My girlfriend and I want to go to either Memphis of Nashville for my 35th birthday in October.

We would be staying in downtown and not have a car. We love sighseeing, shopping, good eating, and nightlife.

Which city would you suggest?

Thanks for your input!

Memphis

Nashville

Depends on whether you're country chicks or rock n roll chicks.

Lots of musical heritage with both towns. Country in Nashville and R&R (and blues)in Memphis.

Both have everything you're looking for. But you will need a car to properly see either city

My wife and had a similar decision a month ago and picked Nashville. We stayed downtown and was very pleasantly surprised with the city. I would encourage you to go visit the Parthenon in Centennial Park (across the st. from Vanderbilt University). It's an exact replica and is actually quite impressive and interesting. Enjoy!
PS: Do not eat at the Crab House downtown (lousy). However, the Crazy Horse saloon's food is actually quite good and the atmosphere fun.

Nashville!
Beale Street, The Civil Rights Museum, and the ducks at The Peabody are pretty much all we liked about Memphis. Nashville has music( and not just country--which we don't enjoy), history,the new Frist Center,shopping,and lots of great restaurants. I would stay in the west end of Nashville near Vanderbilt--most of the best restaurants and Hillsboro Village shopping are within walking distance. Downtown is a short, cheap cab ride away. We like the Loews Hotel.

Yes I want to visit Memphis because I want to be politically correct and support visiting a place dominated by a black underclass.

Memphis!! You don't need a car downtown--take the trolley where you need to go.
Be sure to take in a Redbirds game at
AutoZone Park, visit the Fire Museum,
have a very nice dinner at Chez Philippe
in The Peabody, do see the ducks at
11:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m., hang out in
the lobby of The Peabody, get to know
Clarence the doorman. Enjoy a meal at
Automatic Slims, a burger at Huey's,
some Thai food at Sawaddi, maybe a
Broadway show at The Orpheum. Walk along
the river front at sunset. Take a cooking class at the Viking culinary
center with some famous chefs. Enjoy!

Memphis! I forgot to mention all the
art galleries on South Main (the trolley
takes you there), all the neat shops,
the restaurants--The Arcade (breakfast),
Zanzibar (lunch; music some nights),
Harry's DeTour for dinner. Be sure to
ride the entire trolley loop, seeing
the river front. Last Friday of the
month is the Trolley Party up and donw South Main. Last Thursday night of the
month is Chef's Table at Chez Philippe at The Peabody with Chef Jose Gutierrez--named as 100 Master Chefs of the century.Mud Island has a
great scale replica of the entire
Mississippi River. Be sure to notice
the "M" bridge lit at night. Try the
new Madison Hotel on Madison. Be sure
to have ribs at The Rendezvous. If
you're a member of a private club, see
if The Plaza Club is one of your
reciprocal clubs. All of this is
downtown Memphis--lived there four
years and still stay downtown every weekend.
AIDA (Elton John/Tim Rice music) Broadway Show is at The Orpheum the
weekend of October 12; Arts in the Park
(Audubon Park--out east) is October 25-27, Zoo Boo is the same weekend as well
as Canstruction at Peabody Place (downtown). Be sure to see the jade
exhibition at Peabody Place. Lots of
good food, lots of good music--a great
website to checkout www.downtownmemphis.com.

Unless you are a country music fan, MEMPHIS! The food is much better, you can walk around downtown, the nightclubs are great. Plus, everyone should visit Graceland!

Definitely Nashville! I've been to both several times and enjoy Nashville much more. I've never really understood why people are so excited about Memphis. There is so much to do in Nashville, and it's a beautiful area. The Vandy/West End/Hillsboro area would be the area you would want to stay in. That's where all of the really hip shops and restaurants are at. Downtown is too touristy.

Nashville !!
Downtown Memphis is dirty and not very safe. Many of the tourist areas have been allowed to deteriorate. There's really not much to see. On the other hand, Nashville has lots to see. The Parthenon,Belle Meade, The Hermitage, Grand Ol Opera, Nightlife. Plus the country side is beautiful.

There are good things about both cities. I would go to the main Fodors and Frommers sites and look at the destination guides for both cities and see which one has more attractions that appeal to you.

The countryside around Nashville is definitely prettier. Nashville also has the huge Opry Mills mall, which is more interesting than your run of the mill mall (has a few more unique stores than most malls).

As others have said, you really need a car to see either city. Both cities' downtown areas tend to be kind of dirty and unsavory.

There are a lot of terrific restaurants in Nashville's Hillsboro Village area, which is located near Vanderbilt University. One of the best is Sunset Grill (www.sunsetgrill.com), which I always took out of town guests to when I lived in Nashville. I don't really know anything about the dining scene in Memphis.

Like I said, both cities have a lot to offer and you should investigate to see what kind of things each has before you decide. You don't say how long you're going to be there, but assuming you're going for a weekend or a long weekend, I don't think you would run out of things to do in either. That said, most of the people I know who have vacationed in both seem to like Nashville better.

I live in Nashville and you wouldn't want to walk around at night in downtown Nashville unless you were in on 2nd Avenue or Riverfront Park. These are tourist areas and usually a lot of people are around. Muggings do happen there, so beware. The advice someone gave you about the Crab House was correct, overpriced and just not good food - just like Mare Bulles.

If you don't have a car, you may want to take a bus tour and be picked up at your hotel. This way you can see everything without renting a car. After that, have your hotel arrange a cab service.

The West End area is safe, close to the Parthenon (Holiday Inn is right across the street) but,you'd have to take a city bus to get around after seeing the Parthenon and who wants to do that?

Hillsboro is a mall, for goodness sake, and again a long drive. Hillsboro Village used to be an artsy place with little shops nesstled next to each other, but has gone down in the last 20 years.

What else is there to see in Hillsboro except Green Hills Mall, people ?? These ladies are from out of town and wish to see something besides specialty shops and sports bars.

Metro Nashville is "sprawling" and although you can drive from one end to the other in about 30 minutes (if there is no traffic, that is) it's a long-long walk between sightseeing attractions.
The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson) is in a suburb and a 40 minute drive from downtown, and Belle Meade Mansion is out Highway 100 or a 20-25 minute drive from downtown. These are not walkable trecks.

Come to Nashville, take a Grayline Tour, hit Cool Springs Mall and go to 2nd Ave. for the nightlife thing.

Good Luck