Nashville

[ajwolfe]

Considering on making Nashville our stopping point on our drive back from Disney in May. Been years since we stayed the night in the area. Can someone point me in the direction of what areas are the best to stay in. DH is wanting to make a stop at the Jack Daniels distillery on the way home as well so if anyone has any thoughts about that or if there is lodging/food out closer that way?? Seems like the Jack Daniels thing is kind of out in the middle of nowhere, right?

 

[dashofsunshine]

By "best area to stay in"...do you mean cheapest? Most interesting historically? Nicest hotels? Trying to learn what you mean by "best." There are many parts of Nashville and most of them are great choices for hotels. Green
Hills/Germantown/Opryland area/downtown/Brentwood/airport area are all fine, but they have different draws, obviously.

Jack Daniels distillery is in Lynchburg and yes, it is in the middle of nowhere. It's literally a one stop light town. There are maybe 2 restaurants. Absolutely tiny place. The distillery is great, though!

If you really wanted to stay "closer" there is Murfreesboro or Manchester (Manchester isn't really huge or anything), but honestly Murfreesboro is only 35 minutes from Nashville. I'd just stay in town if I were you, haha. More to do here!

 

[ajwolfe]

Thanks for the response!!

I guess by best I was meaning cleanliest, nice hotels that won't break the bank and some close by restaurants or something cool to see in the area. I would imagine my kids would think it was neat to stay downtown but I'm not sure I want to mess with that for one night. Is traffic a mess in that area?

We've actually stayed in Manchester once on our way down, forgot that it was close to that area.

About how far do you think it is from Nashville to the Jack Daniels distillery?

 

[Vernie822]

My aunt and uncle live there so we've visited a few times. There is some tourist-y stuff downtown that's worth seeing - hall of fame, Ryman Auditorium, etc., and some good sightseeing and such. I'm currently planning a weekend trip for April and hotels downtown run about $275-350 a night, it seems. You could also stay a little further out near the Opryland Hotel/Opry Mills Mall. I honestly haven't been out that way in a few years though to know if that's really close to anything (we always stay with them when we go so I'm not sure on distances).

 

[uccats97]

We stayed in a suburb of Nashville about 18 months ago, Mt. Juliette, at the Hampton Inn & Suites. The hotel was clean, I would stay again and I wrote a great review on Trip Advisor. It was an easy drive to downtown and the exit itself had plenty of restaurants, etc. No experience with the distillery though.

 

[DSLRuser]

Just south of Nashville is a suburb called Murfreesbuoro. It is a nice area. Well lit. Lots of food and hotel options.

 

[CowgirlTN]

In Nashville and would strongly suggest staying downtown. In May there are so many things happening in downtown one night might not be long enough. There really isn't a bad hotel in downtown and they vary from moderately priced too high and luxury hotels. I would book now because our city is very popular and hotel sell out fast, especially in May.

Lynchburg is a beautiful small town that you're coming up through Alabama on the way.

 

[dashofsunshine]

Thanks for the response!!

I guess by best I was meaning cleanliest, nice hotels that won't break the bank and some close by restaurants or something cool to see in the area. I would imagine my kids would think it was neat to stay downtown but I'm not sure I want to mess with that for one night. Is traffic a mess in that area?

We've actually stayed in Manchester once on our way down, forgot that it was close to that area.

About how far do you think it is from Nashville to the Jack Daniels distillery?

We live in Brentwood, about 20 minutes from downtown Nashville, and we rarely go downtown, honestly. Traffic/parking is generally a nightmare, there is a ton of construction, etc. Lately we've gone into downtown for a few dinners and phew, it's congested you can find cheap(ish...cheap is a relative word...lol) hotels downtown, but many of the nicer ones are pricey (for us, anyway).

I'm the kind of person who would much rather stay out near Opryland. There's the hotel itself which is a Nashville icon, the Grand Ole Opry, and Opry Mills Mall all right there together. IMAX movie theater, Dave and Busters, etc. Everything you could want, really close. The drive in to downtown isn't bad at all, and it's much less congested than downtown because Briley Parkway is huge.

JD distillery is about an hour and 20 minutes from Nashville proper, if I remember. Once you get off 24 there is basically nothing until you hit Lynchburg. And if you blink, you might even miss that

Good luck!

 

[unrequited23]

We stayed a bit out of downtown at the Best Western, I think it was called Best Western-Music City on the travel site we used. The rooms were huge, a sitting area with a pull out couch were standard and there was an ok continental breakfast. Downtown hotels were booked up during our stay due to college and professional football games.

