Nashville

Speakeasy-style lounge in a former US Tobacco barn and auction house, with acoustic sets, writers' rounds, and artist showcases several nights a week. To find it, head down to the basement, through the hallway, and right past the laundry room. Small plates like charcuterie and pizza. 21 and up.

Locals' pick for live music with a very different feel from Broadway.

Restaurant and music venue in one of downtown's oldest buildings, with a rooftop looking over the river.

Hands-on science museum under a multicolored pyramid beside Fort Negley, with more than 175 exhibits and the Sudekum Planetarium.

James Beard winning meat-and-three. Grab a tray, pick a meat and three sides. Lunch only.

No-menu cocktail bar: tell the bartender what you like and they build a drink for you. The door is around back under two cameras. Wave, then wait to be let in. No reservations or big groups.

The original Barista Parlor in a converted auto shop, known for strong espresso and a brunch-worthy food menu.

Michelin-starred tasting counter plus a rowdy nacho bar in a Wedgewood-Houston warehouse.

Historic nonprofit movie house showing indie, classic, and cult films.

Historic thoroughbred horse farm with tours and a wine tasting at the end.

Pre-Civil War mansion on Belmont's campus, one of the most underrated house tours in town.

19-acre park with a 200-foot granite state map, a carillon, and Capitol views.

Small breakfast and lunch counter in Salemtown. Soul food plates and big breakfasts, made to order.

Biscuit counter that made the Gulch a breakfast destination. Lines on weekends.

Tiny strip-mall listening room where songwriters play in the round. Book tickets well ahead.

Retro walk up stand in Sylvan Park. Burgers, fries and dipped cones at outdoor tables.

Rooftop lounge on the Bobby Hotel at the end of Printers Alley, with a vintage bus you can hang out in, a small pool, and seasonal igloos you can reserve (they come with a food and drink minimum). Share the short rib nachos or crispy fried brie. Take the far left elevator up.

Songwriters' bar on Music Row with live sets and afternoon jam sessions. It moved down the block after losing its original 16th Avenue home in 2019 and kept the neighborhood-bar feel, far from the Broadway bachelorette crowds.

No-frills cinderblock hot chicken shop. Darker fried and hotter than the famous spots.

The 1993 original in an old house near Belmont University, with a big front porch.

East side outpost of Nashville's oldest coffee roaster, right in Five Points.

Home of the Nashville Predators at the foot of Broadway, and the city's arena for the biggest tours.

The other BBQ spot from Peg Leg Porker's Carey Bringle, out in The Nations. Big patio, beef ribs and smoked turkey.

Concert hall, bowling alley and restaurant under one roof, with 19 lanes beside the stage and food by Blue Ribbon. It sits next to the Sounds' ballpark.

Decades old burger bar in a tiny building off Blair Blvd. Cheap burgers, cold beer, worn booths.

Several stages in one brick building that opened in 1883 as a flour mill: the Mainstage, The Mil, and the smaller Row One Stage.

Luke Combs' multi-level bar and music venue on 2nd Avenue, named for his hit "Hurricane" and opened in November 2024. Live country music and line dancing.

Old school hickory pit BBQ joint in Hendersonville, about 25 minutes north. Pork plates, hush puppies and pie, zero frills.

Mansion art museum on 55 acres of gardens. Holiday lights in winter.

Germantown restaurant known for wood-fired pizza and Italian-Southern cooking.

A working winery with a restaurant and a seated concert room, where food and wine come to your table during the show.

Free exhibit on Nashville's lunch counter sit-ins, overlooking the corner where they happened.

The deep dive on country music history, from Hank Williams to today, with Elvis's gold Cadillac in the collection.

Longtime local roaster with big windows, careful pour-overs, and plenty of room to sit. A good first stop before downtown.

21st-floor rooftop at The Joseph hotel with fire-pit booths and river views. Quieter and more romantic than most downtown rooftops, and the fireside fondue fits the mood. Get your parking validated.

East Nashville's oldest dive bar. Smash burger and cheap beer until 3 a.m.

Small two-level saloon on 2nd Avenue, a block off Broadway, with live music, normal drink prices, and a Bloody Mary people come back for. A calmer break from the giant Broadway bars. Celebrating a birthday? You get to spin the wheel.

Walkable historic Main Street with shops, restaurants, and Civil War sites.

Beloved local bakery, now in a much bigger cafe off Nolensville Pike. Sourdough sells out early.

Retro bowling alley, diner and music venue in Madison, with 16 lanes and two stages.

Kurdish and Turkish cooking on Nolensville Pike. Nashville has the biggest Kurdish community in the country, and this is a good way in. Kebabs, lentil soup, fresh bread.

