Cheap Weekend roadtrip out of Nashville TN
 

My 2 best friends and I want to go on a weekend roadtrip out of Nashville, and preferably outside of Tennessee. We are also in college so we have a budget. I need suggestions for a destination no more than 8 hour drive. We don't want to go to Gatlinburg or Memphis. We are interested in music, fun outdoor activities, and nightlife!

Dollywood? Natural Bridge VA and a section of the Skyline Drive?

Do you like bluegrass music? Check out Floyd, Virginia.

Asheville, North Carolina is roughly 4.5 hours away.

But since you're willing to drive 8 hours, consider New Orleans or Savannah.

Chicago, St Louis, Louisville, Cincy, Chattanooga, Atlanta

Atlanta is about a 4 hr drive. You could stay north of the city, maybe Sandy Springs, cheaply. There's a Microtel Inn, a La Quinta Inn and an Extended-Stay-America very close to the transit center so you can ride Marta back & forth into Atlanta and not worry about parking/city traffic.

Nearby you have Cochran Shoals/ Powers Island, a
park on the Chattahoochee River Water Trail with areas for hiking, biking, canoeing & bird-watching. The area is part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Find out what's going on in Atlanta here:
http://www.atlanta.net/events/

Go to visit the bourbon distilleries around Louisville if you are 21. That's less than a 3-hour drive, and Louisville is also a university town that will have music and nightlife.

If you want to go further afield, go to Asheville, NC, which is about 5 hours and a fun place with a lot of nearby outdoor activities that are pretty cheap.

Lexington, Kentucky - home of the University of Kentucky! Such a cute, funky town.