Nashville things to do - opinion on best in list
 

Hi,
I have two nights and one full day in Nashville. I have been given a fantastic list of things to do but know I can't get it all done. If folks out there have an opinion on the list below I would love to hear your thoughts or if you have additional suggestions! Thanks!

To Hear Music:
• Exit/In (Elliston Place)
• Station Inn (12th Ave)
• 12th and Porter
• 3rd and Lindsley
• Blue Bird Café (very famous but you need a car to get there)

Things to do:
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• Grand Ole Opry
• Nashtrash tours on a pink bus
• Belle Meade Mansion
• Frist Center for Visaul Arts Museum
• Travellers Plantation
• Percy Warner Park
• Vanderbilt University
• Cheekwood forest and gardens
• Nashville Parthenon & Parthenon museum in Centennial park
• Hermitage, Home to Andrew Jackson

Bars with Live Music:
• Wildhorse Saloon (line dancing)
• Lonnies Western Room on Printer’s Alley (country karaoke)
• Bars on Printer’s Alley
• Roberts (live music)
• Tootie’s Orchid Lounge
• Legends
• The Stage

Bars:

• Flying Saucer
• Broadway Brewhouse and Mojo Grill

Good restaurants for lunch/dinner:

• Merchants (downtown)
• Amerigo-Itailian (west end)
• Mafiaozza’s
• Sole Mia- Italian (3rd Ave)
• Park Café
• Mellow Mushroom Pizza (21st Ave)
• Mambu (Hayes street)
• Southstreet
• Calypso
• Green Hills Grille
• Lunch/snack: Bread Co (west end)
• Boscos (21st Ave)
• Coffee/lunch/snack: Café Cocco
• Jacks-Bar-B-Que

Upscale restaurants:

• Sunset Grille (Belcourt Ave in Hilsboro village)
• Bound’ry (west end)
• Mad Platter (8th Ave)

Best Breakfast/Brunch:

• Pancake Pantry for a true southern breakfast and a million choices of pancakes (21 Ave at the beginning of Hilsboro village)
• Noshville (Broadway)
• Tin Roof
• Loveless Café

I am a great fan of the Bluebird. And while you do need wheels to get there, you can get a cab. You are going to need transportation to most of the places on your list.

If your days include a Friday or Saturday evening, the Grand Ole Opry is a milestone event. Worth the price and the time.

I'm not a pancake fan, but the ones at the Pancake Pantry were the best I've ever had.

I agree with the recommendation of seeing the Grand Ole Opry show--if it's at the opry house (as opposed to the Ryman), book the backstage tour in advance.

We only went to Cheekwood because there was an outdoor, nighttime Chihuly exhibit, which was fabulous.

Really liked: Country Music Museum & HoF, Parthenon, Tennessee State Museum, Bicentennial State Park.

Good, but not our favorites: Belle Meade, Frist, Hermitage (the farthest away spot you've mentioned).

Wild Horse was fun; for our other evenings, we just strolled around Broadway & 2nd, stopped in where the music appealed to us.

When are you visiting? That's a great list. Some thoughts:

For music, those are some great venues - I'd just see who's playing and make your decision there. Exit/In, 12th & Porter and 3rd & Lindsley tend to have more rock/pop/Americana acts, Station Inn is bluegrass, and the Bluebird is singer/songwriters. If you've never heard of anyone playing at any of them and just want an experience, go to the Bluebird, but buy tickets in advance. They tend to sell out often anyway, and with <i>Nashville</i> featuring them, I've heard business is really booming.

During the day, my personal preference would be the CMHOF + the Ryman backstage tour if you're at all interested in country music (I don't care for most of what's on the radio, but do love hearing the history of it). If you're more into history, you could do one or two of the Hermitage, Belle Meade, or Carnton Plantation in Franklin. The Vandy campus is really nice, but not really a tourist attraction. If you're over there, it's worth a walk through. The Parthenon is just across West End Avenue from campus.

