what are the must-sees in Nashville?
 

I am going to Nashville for a week and have never been there. Can anyone recommend things that absolutely should not be missed- shows, restaurants, shopping, museums, etc.?

In addition to the Vanderbilt University campus, the state capitol, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Opryland/Grand Old Opry, and the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home), this is one thing I always enjoy. http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/Bicentennial/ It's downtown and just behind the state capitol. You can run or walk there and get an excellent history and geography lesson. It's extremely well done, and a good place for a morning walk if you're staying downtown.

Thanks, those are great suggestions. I do enjoy country music and will visit the opry. I also wanted to add that I like most kinds of attractions- museums, plays, parks, etc.; and the sorts of restaurants I am looking for are casual dining, not too expensive. Does anyone have any experience with any of the bus tours? I was going to try the Nash Trash but they are sold out.

The Frist Center for the Arts is a great art museum; the building is fabulous. A very well done renovation of a beautiful art deco post office. It was completed about six years ago.

The Country Music Hall of Fame is very well done too.

The Parthenon is cool as well: an exact replica of the Parthenon in Greece. With its big grassy park, its great for goofing around, pikniking, or people watching. It's near Vandy.

Oops. I clicked when I should have clacked. Where was I? Oh yeah,

Downtown, you should catch whoever is playing at the Ryman Auditorium. Almost whoever, but you should try to go to the Ryman -- it's where the Grand Ol' Opry began. My wife and I got to see George Jones there as well as Bela Fleck with an all-star supporting cast.

Radner Lake is a nice place to take a stroll or a light run. There's a paved path around the lake which works out to be about a mile long loop.

OpryLand is amazing, especially around the holidays, but a fun place to visit regardless.

Can't think of too much more off the top of my head, except the Stagecoach Inn if you're a fan of Bluegrass.

And it's always worth while to have a beer at Tootsies Orchid Lounge. And Robert's Western Wear.

Have fun,
Dan
www.familyroadtrippers.blogspot.com

Bluebird Cafe has great live bands everynight. Their schedule is at their web site www.bluebirdcafe.com. Tickets are modestly priced. I have enjoyed every show I have attended.

You can day trip from Nashville to Mammoth Cave.

A week will give you lots of time to explore the area; but you will need a car. Downtown: visit the Ryman, Frist Center, 2nd Ave. area, Hermitage Hotel, Union Station and Country Music Hall of Fame. Check for shows: Ryman, Schermerhorn, Bluebird, Station Inn. You can hear wonderful music just walking around 2nd Ave.
For plays you need to check the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. The season starts in early fall.
If you are coming in August, be prepared for hot and humid!
Shopping: I prefer the Green Hills Mall area.
As far as restaurants, there are many. Let us know what food/shopping you prefer.
You also may want to explore the towns of Franklin and Leipers Fork. Most of my guests really enjoy this. The town of Lynchburg is also popular (Jack Daniels).

Bellemeade Mansion is a very beautiful ante-bellum house with lovely grounds. It has a restaurant there for lunch. Also Cheekwood is an arboretum with a an interesting house with a lunch/tea room. The two large Warner parks just outside of Bellemeade are great places to drive around in.

I was in Nashville last week for 2 days. I took the gray line tour - the basic one. It mainly took you to places that you can go to on your own - the Ryhnam and the Hall of Fame. The only bonus to being on the bus was the very quick drive down Music Row. I would instead recommend self-tours.

Definitely need to make a stop at Jack's bbq!!!

I agree with PhotoDad and you should try to visit or attend a concert at the Ryman. It is indeed the Mother Church of Country Music. The sound in that building is second to none. By all means, eat at a meat and three. This means some meat, usually fried, and three vegetables, usually cooked in fat, on one plate. The best ones are Swetts, either at the farmer's market or on Jefferson St. and Arnolds on 8th Ave. And treat yourself and have a dessert, pecan pie, banana pudding or bread pudding. Nashville is a lot of fun especially the downtown area. I would not worry if I never got to Opryland. It is a true tourist trap. Overpriced and over done! Have a great time. If you want to listen to great music try the Station Inn or the Bluebird. Both are wonderful.