Neighborhood BBQ with a patio on 12 South. The Tuck Special brisket sandwich is the one people talk about.

Local coffee shop a couple blocks off Broadway, handy before the Arcade, Printers Alley, or the Capitol.

Big tables, outdoor seating, and the honey bear cold brew, in the old Dozen Bakery space.

Nashville's old soda fountain, open since 1939. Booths, milkshakes and meat-and-three plates.

Rock club on Elliston Place, the stretch locals call the Rock Block. It has billed itself as Nashville's music forum since 1971.

Hillsboro Village institution under the old Jones Pet Shop sign. Dog-friendly, busy, and good for breakfast or lunch too.

Triple-A ballpark with the skyline behind the outfield and a guitar-shaped scoreboard. Cheap, easy summer night.

Home of the 100-layer doughnut.

The heart of East Nashville's indie bars, coffee, and vintage shops.

British-style soccer pub with Nashville's first rooftop lawn bowling and skyline views, close to downtown but well off Broadway. Plenty of screens for Premier League mornings, concerts on the roof, fish and chips, and an axe-throwing spot connected next door.

Largest inland stone Civil War fort, with skyline views and a free visitor center.

Art Deco former post office with rotating major exhibitions.

Local coffee chain's original-feeling spot with a front porch full of regulars.

Little lunch only burger shack in Wedgewood-Houston. Grass fed burgers, fries, done.

Huge antique and vintage mall that designers and locals hunt through.

A huge resort next to the Grand Ole Opry with indoor garden atriums you can walk through. Its Country Christmas events run from November into January.

Home of Nashville SC, a soccer stadium at the Fairgrounds.

The longest running radio show, still broadcast live from the Opry House. A circle of the old Ryman stage is set into the floor.

Yemeni coffee house in Five Points with spiced coffees, sweets, and a patio.

19th-floor rooftop at the 1 Hotel, across from the Music City Center, with an outdoor terrace, fire pits, and a DJ. Get the wagyu dumplings, the Thai chili Brussels sprouts, and a sushi roll, with a Retro Disco (milk-clarified rum) to drink. Gets packed in the evening, so book ahead.

Letterpress poster shop running since 1879. Watch the presses and buy a print made on the spot.

The most famous hot chicken stop. Long lines, consistently good.

Red-lit underground lounge beneath Printers Alley in the Noelle hotel, with seasonal pop-up themes and cocktails to match. Go in through the Lona entrance on Church Street and head downstairs. No reservations, 21 and up.

Bright Wedgewood-Houston shop with a back patio and house-roasted coffee. Proceeds support a local youth program.

Southern cooking built on Southern ingredients, in an 1880s mansion on Rutledge Hill. The splurge dinner of this list. Book ahead.

The city's signature mural in 12 South.

WPA-built racecourse in Percy Warner Park, laid out so a hillside crowd can see the whole race.

Small house museum on the corridor where Hendrix, Little Richard, and Etta James played the R&B clubs.

Walking bridge over the Cumberland with the best skyline view in the city.

Packed museum of Cash's life and career, two minutes from Broadway.

Family run Vietnamese spot on Charlotte Pike. Big bowls of pho and broken rice plates.

Coffee counter in the Gulch, steps from the wings mural, Station Inn, and Third Man Records.

Lao and Thai cafe tucked into the back of an Asian grocery in Antioch. Order the larb and sticky rice and browse the aisles after.

Gulch rooftop bar on top of the Thompson hotel, with skyline views and a photo booth. The glitter chicken tenders are a huge portion, so share, or get the L.A. Jackson burger with truffle fries. No reservations, and weekday evenings are easiest for an outdoor seat.

Quirky collection of odd European cars, microcars, and amphibious vehicles in an old bakery.

Tiny village with galleries, a general store, and Puckett's live music. Small town Tennessee in one stop.

Hilltop in a residential neighborhood with a wide skyline view. Bring a blanket.

Roadside biscuit legend at the start of the Natchez Trace. Pair it with a Trace drive.

The neon strip of bars with live bands from late morning to 2 a.m. Touristy, but worth one night.

Concert hall in a turn-of-the-century auto factory at Marathon Village, with standing room for more than 1,800.

Restored early 1900s car factory now full of shops, a distillery, and a small car museum.

West Tennessee whole hog BBQ, smoked over hardwood. The downtown spot is huge, with a beer garden out back. Get the pulled pork and a side of cornbread.

Cash-only taco shop with a cult following. Get the fried avocado taco and the chicken tortilla soup.

All you can eat Southern food served family style in an old Germantown house. You sit with strangers and pass the bowls. Breakfast is the classic.