Tin Roof is a bar on Music Row - if they have breakfast, I've never heard of it! Pancake Pantry is delicious, but will have a really long line on the weekends, so just be prepared. Marche in East Nashville has a fantastic brunch on Saturdays and Sundays and good breakfast every other day; its sister restaurant, Margot, is higher end and really delicious. I'd knock off Mellow Mushroom and Bosco's from your list; Jack's is not my favorite but a lot of people like it. I think Green Hills Grille closed. Park Cafe is great, but it's in Sylvan Park, not near most other things on your list. Otherwise, you've got some good suggestions; I'd add City House and Margot. If you want Southern food without driving out to the Loveless, try Monell's.

Not big on bars or live non-classical music, so can't help you there.

Attractions from your list I liked a lot: Country Music Hall of Fame, Belle Meade Plantation, The Hermitage.

The Frist has no permanent collection, so check first to see what they're offering. I liked what they had the time I went.

I very much liked Belmont Mansion, a really impressive historic home that's not far from Vanderbilt, and much closer to downtown than Belle Meade or The Hermitage.

The Tennessee State Museum is both large and excellent of its kind. The state capitol building is also attractive and worth a look. Also enjoyed touring the Ryman Auditorium.

I wasn't a big fan of the Opry-area attractions, but if you're a die-hard Dukes of Hazzard fan (Cooter's Place) or really mad about seeing Willie Nelson's personal effects for a comparatively hefty fee (Willie Nelson and Friends Museum), have at it. The Parthenon is kind of fun to see in a kind of kitchy way, but I say don't get your hopes up about its lackluster art collection.

Re food, I liked the Pancake Pantry and Jack's BBQ from your list. Two southern "meat and three" spots that are really good: Arnold's Country Kitchen and Monell's (the former cafeteria style, the latter family style). There are also a couple hot chicken dives, the best known being Prince's (drive if you go here, as the area is reportedly dicey) -- I went to Bolton's, which is a dump (though at least not in a bad area), but the spicy hot fried chicken and sides I had there were wonderful.

Please do NOT go to Amerigo. There is nothing special about that place whatsoever.

Definitely try to get to Margot or Marche - my friend owns both and I recently tried Margot, which was terrific. You will need a car to get there or take a cab.

If you are going to Vandy and want a quick, cheap, and delicious lunch go behind the Library to 21st Avenue south and hit up San Antonio Taco Company. I'm obsessed...but I went to Vandy and we all are! Bread and Co is also nothing special, just a chain with sandwiches and salads.

Nashville is not really a walking city. I rented a car recently because it was cheaper to do that than take a cab to and from the airport. Thankfully this was a GREAT idea on my end because I got stuck there during Sandy, and it was absolutely necessary I had a set a wheels.

I would also skil Solo Mia overpriced and has really gone down in the past few years. Amen to Amerigo's from the person above. Tin angel is a local restaurant that is reasonable and always good. Very laid back.

I live here and never go to Pancake Pantry - too crowded and over-hyped. Monell's is good but I really like Midtown Cafe and Sitar for Indian food in the Vandy/Baptist hospital area.

I'll weigh in on my experience regarding whether one needs a car when sightseeing in Nashville or not. I actually spent ca. 3-4 days here and did so just fine using public transportation and walking. But to make this work, you need to:

--stay downtown. You can walk to all the downtown attractions easily this way, and the central city bus hub is located here right by the state capitol building, which allows you to reach all but the far outlying attractions. I went to The Parthenon, Belmont Mansion, Lane Motor Museum, and Opryland area via bus from downtown with ease.

--use the Gray Line Tour to see Belle Meade and The Hermitage, neither of which are reachable via public transportation. This tour takes about a half day, which is about the amount of time one would likely want to spend at these two attractions.

If you've got your heart set on visiting well-outlying things like Cheekwood or the Carnton Plantation or Stones River Battlefield, you'll probably need to rent a car. But otherwise, you don't have to if you plan ahead a bit.

Saving, thanks!