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10 Amazing Things to See & Do in Downtown Nashville

10 Amazing Things to See & Do in Downtown Nashville
Explore Downtown Nashville, with its historic buildings, cool art galleries and museums, intimate music venues, and best shopping experiences.
Tennessee State Capitol © Ken Lund/Flickr

Tennessee State Capitol

With guided tours and exquisite architecture designed by William Strickland, The Tennessee State Capitol is not to be missed when you’re exploring Downtown Nashville. On sight, you’ll find statues honoring Sam Davis, Sgt. Alvin York, and Presidents Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson. On the capitol grounds, you’ll also be able to visit the tombstones of President James K. Polk and his wife.

Price: Budget

Hours: Guided tours Mon-Fri 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, and 3 pm

Watch out for: the tombstones of President and Mrs. James K. Polk

Address & phone number: 600 Charlotte Ave, Nashville, TN USA +1 615-741-2692

Tennessee State Museum

Museum
Johnny Cash Museum
Johnny Cash Museum | Johnny Cash Museum
While you’re exploring the Tennessee State Capitol and grounds, be sure to step inside the Tennessee State Museum. The Museum includes permanent exhibits, like the “First Tennesseans” that discusses prehistoric Indian cultures that began about 15,000 years ago and ends with the creation of modern tribes like the Cherokee and the Chickasaw. This exhibit also features the bones of a 10,000-year-old mastodon. Other exhibits include an exhibit on the Civil War and Reconstruction and an exhibit on Andrew Jackson. Price: Budget Hours: Tue-Sat 10 am-5 pm, Sun 1 pm-5 pm Watch out for: The Civil War exhibit
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Johnny Cash Museum

Museum
A favorite museum for many visitors of Nashville, The Johnny Cash Museum is a must for true music fanatics. The museum is well-organized and features the largest collection of artifacts from the Man in Black’s life, including instruments, stage costumes, handwritten songs, letters, and photographs. Price: Mid-range Hours: Daily 9 am-7 pm Watch out for: Johnny Cash’s instruments and stage costumes
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The Listening Room Café

Recently reopened in 2012, The Listening Room Café is the local downtown Nashville venue to hear Nashville artists perform. As a bar and café, The Listening Room serves tasty food like ‘Lemon Rosemary Fried Catfish’ with a garnish of apple and waldorf slaw and the ‘Blues Burger’ with blue cheese crumbles, bacon, veggies, and their signature ‘sweet + spicy pickles’ on a brioche bun. They also serve fancy cocktails like ‘So Hot Right Now’ with Maker’s 46 Kentucky Bourbon, raw sugar bitters, and citrus peels served hot and ‘The Seedling’ with Corsair Gin, cucumber, lime, jalapeno, cilantro, and black pepper. Events at this venue include the Song Suffragettes every Monday night, where female artists and bands get to perform, as well as The Movement every Tuesday that draws some of the best musicians and singers around Nashville to their stage.

Price: Mid-range

Hours: Sun 10 am-3 pm, Mon-Fri 4 pm-11 pm, Sat 10 am- 3 pm, 4 pm-11 pm

Watch out for: Song Suffragettes Monday

Address & phone number: 217 2nd Ave S, Nashville, TN USA +1 615-259-3600

Frist Center for the Visual Arts

With fantastic exhibits like ‘Michelangelo: Sacred and Profane, Masterpiece Drawings from the Casa Buonarroti’, ‘Phantom Bodies: The Human Aura in Art’, and ‘Shinique Smith: Wonder and Rainbows’, there’s always something to catch the eye and imagination at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. As a nonprofit art-exhibition center, the center uses its nearly 24,000 square feet of gallery space to present the finest visual local, state, and regional art as well as national and international art exhibitions.

Price: Budget

Hours: Mon-Wed 10 am-5:30 pm, Thurs-Fri 10 am-9 pm, Sat 10 am-5:30 pm, Sun 1 pm-5:30 pm

Watch out for: Awesome temporary exhibits

Address & phone number: 919 Broadway, Nashville, TN USA +1 615-244-3340

Carl Van Vechten Gallery

Located in a 19th-century Victorian building on the campus of Fisk University, the gallery was established in 1949 when American painter Georgia O’Keeffe donated the collection of works that now makes up Alfred Stieglitz Collection, a permanent exhibit of the gallery. Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Elizabeth Catlett are just a few artists represented in the permanent collection of the Carl Van Vechten Gallery. Current exhibitions include ‘American Art, 1940-2000’.

Price: Budget

Hours: Tues-Sat 10 am-5 pm

Watch out for: Its permanent collection of modern painters

Address & phone number: Fisk University, 1000 17th Ave N, Nashville, TN USA +1 615-329-8720

Bluebird Café

A Nashville favorite as far as music venues go, the Bluebird Café offers an intimate and cozy 90 seat setting to enjoy live, local Nashville music as well as big hit songwriters. With an ‘in the round’ style of presenting music, songwriters sit in the middle of the room where they perform together, tell stories, and accompany each other. A typical night at the Bluebird consists of three or four songwriters taking turns to perform and accompany instrumentally and with vocal harmonies.

Price: Budget

Hours: Mon 5:30 pm-11 pm, Tues-Thurs 5 pm-11 pm, Fri-Sat 5:30 pm-12 am, Sun 5 pm-11 pm

Watch out for: Songwriters circles

Address and phone number: 4104 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN USA +1 615-383-1461

Downtown Antique Mall

A cool place to browse for just about anything and to stumble upon all sorts of oddities, The Downtown Antique Mall is not to miss while you’re walking around Downtown Nashville. From groovy lamps to cowboy boots to colorful glass vases, you’ll find all sorts of things. With high ceilings and a meticulous layout, this antique mall makes it easier to browse and find what you’re looking for without feeling the usual claustrophobic impression of a time capsule.

Price: Budget

Hours: Mon-Sat 10 am-6 pm, Sun 1 pm-5 pm

Watch out for: High ceilings and organization

Address & phone number: 612 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN USA +1 615-256-6616

Nashville Farmers’ Market

Farmers' Market, Market, Pub, Farm Shop, American, Street Food
Nashville Market
Nashville Market | Courtesy of Nashville Farmers Market
A year-round farmers market, Nashville Farmers’ Market attracts a variety of vendors from producers to artisans. You’ll find in their Farm Sheds local products like Galena Garlic Company seasonings, Lost River Creamery cheeses, and Foggy Hallow Farm Eggs. The market also attracts plenty of artisans and vendors selling specialty items like Josie’s Teas, oils and soaps from Jasmine Fashion, and unique household goods from One Man, One Garage. Price: Budget Hours: Daily 8 am-6 pm Watch out for: Fresh produce and handcrafted goods
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The Second Fiddle

A Nashville honky-tonk featuring live country music, The Second Fiddle’s a great venue to catch some live music while in Music City. Celebrities to visit The Second Fiddle include Tim McGraw, Larry the Cable Guy, and Trick Pony.

Price: Mid-range

Hours: Mon-Thurs 2 pm-3 am, Fri-Sun 11 am-3 am

Watch out for: Live country music

Address & phone number: 420 Broadway, Nashville, TN USA +1 615-251-6812

By Sarah Lantz

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