Come with Us and Spend a Crazy 48 hours in Nashville !
We visited Nashville in the blistering heat of August, with temperatures topping 38 degrees. Unlike the other US cities we visited on our trip across America in 2024, there was no option for rail travel in Nashville. Rather than take the bus we opted to travel from the airport using an Uber. We had a very lively conversation on the way into the city as our Uber driver wanted to share ALL of his traveling adventures with us! In all honesty we could have listened to his southern drawl all day anyway! $20 one way and well worth it!
We stayed at the Best Western Plus Music Row for 2 nights, with a double room and complimentary breakfast. Situated a 20 minute walk from Broadway, the only way to really get around in the heat was to use Uber. Costs varied from $8-10 each way from our hotel to Broadway but the class of Uber far exceeded what we get in the UK - anything from a Tesla Model X to a Chevrolet (yes I was a hot little number in a pick up truck although sadly Daddy’s money did not pay for it - momma did LOL!!!). Just factor in this extra cost if you do not feel like walking in the heat.
On our first afternoon we headed to Broadway (of course) and it was CRAZY! A mad dry heat, with the bars heaving with people enjoying the music and taking a cool drink while keeping out of the heat. We started with a visit to Morgan Wallen’s bar (This Bar) for a drink and snack. The house band were singing an array of country music and for $10 we were able to request a song. This is not something I’ve experienced before - we chose More Than My Hometown and it went down well! This Bar does of course have a small shop selling Morgan Merch !
We moved on briefly to Kid Rock’s bar (more great singers belting out Shania whilst standing on the bar!) before checking out the shops. Boot Barn was quite something and G had to be physically restrained from buying silver sparkly cowgirl boots to wear in Vegas a few days later! Price Tag ? Around $300!! The smell of the leather is quite something and there really are boots in every color and design. It’s worth noting that Broadway is pretty empty (on the street itself) during the afternoon so if you can tolerate the heat its a great time to do some shopping while everyone else is getting merry and keeping cool in the various Honky Tonks along Broadway.
We did some souvenir shopping, purchasing numerous magnets and heading down to the Hard Rock Cafe at the top of Broadway to get yet another magnet (to add to what we call ‘Hard Rock Row’ on our fridge!). Our last stop after a long day was Jason Aldean’s bar where we had some much needed food and G had her first experience of the hot chicken and the peach cobbler. I can report that the chicken was HOT!!! Another $10 was spent on the resident singer, Rachel Schumacher, who obliged by singing ‘You Look Like You Love Me’ by Riley Green and Ella Langley which absolutely brought the house down! We headed back up Broadway and got an Uber back to the hotel exhausted, hot but so happy to be there.
As we had already experienced a lot of what Broadway had to offer on our first afternoon and evening, we decided to book a last minute Viator excursion for the next day to try and see a little more of what Nashville had to offer, opting for the Nashville Trolley Bus Tour. For around £90 for two we got a hop on hop off experience with the bus trundling around Nashville all day with 13 different stops. Lively drivers provided fun and informative narration and with a regular service you really could do all of the stops in a day and hop off wherever you wanted.
We met the tour at The Marathon Works which is Stop No 1. We used Uber to get there from our hotel as I’m not sure if I mentioned it before but Nashville in August was HOT!!! From here we stayed on the tour travelling along. Music Row, seeing many iconic music studios and then drove past Nashville’s own Parthenon which I did not expect! We got off at the Country Music Hall of Fame (we had booked tickets for this via Viator as well!), staying for around 90 minutes before having a quick coffee and re-joining the trolley tour (the bus stop is right outside and you just need to show your ticket and you can get back on). Opposite the Country Music Hall of Fame is the Nashville equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame - stars set in the stone walkway honouring past and present legends of country music.
We got off again at the Farmers Market, spending an hour having lunch and wandering the various stalls. We actually opted for a version of a gyros plate (sorry nothing local!) but did purchase some peach jam so that we could try and re-create the peach cobbler when we got home. (This did not actually happen in the end as the jar cracked and everything got sticky and peachy in our case!!).
We re-joined the tour again, this time getting off in The Gulch. This is a really lovely neighbourhood full of interesting restaurants and the iconic Angel Wings mural. We popped into Five Daughters’ Bakery to sample their 100 layer doughnuts (well it would be rude not to!) and then walked back to our hotel which was just a 10 minute walk away.
That second evening we ventured back to Broadway after a cool shower and a rest, this time choosing to eat in Margaritaville and listening to their excellent live singer. It really didn’t matter where you ate, there was always live music. Watch out for the bike tours - pedal a stationary bike while being transported on the back of a truck around Nashville, drinking vast amounts of beer and singing to country music - crazy but unsurprisingly very popular! We popped into Jon Bon Jovi’s bar briefly and then wandered along Broadway making sure we had all of our souvenirs before heading back to the hotel, again in an uber.
After a big breakfast at our hotel, we left Nashville the next day, heading out to the airport in the early morning before leaving for the next stop on our American tour which was Chicago.
In summary, I would say that Nashville is well worth a visit - the people are super friendly, it is lively, hot as hell during the summer months but amazing fun! We had a really short visit and probably missed out on many other things to do. We think that maybe next time we’ll take day trip to Memphis - this is a ridiculously long 14 hour day tour which you can again book via Viator. We may even book tickets to see someone perform at the famous Bridgestone Arena where the Country Music Awards were held in 2024.
Remember to factor in travelling time and cost - an uber from our hotel out on Music Row up to Broadway was $8-10 each time but our hotel was much cheaper than staying on Broadway and included a free breakfast / coffee machine / soft drinks etc. I guess if you do stay closer to Broadway it may be a little pricier but you will not need to ride an uber 4 times a day to go back and forth.
Just to say, the Music Hall of Fame does offer audio and guided tours, has a great souvenir shop, nice cafe and the exhibits are laid out in date order - when we visited the ‘current’ exhibition was the amazing Luke Combs, but obviously this will change over time. There are dozens of guitars on display and even some vintage cars plus the amazing costumes.
So, thanks for reading this - I hope this inspires you to visit the fabulous city of Nashville and all it has to offer and gives you some ideas of what to see and do. For more details check out our other blogs on the various excursions, our hotel and other things to do in Nashville.
If you want to watch our Nashville vlog head over to georgialouisetravels on You Tube
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