Nashville
Tennessee's capital built its fortune on a radio show launched in 1925, and you can still hear live music from 10 am in the honky-tonks of Broadway. Between the brick temple of the Ryman, the studios of Music Row and the small venues where songwriters play their songs in the round, Nashville is explored by ear as much as on foot.
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Nashville · Photo Mark Direen / Pexels
Things to do in Nashville in 4 days
Day 1
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The 1892 brick tabernacle that housed the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974, the Mother Church of Country Music, with its original oak pews seating 2,300 people.
💡 The best way to discover it is still a concert: check the programme before you go, as some weeknight shows sell at reasonable prices. Price: $25, about €22, for the self-guided tour; $42.52, about €37, for the guided backstage tour.
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A vast museum tracing a century of country music, from the 1927 Bristol sessions to Dolly Parton, with Elvis's gold Cadillac and tickets for the tour of RCA Studio B.
💡 Take the combined ticket with Studio B: the shuttle leaves from the museum and places are limited. Price: $31.95, about €27, adult entry; $54.95, about €47, with Studio B or Hatch Show Print; $82.95, about €71, for all three.
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Five blocks of honky-tonks packed façade to façade between the Cumberland River and 5th Avenue, with live music from late morning until late at night and almost always free entry.
💡 Come on a weekday afternoon to hear the best musicians without the weekend crush of bachelorette parties. Slip $5-10, about €4-9, into the tip bucket if you request a song. Price: free entry in most bars.
Day 2
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A full-scale replica of the Athens Parthenon built for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial, housing a gilded Athena 12.8 metres tall and the city's art museum in its basement.
💡 The park around it is free and pleasant at the end of the day, with its lake and tall trees. Tickets are sold on site only, cash and cards accepted, with a 2.3% card fee, but not payment by phone. Price: $15, about €13, adults; $10, about €9, ages 4 to 17.
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A hundred-seat venue in a Green Hills shopping arcade where Nashville songwriters play their own songs in the round, the format born here, and where Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift were discovered.
💡 Reservations are made only on bluebirdcafe.com, in batches of six seats at most, and go within minutes. From Tuesday to Sunday, 10 to 12 seats are kept for the first in the queue when the doors open, and the Monday open mic at 6 pm needs no reservation. Price: cover charge depending on the programme, plus a minimum spend of $15, about €13, per person.
Day 3
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America's oldest live radio show, on air since 1925, now staged at the 4,400-seat Opry House, where eight to ten artists play on a wooden circle cut from the Ryman stage.
💡 Shows take place several nights a week, mainly from Tuesday to Saturday: check the calendar on the official website before booking. Price: $46.65, about €40, for the daytime backstage tour; $88.34, about €76, for the small-group VIP tour; show tickets at variable prices.
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A 715 km scenic road with no trucks or billboards following the old Chickasaw and Choctaw trail, starting near Nashville and crossing the 47-metre-high Double Arch Bridge early on.
💡 Drive out to the Double Arch Bridge and come back via Leiper's Fork, a village of galleries and timber houses, then Franklin and its Victorian main street. Start with a breakfast of biscuits at the Loveless Cafe. Price: free.
Day 4
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Andrew Jackson's plantation, 25 km east of the centre, with its original furniture, over 400 hectares of land and a tour devoted to the enslaved people who worked there.
💡 Allow half a day by car, as the site is not served by a convenient bus. Arrive before 3 pm: the last tickets are sold at 5 pm and the queue for the house closes at 5.30 pm. Price: $29.95, about €26, adults; $19.95, about €17, ages 5 to 12.
"Book" (hotels) and "via GetYourGuide" (activities) are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide). Prices, times and distances are approximate.
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Good to know before you go
🍽️ Must-try food
Burgers and barbecue
brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl
the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
Mexican food
tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
Pancakes and weekend brunch
a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
Dishes to look for in the good places: Nashville.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
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