Post published on August 3, 2023 by vspiceroute

Last post modified on August 23, 2023 by vspiceroute

After visiting Nashville twice, I was in love with the vibe of this beautiful city. It is known for country music scene at the bars and clubs also called Honky Tonk. Most places we visited including shops had live music. The city is very pretty and also famous for bachelorette parties. 

Accommodation 

Both the times we visited Nashville, we stayed at our friends place about 20 minutes from Nashville in town called Franklin. There are many hotels in the Nashville downtown area. You can also book an Airbnb instead. 

What is the best time to visit?

We have been here in Summer and Fall. We recommend visiting Nashville in Fall or Spring as the temperature are much cooler around mid 65-75 degree Faranheit. 

How many days do you need to visit Nashville?

2-3 days should be more than enough to explore the music scene, experience food and feel the vibe of the city. 

Things to see (Attractions)  

 

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Country music Hall of Fame and Museum is gallery featuring art exhibit about country music. It is the best place to learn about this genre. It is located on Music Row downtown and you can easily spend few hours here.

Honky Tonk Highway

Honky Tonk Highway that is also called Broadway is one of the most famous streets in Nashville.  It has a stretch of Honky Tonk bars or clubs that is known for its live country music and fun vibe. If you are traveling with kids, head to these bars before 9pm and after 9 pm you will see crowd get wild. There is no cover charge and music is live all day along.

Parthenon

Parthenon is located in Centennial Park. It is a replica of Parthenon from Athens Greece. It is exact size as the one from Greece and it has art exhibits. You can easily spend few hours here taking beautiful pictures. 

John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge

The Seigenthaler bridge connects East Nashville to Nashville downtown. The bridge has beautiful view of the skyline. The bridge is pedestrian only and the best time to visit is during sunset as you can see the lights turn on at night. 

Opry House

Grand Ole Opry is a longest running broadcasted radio show that is known for live country music. The show has made country music and city of Nashville famous. You can watch live concerts or you can also do day time tour of the theater. 

Party Vehicle

If you are visiting without kids, you can take one of the party vehicles around the city that includes a dj and bartender.  There is an endless list of vehicles you will see in the city but to name a few we saw party buses, golf carts, trucks, monster trucks, tractors and bikes. 

Printer’s Alley

Printer’s Alley was once a center of city’s printing industry and is now a center of nightlife. There are tons of bars, karoeke joints and club to checkout in this alley. 

Nashville Zoo

If you are traveling with kids, you can spend 3-4 hours at the Nashville zoo. It is 188 acres and has been marked as best regional attraction in Tennessee.

Day /Weekend trips from Nashville  

Day Trip

Rock City Garden – We visited Rock City gardens which is 2 and 1/2 hours from Nashville downtown. It is a popular tourist location close to Chattanooga Tennesse. It is a fun 4100 ft trail that goes in and out of natural rock. You will be walking in between the rocks and there is viewpoint where you can see 7 states. It is pet friendly and you can easily spend 2-3 hours there. There are few restaurants that has veg options available. You can make a timed reservations on their website and if you live close by you can purchase their annual pass. 

Weekend Trip

Great smoky mountains – Smoky mountains national park is 4 and 1/2 hour drive from Nashville. It is one of the most visited national park and you can easily spend 2-3 days here. You can book a cabin with the beautiful Mountain View. There are plenty of things to do such as hiking, valley overlook, scenic drives and downtown area that has shops and restauratns. The place is kid friendly and there are plenty of mini golf experiences and arcade in the downtown area. 

 

Where can you find vegetarian food ?

Nashville is vegan and vegetarian friendly. Most restaurants have 3-4 vegetarian options on their menu and there are plenty of vegan restaurants in the city.  Listing down some restaurants that we enjoyed in Nashville.  

  • Assembly Food Hall – is a foodcourt in Nashville downtown that has 30+ eateries, bars and rooftops. There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants and the live music is an add on. Some places we tried here:

    1. The Pharmacy Garden- It is a sister shop of the local Nashville Burger chain  called The Pharmacy Burger that serves plant based burgers and salads. There is plenty to pick from the menu and our favorite was Fried Chick’n Sandwich. 
    2. Horu Sushi Kitchen – They had made to order rolls and had lots of vegetarian options. One of our favorite was Vegetarian Hurricane Roll, we haven’t tried a sushi like this one before. 
    3. Velvet Tacos – They serve variety of tacos and our favorite was Nashville Hot Tofu and Beer Battered Cauliflower Tacos 
    4. Saffron Indian Kitchen – They serve variety of indian food and we asked them to assemble jain food for us. They made Jain Hakka noodles that tasted good
    5. No Bake Cookie Dough- This is an egg free and vegan friendly cookie dough company. The Cookies-N-Cream tasted so good and also try their half baked Sundays.

Other Restaurants

  • Woodlands- If you are looking for Vegetarian Indian restaurant, then we tried Woodlands Indian restaurant, the food overall was decent.

  • Wild Cow – It is one of the oldest vegan restaurant in Nashville. The sandwiches were amazing and the food was delicous. If you like fake meat they had lots of options. 

  • Five Daughter’s Bakery – Looking for some amazing Donuts then you must visit this place. They have variety of Donuts and a lot of times they run out. Our favorite was the Glazed and Chocolate. 

  • Taco Bell – Nashville has a Taco Bell with live music that I would recommend visiting. Kids not allowed after 9 pm 

Listing some restaurants that was recommended but we did not try 

Avo 

Ganpati Mandir 

615 Chutney – recommended by many people for South Indian food 

Inchins Bamboo Kitchen 

Surati 

Taj Indian food

Tailor- high end indian restaurant 

Graze 

Vegelicous 

Grins 

Deep Sea Vegan 

Radical Rabbit 

Rise Biscuit 

Hampton Social – Rooftop 

Il Forno 

Golden Pizza and Indian restaurant – Punjabi food 

Shopping

Shopping in Nashville was so much fun as I found some unique stores that are local to Nashville area. The boutique stores in the Gulch area was worth checking out as I found many things that I would not find in NYC. Listing some stores you must check out while you there. 

I highly recommend buying the Cowboy boots or Cowgirl boots before you arrive as you are going to want to rock them while you visit this city. 

Boots

  1. Boot Barn- If you did not buy the boots ahead of time, checkout Boot Barn for lot of options. The boots may be expensive but you fill find different sizes and colors.
  2. Ariat- most locals recommended to checkout this store for good quality Boots and clothing. They carry equestrian sportswear for both men and women. 

Clothes

  1. Kittenish – This is a local brand from Nashville that has clothing and accesories for women. I have been here several times and have found cool things at this store. The prices are affordable compared to other stores in the area. 
  2. Rustler Hat Co.- This is local Nashville Hat company that lets you design hat the way you want. They also had leather jackets that fitted well. 
  3. Parish – It is a cute boutique store that is worth checking out. The prices were high but some of the things will not be found anywhere else 
  4. E. Allen Boutique – another boutique store in the area that had unique pieces 

Instragrammable places in Nashville 

  1. You must visit WhatLifts You Wings Mural. This is pretty butterfly mural where you can take amazing pictures with friends and family in front of the mural 
  2. Kittenish store – must visit the kittenish store for a beautiful flower back drop. You can sit or stand in front of the pic take gorgeous pictures 
  3. The Parthenon is an amazing place to take pictures. You can also plan a photo shoot here around the pillars 
  4. John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge – The bridge had gorgeous views of the water and the city and its a pretty spot to take pictures 

Click here to checkout other travel guides

More info https://www.visitmusiccity.com