Getting Your Bearings

This content is taken from the upcoming book Nashville Local’s Guide for Visitors and Newbies, which you can support on Kickstarter by clicking the link above.

Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a new resident, getting your bearings in Nashville can feel like stepping into a whirlwind of music, history, and Southern charm. From the neon-lit honky-tonks of Broadway to the hidden gems tucked away in local neighborhoods, this city has a rhythm of its own—one that’s best experienced when you know where to start. In this blog entry, I will take you on a whirlwind tour of Music City USA.

As you enter, you will find the Lyft pickup directly in front of you and the limos to the right. On the firstisland is Uber and the second has taxis. There is no need to call a cab company at the airport, as they line in up a in queue. Hotel shuttles are on hte third island and any of you wanting to take public transportation, you will find them at the far side of the transportion center, where charter and employee buses are. Just look for the WeGo symbol on the bus. Regardless of your choice, you will more than likely be heading downtown.

Breaking It Down

Nashville IS Davidson County and Davidson County IS Nashville. There are a few sections, like Belle Meade and Goodlettesville, that have their own government, but all citizens of the county are eligible to vote in the metro elections, even if they have a separate governing body. Here is the overall layout. The map here uses an altered version of the city planning map.

1. Downtown
2. Music Valley/Opryland
3. Midtown, Music Row, Hillsboro Village, 12 South, and Green Hills
4. East Nashville
5. South Nashville
6. West Nashville
7. Airport/Antioch
8. Bellevue
9. Southeast Nashville
10. North Nashville/Bordeaux
11. Madison
12. The rest of the county

I will be focusing on the first five (5) areas here as these are either heavily touristy areas or places where visitors are likely to go due to proximity. I will finish with some notes on the rest.

Downtown (1)

Downtown is located in the lower center portion of the Interstate Loop comprised of I-24, I-40, and I-65. You will most likely come in via 2nd Avenue if you are staying in SoBro, Broadway if downtown or the Gulch, and Charlotte if you are staying in Germantown or Capitol View. A common question on social media is What is [name of area of the city]? or Where is [name of area of the city]?, so let’s get started with the Inner Interstate Loop. The following map is keyed the areas below it.

NOTE: The purple nubmers are the areas around here, so 3 is midtown, 5 is south nashville, 4 is East Nashville, and 10 is North Nashville. Consult the entire county map for a guid to how this fits together.

• Lower Broad (A) is where most visitors spend a lot of their time. All of the honkytonks are in this area, along with the main museums in the city. Highlights include star bars, Country Music Hall of Fame, Johnny Cash Museum, Patsy Cline Museum, National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), Bridgestone Arena, and Assembly Hall.
• SoBro (B) stands for “South of Broadway” and is where a great majority of the downtown accomodations sit. There are almost 7,000 hotel rooms in this area, as well as numerous short term rentals (Airbnb, VRBO).
• Pie Town (C) contains the Greyhound bus station and many homeless charities and missions. For visitors, the main attractions here are City Winery, Bad Axe (axe throwing), Fogg Street Lawn Club (lawn bowling), and Tennessee Brew Works.
• Rolling Mill Hill (D) has the Batter’s Box and a few rental places, but is a bit dicier than most of downtown, so I would be far more aware here and consider ride share back if you are staying on Lower Broad late at night.
• The Gulch (E) is divided into three sections. Underneath Broadway and Demonbreun, you find the original gulch, which is sometimes called the Middle Gulch Now. Closer to Pie Town, you have the Lower Gulch, where spots like Peg Leg Porkers and Arnold’s County Kitchen sit. In the Upper Gulch, which is north of Broadway, you have Pins Mechanical and PuttShack.
• Capitol View (F) has one hotel, some restaurants and shops. It is also walkable to Marathon Village.
• Printer’s Alley (G) is just north of Lower Broad and has icons like Skull’s Rainbow Room and Bourbon Blues and Boogie Bar. You can also do live band karaoke on Thursdays at Blueprint Supply Underground Cocktail Club and hit The Hidden Bar or Dirty Little Secret if you want a more “speakeasy” type of experience.
• The Arts District (H) is another areas with hotels, although the more boutiquey options are near Printer’s Alley.
• The Capitol District (I) is where the state Capitol is (free tours). This area is general quiet at night except ghost tours on the Capitol grounds.
• Capitol North (J) is where Bicentennial Mall, the TN State Museum, the Farmer’s Market, and Sounds Stadium sit.
• Germantown (K) is a place with some really nice restaurants, like Rolf & Daughters, Tailor, 5th & Taylor, Henrietta Reds, and The Optimist.
• East Bank (L) is where Nissan Stadium sits, home of the Tennessee Titans sits. There are some encomy hotels in this area, but think twice about walking back at night unless there is an event at the stadium.

