Nashville, Tennessee is one of my favorite places to visit and be a complete tourist. The coolest thing of this place is there’s so many different things to do, which involve both country and city. On the travel blog, I’m sharing all my favorite things to do in Nashville. You’ll read about adventures both in the city and the country side too! (I recommend having a car if you want to see it all in a short period of time) If y’all follow this travel guide, I promise you’ll see all sides of Nashville!
Day 1- Nashville, TN
Picture Worthy Walls– Start your morning by taking some pictures by these iconic Nashville murals. These two murals are next to each other on 12th Ave. South. Going in the morning will allow you to have good lighting and you’ll beat the crowds. The “I Believe in Nashville” is a famous mural and seems to be the a go to place for many. It easily the unifying symbol for the city of Nashville. The blue and white stripped wall is an iconic wall because it’s affiliated with Draper James, Reese Witherspoon’s brand. These two murals are picture worthy and were my two favorite in Nashville. Don’t get me wrong, there’s other good murals too.
Another favorite wall of mine is “The Wings That Lift You” located in The Gulch off 11th Ave. South.
12th Avenue South
Ya’ll will be on 12th Ave. South when you visit these picture worthy walls. So why not stop for some coffee and donuts. The donuts from Five Daughter Bakery are so good! Looking AT that the picture below, makes my mouth water. If you’re not into donuts, they have other baked goods as well. Y’all.. I can’t rave about how darling this bakery is.
After your tasty donut, burn it off by shopping at Draper James!! If y’all didn’t know, this is Reese Witherspoon’s darling store. The Draper James in Nashville is their original store location. Now, DJ has opened four other locations. Reese truly captures the southern look and style with her adorable prints and one of a kind pieces. Draper James will make any woman feel beautiful.
Learn more by watching the Draper James Story:
Broadway Street– Kick up your boots girl and let’s get our country on… Broadway is known for drinks and live country music. The whole street is lined with bars and good music. This is the place to go for all you country music lovers. It’s safe to say, I could spend all day there listening to music. My top places are Honky Tonk Central, Tootsies, and Tequila Cowboy. Honky Tonk Central and Tootsies are three levels of live country music. During the day, y’all can order food, which is nice because you’ll get hungry. Tootsies is an iconic place because many today’s famous country singers have performed there. Tequila Cowboy is a smaller bar and more low key Honkey Tonk. The live country music there is the best because you can sit and relax. I enjoy Tequila Cowboy during the day and the other two for night time.
**Tips for Broadway… if you want to request music you have to pay $20 and bands will come around asking for tips. There’s no cover charge for bars, so it’s respectful to tip the band as they come around. Lastly, Tootsie’s is LESS busy during the day around 5pm! I’d start your evening there. It will be jam packed by night time.
Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum– The Country Music Hall of Fame is incredible! Regardless if you love country music or not, it shows how country music started. You will truly see the genre’s roots There’s different experiences you can choose when you go to the hall of fame. I wish I could have captured more pictures from this experience, but it’s one of those places you have to visit. I love country music, so this was “my place.” Walking around the different levels and seeing the history of country music was really eye opening. I loved seeing the different outfits from famous country stars. We had the opportunity to see the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill exhibit, which was super interesting too.
There’s a section towards the end of the museum, Taylor Swift’s music bus where you can even record yourself sing! Overall, it was a blast. If you feel daring enough, watch Colin and I become a new inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame…. (see below)
Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge– The walk over the pedestrian bridge is beautiful and gives you a great view of the city. Y’all can walk all the way over, but we only walked half way. I would recommend walking from Broadway over to the bridge because it’s close and a great picture spot.
That’s a wrap for day one…There’s so much more to do than what I had suggested. Y’all could get tickets to NHL Nashville Predator hockey game, visit the Grand Ole’ Opry & take a back stage tour, visit the Johnny Cash Museum, do a fun Music City Pub Crawl, or even visit Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage!
Day 2- Head South of Nashville to Lynchburg, TN (an hour away from Downtown Nashville)
Miss Mary BoBo’s Boarding House – This is the cutest place I have ever been!! It originally was a boarding house. Today, it holds so much history. It’s a place where you can sit down for a real home-cooked meal served family style, with plenty of Southern hospitality. The food is incredible! I still wish I was eating the fried okra.. When you eat, y’all will sit down at the dinner table with another family. (I love this aspect!) There’s several dining rooms where each is hosted by a meal host. The dinner host insures that you’re well taken care of and tells you all about the history. Our dinner host was Georgia. Y’all, I loved her and I’m 100% sure she wanted to adopt Colin and I. She was the sweetest thing ever. At times she would stand up, walk over to us and would put her arm around us. She’d just rub our arms, just like my grandma would do. She’s a gem! We loved her so much, that I even told Colin we should name our child after her. Okay, well that’s enough of me raving about this place. But y’all… Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding house needs to be added to your Nashville Bucket List.
Jack Daniels Distillery- Now, lets go drink some whiskey! (barf!) Okay but let’s be real, Jack Daniels Distillery was pretty neat. Learning about how they make their Tennessee whiskey was incredible. When you visit, you’ll experience some interesting smells, good ones and bad ones (some will make you puke!) I’m not a whiskey drinker, so the tasting part was not fun. I felt like I was in college all over again. However, the honey flavored whisky wasn’t too bad. Take a trip and go see Jack! The history is pretty neat.Day 2- Head South of Nashville to Lynchburg, TN (an hour away from Downtown Nashville)
Day 3- Head South East of Nashville to Readyville Mill ( 1 hour from Downtown Nashville)
Readyville Mill & Goodness Gracious– The cutest place you’ll ever see in Nashville. Readyville is a small town, with a bunch of nothing…except a gorgeous country side. Along a dirt road, is the Readyville Mill and Goodness Gracious restaurant. We ate at this darling mill and it was very yummy. They offer a wide range of different foods. You can order your typical breakfast/lunch or get real southern and order biscuits and gravy. Regardless, try the grits because they are to die for!! Y’all need to make reservations because they’re only open Friday-Sunday. The Mill is a popular place for weddings and events. I mean why not? It’s beautiful! The day we went it was freezing, so I would highly recommend going during the spring or summer. I know it’s a far drive from Nashville, but going in the morning for breakfast is well worth the trip. You’ll experience what it’s like to be a local.
That’s a wrap y’all. I hope those were some helpful travel guide tips or it just encourages you to take a road trip to Nashville! We had a blast doing all these different things. However, I’ll tell y’all that y’all can do this in three days… if you plan accordingly!!
(WARNING- morning after Broadway & Tootsie’s y’all might have a late start. So keep that in mind!)
If I didn’t include something in this travel guide and y’all swear by it. I would love to hear your suggestions. I’m not a native Nashville girl.
I hope y’all visit this beautiful & fun city one day.
Love from Texas,
Kirstin
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