specific show or festival, add a day on either side, because traffic and hotel rates both spike around big events.

What is the best free thing to do in Nashville?

Walking the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge at dusk gives you the whole skyline and the river for nothing, and it takes about fifteen minutes each way. For something with more substance, the Civil Rights Room at the main library and the Tennessee State Museum are both free and both genuinely good. Lower Broadway's honky tonks charge no cover either, so you can hear several bands for the price of a drink and a tip in the bucket.

Is Broadway worth it, or is it too touristy?

It is genuinely touristy, and it is also where a lot of very good players work every day of the week. The trick is timing and choosing: go in the afternoon rather than late at night, stick to the older rooms like Robert's Western World instead of the multi floor bars with rooftop DJs, and treat it as one stop rather than the point of the trip. If the noise is not for you, the Ryman two blocks away is a far better room for actually listening to music.

What is the best way to get around Nashville?

Downtown is walkable end to end, so the museums, Broadway and the pedestrian bridge all connect on foot. Beyond that you will want a car or rideshare, because WeGo Public Transit runs its buses on a hub and spoke pattern through Music City Central downtown, and the single commuter rail line, the WeGo Star, runs east on a weekday schedule aimed at commuters rather than visitors. Parking downtown is expensive and scarce on show nights, so many visitors park once at the hotel and ride from there. Scooters and bikes work well along the riverfront and the greenway network.

Where should you stay in Nashville?

Downtown and SoBro put you in walking range of nearly everything on this list, at the highest rates and with the most street noise, especially on weekend nights. The Gulch and Midtown sit a short ride out, quieter, and closer to Music Row and Centennial Park. East Nashville has the strongest neighborhood feel and the most independent restaurants, and it is a five minute drive or a walk across the pedestrian bridge from downtown. Germantown is the quiet compromise, walkable to the Farmers Market, the state museum and the ballpark.

When is the best time to visit Nashville?

April through early June and September through October give you the most comfortable weather and the fullest events calendar. July and August are hot and humid with regular afternoon storms, which is workable if you plan the museums for the middle of the day. Winter is mild and cheaper, with thinner crowds, and it is when the Opry stages part of its run at the Ryman downtown. Avoid the weeks around the biggest June music festival unless that is exactly why you are coming, since the whole of downtown fills up.

Build the rest of the trip

Keep planning

Use these nearby guides to extend your Nashville trip with a different pace and a clear next stop.

01Nashville food guideMeat and three plates, biscuits and the counters worth planning a meal around.→02Nashville hot chickenWhat the heat levels actually mean and where to order your first plate.→03The HermitageAndrew Jackson’s plantation home east of the city, and how to read it honestly.→04Things to do in MemphisThree hours west for Beale Street, Sun Studio and a very different Tennessee.→

Photos via Wikimedia Commons. Credits: Quintin Soloviev, Antony-22, Warren LeMay from Chicago, IL, United States, Euthman, The Erica Chang, Sharon Mollerus, Adinda Uneputty, MaxKelley620, Michael Rivera.
#9 Nashville Zoo at Grassmere: Timothy Rhyne timothy_rhyne, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Square crop.
#12 Tennessee State Museum: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Square crop.