Loud, friendly Germantown cocktail bar with fresh juices and house syrups on a menu that changes often. The bar downstairs is the lively part; upstairs is calmer seating. Order at the bar and they bring it to you. Start with the Old Bay waffle fries and caramelized onion dip.

Giant bronze dancers in the Music Row roundabout. Quick photo stop.

Honors the session players behind famous records, with instruments you can play.

Professional theatre for kids and families, just south of downtown.

Market hall with cheap international food stalls and local vendors. Go hungry.

The city's zoo, about six miles south of downtown on the old Grassmere farm.

Interactive museum covering 50+ genres shaped by Black musicians.

Home of the Tennessee Titans, on the east bank of the Cumberland across from downtown.

Cocktail bar tucked into a huge underground space in a 1920s brick building in Edgehill Village. You'd never guess it's there from outside. Snacks only, so eat first.

Hillsboro Village breakfast institution since 1961. Expect a line.

Coffee right across West End from Centennial Park, easy to pair with the Parthenon.

Full-scale Parthenon replica with a 42-foot Athena inside, set in a big city park.

Carey Bringle's Memphis style BBQ in The Gulch. Dry rub ribs are the move, and there's a rooftop when the weather is nice.

2,600+ acres of trails ten minutes from town. Start at the stone steps at the end of Belle Meade Blvd.

Latin market hall on Nolensville Pike with food stalls, shops and a stage. Tacos, pupusas and free shows most weekends.

The family that invented Nashville hot chicken. Order medium unless you mean it.

Narrow neon alley that was Nashville's nightlife hub before Broadway. More blues and jazz, less bachelorette.

Courthouse lawn, terraces and fountains, built on the roof of a five-level parking garage.

Started as a country grocery in Leiper's Fork. Now Southern comfort food downtown, with live music most nights.

Quiet wooded trails around a lake with deer, owls, and turtles. No bikes or dogs, which keeps it peaceful.

Open-air rooftop lounge on top of the Noelle hotel by Printers Alley, with fire pits, cocktails, and views across downtown. Get the Rare Bird Fries, topped with bechamel and blue cheese. Pair it with Hidden Bar in the same hotel's basement.

Studio where Elvis, Dolly, and the Everly Brothers recorded. Tours leave from the Hall of Fame.

Riverside park with stacked limestone walls, a greenway and the Ascend Amphitheater, built where a trash plant used to be.

Pasta-focused Germantown favorite in an old brick factory building.

The Mother Church of Country Music. Take the daytime tour or, better, catch a show in the old church pews.

Beer-only karaoke dive decked out for Christmas all year, named for the late owner everyone called Santa and now run by his grandsons. Cash only (there's an ATM), there can be a cover, and the whole room actually watches the singer. Don't skip the photo booth.

Home of the Nashville Symphony, a concert hall a block off Broadway.

Flat riverside trails and boardwalks through wetlands on the east side.

Small Texas style BBQ counter in Madison. Lunch only, and the brisket can sell out, so go early.

Polished coffee lounge on Music Row known for its biscuit sandwich. Near the Musica statue and RCA Studio B.

Cash-only dive bar and tiny venue with cheap shows. Longtime locals' hangout.

Cinderblock bluegrass club open since 1974. The Sunday night bluegrass jam is the move.

Bright, airy Germantown cafe with serious espresso and a good food menu. Easy walk to the Farmers' Market and the ballpark.

Precise, slow pour-overs from a respected small roaster, at oneC1TY near Midtown.

Small Germantown coffee spot near First Horizon Park, a good pick before a Sounds game.

Family run meat-and-three on the cafeteria line since the 1950s. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, greens, cornbread. Soul food the way Nashville has eaten it for generations.

Fifth-floor East Side rooftop bar, inside and out, with lots of plants, lots of pink, fire pits, and skyline views. The small plates are better than rooftop food usually is. A DJ plays Sunday afternoons.

Just off Broadway in what Teddy's calls the oldest building downtown, from around 1820. Three floors of live music, with the partially covered Rose Garden Rooftop up top and prices friendlier than the big honky-tonks. Get the cheeseburger or the pretzel with beer cheese, and look down for the old trap doors in the floor.

TPAC, Nashville's home for touring Broadway, and the stage for Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera and Nashville Repertory Theatre. Three theaters: Andrew Jackson Hall, the James K. Polk Theater and the Andrew Johnson Theater.

Historic 1850s capitol on the hill with free guided tours on weekdays.

Free, modern state history museum that most visitors skip. Easy to pair with the Farmers' Market.

Small East Nashville bar with live music and dance nights.

Glass-roofed shopping arcade from 1902 tucked between 4th and 5th Ave, home to small galleries.