We went to Nashville several years ago, and really liked it.

Of course, the Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Hermitage. I liked Belle Meade, another plantation, more than Hermitage. You can take Grayline and other tours that will take you to both.

We also liked the Frist Center for the Arts.

You can also drive out to Franklin, basically now a suburb of Nashville to see the Civil War battlefields. very interesting if you are into that sort of thing.

You might also want to read the Widow of the South all about the woman who saved all the graves of the men who died in the battle.

I was there for the first time in June. The highlight was the grand ole opry--went to the show that gets televised--Brad Paisley was on stage for an hour.

Also did the trash tour. Be sure to put your name of the waiting list--that's what I did and got the call.

The hotel concierge steered me to the Tennessee history museum which was quite interesting (and free). It's located up with the state buildings. The first floor has the typical history stuff, but the floor below was the gem. The whole floor had the country western costumes worn by many of the stars as well as some of their origical music notes and notes they'd written to the folks back home. My favorites were some of the letters to/from Hank Williams written about his need for a few hundred dollars and his sorry lifestyle. They also have Bob Dylan's hats and some of music he wrote with CW stars. (not a big CW fan, so I can't remember for sure, --but I'm thinking it was either Johnny Cash or Willy Nelson)

I'd also recommend Demos steak house. It was pretty inexpensive and good for the money.

If you visit Vanderbilt University, have breakfast or lunch at Pancake Pantry. The Loveless Motel on the west side of Nashville has great family style fried chicken. Belle Meade was a lot of fun, be sure to drive around the neighborhood (you can drop in to see Al & Tipper). There is also the State Museum in downtown Nashville, which my kids thought interesting when they were in school.

I agree with Williamscb13. Be sure to spend a day and drive down to Franklin. It's a 30 minute drive. Very quaint and beautiful main street. Unique shopping and restaurants. You can also see The Factory in Franklinwhich is an old factory that's been turned into a complex of shops and restaurants. You could see Carnton mansion and cemetery (Civil War history) in the morning and then have lunch on Main Street at Dumplins' or Meridees and spend the afternoon wandering the Main Street area. Have fun!

Wildhorse Saloon . They have a website.

I live in Nashville, and there are definitely a lot of things to see. It is best to go by your interests:

fine arts/theater - Frist Center for the Visual Arts, TPAC (tennessee performing arts center - plays and touring shows. this is also where the Tennessee state museum is located - referred to before as "history" museum, where the exhibit is currently Marty Stuart's collection of music memorabilia.) for plays that are more off the beatean track, look up Peoples Branch Theater, Darkhorse Theater, actors bridge and Act I. There is also one of the best children's theaters in the country here - Nashville Children's Theatre. Definitely see a show at the Ryman if you can - it is a great venue, but be warned that the Ryman is not confined to country concerts. They also have great indy rock , etc. Country Music Hall of Fame is a great museum and architectural statement. For good entertainment info, check the weekly alternative paper The Nashville Scene. Tootsie's and Roberts are okay - both have seen their heydays come and go in favor of being pretty touristy places now. That holds true for most of Lower Broad (Broadway closest to the river). If you really want country, go to the Opry or check to see if there is something happening at the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. And Stagecoach Inn is worth it too. Skip the Bluebird unless you are really into singer/songwriter style music.

restaurants: meat and 3 is old school Nashville - you must try one of these. As stated earlier, Arnold's, Swett's or the newer Copper Kettle on 12th are all good choices. And the Loveless Motel is a landmark meat and three known for its breakfasts. It has changed hands several times, and is back to being worth the drive west if you are staying downtown, especially since they have added some very interesting art, jewelry and gift boutiques out on the property you can browse thru if you have a wait at the restaurant. Another Nashville standard is "hot chicken". Try Prince's. BBQ is actually a Memphis thing, but Jack's is good. Another Southern idiosyncracy is the hot fish sandwich. See this link to see if it is your cup of tea:

