Is there enough to do in Nashville, TN for a week?

[MinnieForMe]

Hi;
We are looking for a budget vacation while our son is at Space Camp in Huntsville, Al. Our timeshare will transfer to Nashville. It's less than a two hour ride from the Nashville airport for us to drop our son off at Space Camp. But, is there enough to do in Nashville? We do like history so I'm assuming visiting some historical homes would be a reasonable way to past the time.

Any ideas?

 

[FarmDisney]

On our way to WDW in 2008 we stopped in Nashville to look at the Parthenon - a full size replica of the actual one in Greece. It was amazing!!! I just looked and admission is $4 for adults. We thought it was definitely worth the stop. We spent several hours there - we were studying Ancient Greece and Greek mythology and the Parthenon was a huge hit with the kids.

Sorry don't have any other info for you, but the Parthenon could easily fill up a day for you.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

Nashville has a lot of things to do. The zoo is very nice. We have a lot of malls. There is a comedy club, there are all kinds of professional sports depending on the season, there is a big water park, there is the Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry, there are a lot of famous honky tonk type bars where country singers get there start. There is the General Jackson river boat. It cruises the Cumberland river and you get a meal and a show. If you have any specific interests let me know and I will guide you there.

 

[Sossy]

As a lot of places, it depends on what you like to do, and for here also the time of year. You don't want to spend all day outside in July-August usually.
Historical: several nice places including the Parthenon, Hermitage, and Belle Meade plantation. I'd also suggest checking out the Frist Art museum and Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.
You can go walk through the Opryland hotel just to see the gardens even if you aren't staying there, just park at the mall next door. The TN state museum is downtown and free- usually has some fun visiting exhibits. There are some very nice large parks, including one with some good short hikes in the hills (Warner Parks). And you should spend some time downtown near the honky tonks just to get the experience of all of the live music, or you could go to Bluebird Cafe to hear new music from singer/songwriters!

 

[LadyBeBop]

A Grand Ol' Opry performance is on my bucket list.

I think there's enough to do inside Nashville. If you don't limit yourself to the city, I know there's enough to do.

The Nachez Trace, a 400+ scenic drive, ends right outside Nashville. I'm not saying drive the entire route to Mississippi. But you can travel maybe 30-40 miles down the trace then back up to it. It's a beautiful drive, and there's a lot of hiking trails along the trace.

Even if you don't travel the trace, make sure you have a meal at the Loveless Cafe at the very end of the trace. That's where the celebrities go when they're in Nashville. And for good, delicious reasons too.

Mammoth Cave National Park is about 90 minutes north of Nashville. If you don't want to travel that far, the Lost River Cave is about an hour north in Bowling Green, KY. There, you travel by boat along a river that enters into a wide cave. Huge cave..in fact it was a nightclub during Prohibition, and they still have parties there from time to time.

Also in Bowling Green...the National Corvette Museum.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Thanks. It sounds like there will be plenty of activities for us. My oldest wants a career in the music business (not country) but I think he'd really enjoy all the music history in the area!

I expect it will be brutally hot at the end of August but we love the heat!

 

[scdak]

Visitmusiccity.com is a valuable site for information and has helped me plan several trips, I also recommend the "total access pass" which gives you admission to a number of tourist attractions for a set price and its less expensive than purchasing admission to them individually. I would love to be able to spend a week there, and I don't think I would still get to see everything that I want to see.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I have been to Nashville and think I could see everything I wanted to see in the city itself about 2 days. A week there would be a long time.

OP - you would probably be interested in a tour of the Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's home. It is worth a visit:

http://www.thehermitage.com/

 

[Floridagal23]

We spent a long weekend in Nashville and felt like there was plenty to do. We live in NYC and we are used to being overprogrammed and we weren't bored. We ate at the pancake pantry, loveless cafe, judge bean's, went to the grand old opry, the parthenon replica, the hermitage, belle meade plantation, walked around vanderbilt university, walked around downtown, heard live music in bars, etc. We drove around some of the nicer suburbs, too. I would make reservations ahead of time to go to the bluebird cafe for some live music, and if we had more time, maybe see some other plantations/homes, the botanical gardens, and go to the Nachez trace trail areas. And definitely try to go to another show!