The rest of the inner loop gets lumped into North Nashville and is not a place I would recommend a visitor go late at night. I will also note the Kroger here has full time, armed off-duty police officers on premise, indicating the type of neighborhood this is. Germantown is fine, but don’t cross over Rosa Parks and explore at night.

In a future post, I will focus on Lower Broad a bit more.

Music Valley/Opryland (2)

Due to having the Grand Ole Opry here, this is a spot that visitors often go to. It is also an area with plenty of hotels and there is a shuttle to downtown for $15 round trip (which might be going up shortly). If you are planning on spending all of your time at the honkytonks, this is not your best option, but it works if you plan on getting around the city, as you can park for free at most of the hotels here.

Highlights:

• Opryland Hotel: For visitors with kids, this is a great hotel as you can add on the indoor/outdoor waterpark. And there are ample indoor gardens here that are very nice. Restaurants are average to slightly above, but dining in the middle of a garden is certainly a treat.
• Cooter’s Place: This Dukes of Hazzard store and “museum” is run by Ben Jones, who played Cooters on the show. Free to peruse, but a fee for taking a picture with the General Lee and other cars. Ben is often in the store and a great person to have a convo with.
• Nashville Palace and Texas Troubadour Theater are over here and often focus on old school country. Nashville Palace is one place that offers line dancing lessons.
• Nashville Armored Combat: Want to learn to fight in armor? Or watch a match? This is your spot. Check their website for details.
• Opry House: This is where the Grand Ole Opry is when it is not at the Ryman.
• Opry Mills Mall: Largest mall in the area. Can find wine tasting, moonshine tasting, bu-1-get-2 boots, the escape game, and a wax museum.

As for the rest of this area, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage is the prime spot (D), especially for history buffs. The airport hotels are located at (B), and Percey Priest Lake is at (C).

Midtown to Green Hills (3)

• Midtown (A)- For the “woo girls” (bachelorettes), you can find White Limozeen here.
• further west, you can find Brown’s Diner, which is an iconic spot for burgers.
• Music Row -(B) this is not as cool as you might think, as it is all about music business, but you can find Bobby Idle Hour (dive bar) here.
• Centennial Park (C) – see a full-scale replica of the Green Parthenon in Athens, Greece.
• Hillsboro Village (D) – Shopping and the original The Pancake Pantry location in Nashville. A bit
• Belmont University (E) – Belmont Mansion, The Gallery of Iconic Guitars (The GIG), and The Frederick Hart Studio Musuem are here.
• Edgehill (F) is largely a spot to miss, although the Basement is here on 8th Ave S and you have the Old Glory speakeasy near Barcelona tapas restaurant.
• 12 South – (G) A great spot for restaurants and shopping. Also a nice cluster of murals in this area.
• Melrose (H) has Zanies Comedy Club and a few notable restaurants, like Mangia which does a weekend feast that is worth visiting.
• Green Hills I()- Shopping and home of The Bluebird.

The Rest (4-12)

• East Nashville (4): This area is more like old school Nashville. There are a couple of neat boutique hotels in this area: Urban Cowboy (rustic feel with 2 bars on premise) and The Russsell (old church converted into a hotel). You can also find Hail Dark Aesthetics, one of our strangest stores (oddities) and The Fatherland Shops (a bunch of smaller shops in a cluster. There are also many nice restaurants here and it has more of a local vibe than downtown.
• South Nashville (5): This area has Adventure Science Center and Fort Negley close to downtown. Not far from here is WeHo or Wedgewood/Houston, where Diskins Cider, The Bastion, and Jackalope Brewery sit. If you head out Murfreesboro, you will find the Lane Motor Museum. As you move further, you hit Berry Hill, Woodbine, and Nolensville Road, which is home to many of our best ethnic restaurants and The Nashville Zoo, which has a huge playground for kids along with many animals.
• West Nashville (6): Two of the most notable here, from a tourist perspective are Blue Moon Waterfront Grill and Tee Line, where you can learn to curl (the Olympic sport with stones and brooms. You can also find both Belle Meade Mansion and Cheekwood in this area.
• Outside of King Market and Hai Woon Dai, there is not much of intererst out here outside of the airport.
• Bellevue (8) has the world famous Loveless Cafe and Natchez Trace Parkway out here.
• The big draw in Southeast Nashville (9) is Tanger Outlet for cheap(er) shopping.
• North Nashville/Bordeaux (10) are not places to venture at night, but there are a couple of spots here worth checking out. Marathon Village sits at the south side of North Nashville and Jefferson Sound Museum is a great spot for a well-curated exhibit collection by Lorenzo Washington, who is also your guide. For Bordeaux, the hot spots are 400 Degrees for hot chicken and Urban Arts for glow in the dark splatter painting.
• Madison (11) has Yazoo Brewery and Shotgun Willies, which has excellent brisket.

I don’t see a lot of reason for visitors to venture through the rest of the county.

Peace and Grace,