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/.../ENTERTAINMENT

historical stuff: Hermitage, Belle Meade Mansion, Cheekwood. The big three plantations in the immediate area. Cheekwood is a wonderful botanic garden as well and thru the beginning of fall has garden installations for kids - this year it is Once Upon A Garden. Battlefields are all around if your are Civil War buff, Franklin is a pretty little town but if you have limited time I would stick to Nashville for your first trip. State capitol and bicentennial park are good if you are into that - farmers mkt is near Bicentennial Mall.

neighborhoods to check out: the Vandy/21st Ave. strip has lots of boutiques and eateries. Bosco's is a nice brewpub there and the Belcourt Theatre is a historical bldg - home to the Grand Ole Opry for awhile - that has art movies, concerts and plays. with full bar. 12South has good restuarant options - a wine bar, a great semi-pricey restaurant called Mirror, 12South Taproom. Go to the corner of 12th and Blair to the art deco bldg, on the far right bottom floor to Las Paletas for authentic Mexican popsicles in flavors like chocolate chile and hibiscus, as well as regular fruit flavors. 12South also has interesting boutiques and gift shops.
East Nashville, across the bridge, has a lot going on and is considered the most up and coming neighborhood. There are many historic homes in that area. Also small art galleries and stores and clubs in the Five Points area. Try brunch at Marche or treat yourself to a gourmet dinner at Margot. Here is a link for that area:
http://www.eastnashville.org/

Finally, the great outdoors. Nashville Zoo is really nice. As stated, the Parthenon is interesting to see, but the park itself is an urban park and not really impressive. The Warner parks (Percy Warner Park and Edwin Warner Parks) are huge wooded, hilly parks great for walking, biking, hiking and horseback riding. Radnor is better if you want that plus wildlife sightings. Oh and one other thing - the local children's museum is the Adventure Science Center and is close to downtown, just out 8th. That is one of the best things about Nashville - it won't take you that long to get anywhere, assuming you are not on an interstate at rush hour.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! They were great. I ended up staying near Nashville for all my activities- being from Baltimore/Washington area, I thought downtown was easy to navigate and park in, though smaller than I expected. Traffic was not bad at all, roads are clearly marked and I had no problems getting around.

Day 1 I flew in late so I just checked out Opry Mills and the Opryland hotel (that was pretty neat- a river inside it!).

Day 2 I went to Belle Meade in the morning, had lunch at the Loveless, and went to Cheekwood in the afternoon. Enjoyed all of that, though I didn't particularly enjoy the museum at Cheekwood- small and a little confusing for me to navigate. Checked out Green Hills Mall on my way home and was impressed- nice shopping and a large, clean mall.

Day 3 I toured the Country Music Hall of Fame (incredible! one of my favorites).

Day 4 I was tired, so I took it easy and just went to the Frist museum- really enjoyed this, my favorite was a collection of incredibly lifelike clay sculptures by Sylvia Hyman. Drove to Mt Juliet and saw a movie, had dinner at the Cracker Barrell (yes I know...but I do like that place sometimes).

Day 5 I went to the Parthenon (pretty interesting, impressive building for sure), then tried to go to Belmont Mansion, but no one answered the door and I couldn't find a place to park easily. So I just ditched that and went to drive up and down music row (not nearly as exciting as I expected, but I had ridiculously high hopes of seeing someone famous ;) ). Ended up taking a tour of the Ryman, which I didn't intend to do- it was OK, I thougth it wasn't worth the price.

Day 6 I went to the Hermitage- definitely one of my favorite places. Took the wagon ride, an additional seven bucks seemed a little high, but I thought for the wagon ride experience, what the heck! Enjoyed it.

Overall- terrible hot weather, awesome sights and had a great time. Thanks for all the suggestions- will have to go back and do everyting I didn't have time to do.