 

[LaurLaur04]

I love the Grand Ol Opry mall. It's awesome! Lots to do there!

 

[Carol97]

There is a zoo too in Nashville and the Opry Mills Mall is very nice to shop at. You can also walk through the Opryland hotel which is beautiful and they have a nice little romantic boatride you can take inside the hotel!

 

[robsmom]

I love the suggestion of Mammoth Caves. I know it is a bit of a ride, but this was one of the most amazing places that I have ever been. One hint if you go. Get tickets in advance and check the time zone. It is right on the border of central/eastern time. Our hotel was in one and the cave was in the other. You may want to check out lakes in the area as well. Since you have a full week, taking a day and just relaxing/swimming might be a nice break from the August heat.

 

[packofjedis]

I lived in Nashville for 5 years and we loved it so much we plan to retire there. There's plenty to do for a week. The plantation homes are very cool. I'm going to second a lot of what people have already said and add a few of my own:

The Hermitage (well worth it)

eat at The Pancake Pantry (no idea what they put in their pancakes but they're addicting)

Cheekwood Gardens (they used to do a half price ticket after 4:00 or so)

for history go a little east to Stones River National Park (a driving/walking tour of a battlefield with plaques along the way to explain what was happening)

Belmont Mansion next to do Belmont University was an interesting tour

If you go north to Mammoth Caves, you could add on a visit to Kentucky Down Under. They have kangaroos you can pet

Another cave that isn't quite so far is Lost River Cave boat tours. Just over KY border in Bowling Green.

 

[mrsdrake625]

Re: mammoth caves, it may be worthwhile to check on the various tour times. We got there and had to wait until the next available tour left, the ones close to when we arrived were sold out. But agree w pp, it was totally worth the trip. Chilly down there, bring a jacket!

 

[lttlmc3]

You may also want to take your son around music row. Lots of studios there. A lot of things have been recorded in them, and not just country!

 

[RedsDrew]

Nashville is a great city. The sites I recommend (some of which have already been mentioned):

The Parthenon - an exact replica of the actual Parthenon which houses an art museum inside

Opry Mills - A shopping mecca

Opryland Hotel by Gaylord - worth a visit even if you don't stay there (indoor rivers/waterfalls, etc)

The Grand 'Ole Opry - not too expensive and usually a nice line up of stars.

The Ryman Auditorium - take the tour of this facility which used to be the original home of Opry and is now a concert/entertainment venue with church-like Pue seating.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - see awards, costumes, celebrity belongings, etc

The Nashville Zoo

The General Jackson Showboat which offers afternoon and evening shows and river cruises for families

 

[masonjar]

Check out tntrailsandbyways. It has several "trails" you can follow with numerous points of interest along the way. It also has links to the larger towns like Nashville.

Come visit us in Lynchburg and visit Jack Daniel Distillery and eat lunch at Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House. Lynchburg is about an hour north of Huntsville and a little over an hour from Nashville. Would be an interesting stop on your way to/from Huntsville and Nashville.

 

[minnierocks]

If you decide to go to the Mammoth Caves...which was a great trip for us...stop and see the Corvette factory in Bowling Green. We took a free tour there and really enjoyed it.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I saw the Frist Art Museum mentioned, but noteworthy about the Frist is that the entire third floor is the hands on ArtQuest....so many fun art experiences for the kids!

Don't think I saw Adventure Science Center mentioned on here...think giant indoor scientfic playground. Fun!

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens is another great place to take the kids during the summer. There is always some sort of fun exhibit going on in the summer like dinosaurs or treehouses.

And since you love the heat so much, go to a Nashville Sounds baseball game! If you will check the game schedule, some of the home games end with a Fireworks show and all of them end with a chance for the kids to run the bases. Here is a link to the game schedule:

http://www.milb.com/schedule/index.jsp?sid=t556&m=07&y=2013

 

[drinkme]

We're taking our son to Space Camp next month. We're trying to figure out what to do for the week, too. We were looking at Memphis. I've always wanted to visit Graceland. We'll probably head over to nashville, too.

I'll report back after our trip and let you know what we did.