 

[LoriKutchey]

My daughter lives in Nashville. Like the above poster we enjoy opryland area the best. Hotels are much cheaper than downtown and the freeway is right there to jump on for downtown. We have been to Lynchburg twice and enjoyed it very much.

 

[ssdeverell]

I also like to stay around Opry Mills. The Sheraton is nice. And try to get to the Loveless Café for a meal. Yummy!!!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The distillery tour was great. Its free and about 2 hours long. No free samples as Moore County is a dry county. Stop off at Arrington Vineyard owned by the musician Kix Brooks. Another vote or the opry area-cheaper nicer area to stay in. Opry hotel are just about $100 downtown Nashville are close to $300

 

[dashofsunshine]

The distillery tour was great. Its free and about 2 hours long. No free samples as Moore County is a dry county. Stop off at Arrington Vineyard owned by the musician Kix Brooks. Another vote or the opry area-cheaper nicer area to stay in. Opry hotel are just about $100 downtown Nashville are close to $300

1) OP, you should definitely stop off at Arrington if you get the chance - bring some picnic food. We do a date weekend lunch there once a month. It's a gorgeous vineyard!

2) It IS a dry county, but they have recently made it possible to get samples at the JD distillery. We took out of town friends in August of last year, and paid for the tasting tour. I believe it was 3 samples for each of us, if I remember correctly. No fire or honey samples though, sadly!

 

[IamJBo]

If you want downtown you'd be hard pressed to not break the bank for a hotel. I would recommend staying on the outskirts. Murfreesboro is a good medium between Nashville and Lynchburg. There's not much to do there but there's even less to do in Manchester. Medical Center Pkwy has some new hotels that just opened off. They're right off the exit to I-24 and next to an open air shopping area known as the Avenues. Eateries mostly consist of your chains. Local favorites in the area to consider..

Deezie's Hot Chicken - assuming you can't make it into town to get some of the more popular fares then this is a better alternative than KFC.
Peter D's - locally owned by some of the family members that own Demo's (if you're familiar with that restaurant)

What age range are the kids? I think if you enjoy shopping and don't mind the drive then the Opryland area would be a nice fit for you. There you get OpryMills for shopping, Opryland Hotel which you can wander around and get lost, and of course the Grand Ole Opry.

Opryland Hotel has some nice restaurants in it but of course they're pricey. The OpryMills has you're chains.

You can probably score a decent 3 or 4 star hotel around the West End area but be warned since you're coming in May you'll definitely want to double check dates for rates. May in Middle Tennessee is graduation season.
I could write an essay on your food options in the downtown area. Again, pending on when you're in town, you can find yourself at one of the many meat and 3's. Some are only open during the week. You can't go wrong with Hattie B's of course!

Pending on your time of day there are plenty of free parking spots downtown. Of course this is also pending what day of the week you land here. Traffic is no worse than a big city. Since you're driving through Nashville I'm assuming you'll be going through Atlanta. Atlanta traffic is much worse.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

If you are coming up from Alabama you'll probably be on I-65N so the easiest thing would be to stay in the cool springs area (Franklin). Right in the interstate and tons of shopping and restaurants. There is an American Girl store at the mall if you have a little girl. I live in Franklin near Cool Springs so can answer any questions.

 

[sullins5]

We visit Opryland Hotel every Christmas and love the area! There are plenty of moderate hotels in the area (particularly around Elm Hill Pike). And there's lots to do. Opry Mills (the mall right besides Opryland Hotel) is nice to walk around and then you can walk over to the hotel. Lots of folks park at the mall and walk over to the hotel to avoid the parking fees. We also head to Green Hills Mall to hit up the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. And we love the Franklin area and it's square, also. Nashville has many great things to offer! Have a safe great trip!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

If we're coming back from Chattanooga on I-24, we stay at the airport Holiday Inn (I've been to several conventions there). It's just off Briley PKWY.

If coming North on I-65, we usually stop in Columbia so we can eat at Stan's.

 

[ajwolfe]

Thanks for all the suggestions... We would be coming up I-24 thru Chattanooga instead of the Alabama way. We have 2 boys, ages 8 and 12. I'm assuming they are allowed at the distillery?? What about the vineyard? Most of our local vineyards/distilleries allow minors, but I thought I'd better double check.

I'm really like the idea of staying in the Opryland area.

 

[dashofsunshine]

Children allowed at both places with parents

PS I'm the kind who would rather stop in Chattanooga than Nashville, lol. It's an incredible city. But I was born and raised in Chattanooga. I still consider it home, even though I've been in Nashville for 8 years now. Have fun!!