The top things to do in Nashville are the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame ($31.95 for adults), the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway, the Johnny Cash Museum, the Parthenon and the Bluebird Cafe. Stay downtown if you want to walk to Broadway, and take the $2 WeGo route 18 bus from the airport. We read each source on 14 October 2026.
What is Nashville known for?
Country music. Wikipedia says the city is called Music City and the country music capital, and that the Grand Ole Opry, founded in 1925, started that. It also says the first Prince's Hot Chicken Shack opened in 1945, and that a copy of the Parthenon stands in Centennial Park (Wikipedia, Nashville, read 14 Oct 2026).
The sights, with address, hours and price
Grand Ole Opry
Address: Opry House, 600 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville, TN 37214 (Opry website, home page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Hours: Shows listed for October 2026 include 15, 16, 17 (7:00 and 9:30 p.m.), 18 and 20 to 23 October, mostly at 7:00 p.m. There is no fixed weekly schedule on the site, so check the calendar. The box office is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and to 7:30 p.m. on show days (same page)
Price: Show ticket price: not confirmed. The Opry's pages did not list one. House tours, taxes and fees included: daytime tour $46.65, VIP daytime tour $88.34, post-show tour $45.00, which needs a show ticket (Opry website, tours page, read 14 Oct 2026)
The Opry House is not downtown. We did not check how to get there without a car.
Ryman Auditorium
Address: 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, Nashville, TN 37219 (Ryman, tours page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Hours: Daytime tours every day, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Shorter hours on 14 October (to 3:15 p.m.) and 30 October (to 2:15 p.m.) (same page)
Price: Self-guided tour $25 plus tax, about 1 hour, a fall price for tours through 31 October 2026. Free for children 12 and under with a paid adult. Guided backstage tour $42.52 plus tax. VIP tour $62.02 plus tax. Military, first responders and law enforcement get 10% off (same page)
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Address: 222 Rep. John Lewis Way S, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone 615-416-2001 (museum, plan your visit page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Hours: Open daily, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed 18 October 2026 for the Medallion Ceremony. The museum says the busiest hours are 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (same page)
Price: Adult (13 and up) $31.95, youth (6 to 12) $21.95. Museum plus RCA Studio B tour: $54.95 and $44.95 (museum, select your experience page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Lower Broadway honky-tonks
Visit Music City says Nashville has free live music 365 days a year. We found no official list of which bars charge a cover or what their age rules are, so ask at the door. Hours depend on each bar.
Note: WSMV reported that from 13 March 2026, Metro Police close Broadway to cars between Rep. John Lewis Way and 2nd Avenue on Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., to protect people on foot (WSMV, 13 Mar 2026). A later WSMV report, on 1 August 2026, cited an NDOT closure list with different times: closed from 4th Avenue South, 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. We could not confirm the current hours on a city page. Plan your ride home before you go out
Johnny Cash Museum
Address: 119 3rd Ave S, Nashville, TN 37201 (museum, tickets page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Hours: Every day, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas (same page)
Price: Adult $32.95 plus tax. Youth (6 to 15) $28.95 plus tax, with an adult. Ages 5 and under free with an adult. AAA, military, senior and student discounts of $1 are in person only (same page)
The Parthenon in Centennial Park
Address: 2500 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone 615-862-8431 (Parthenon, hours and admission page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Closed on Metro holidays, such as 11 November and 26 November 2026 (same page)
Price: Adult $15, senior (62 and up) $10, youth (4 to 17) $10, under 4 free. Tickets are sold on site only. Card payments carry a 2.3% fee. SNAP/EBT holders get in free, up to 4 people (same page)
The Bluebird Cafe
Address: 4104 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37215. Phone 615-383-1461 (Bluebird Cafe, contact page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Price: $15 per person food and drink minimum. The 6:00 p.m. Monday open mic has none (Bluebird Cafe, FAQ page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Rules from the cafe's FAQ. Reserve only at bluebirdcafe.com, up to six seats an order. Tickets are not transferable. The name on the booking must match the guest's ID, and staff run random ID checks. For most Tuesday to Sunday shows, 10 to 12 seats are held for walk-ups. Monday blues at 9:00 p.m. usually has 20 to 30 walk-up seats, and the Monday open mic is all walk-up. You must be in line yourself. The cafe is all ages, but you must be 21 to sit at the bar. When tickets go on sale is not confirmed.
Airport to downtown
Getting there: WeGo route 18 runs from the Ground Transportation Center on Level 1 of the Terminal 2 Garage to the Elizabeth Duff Transit Center at WeGo Central downtown. Express trips take about 20 minutes, local trips 35 to 45 minutes. The fare is $2 each way for adults, paid by QuickTicket, contactless card or phone, or exact cash. Luggage is allowed (WeGo, airport page, read 14 Oct 2026)
Price: QuickTicket adult fares: 2-hour pass $2.00, full day $4.00, calendar month $65.00. A cash fare is $2.00 for one ride, with no transfers (WeGo, how to ride page, read 14 Oct 2026)
How often route 18 runs was not on the airport page, so check the schedule on WeGo's site or in a map app.
Is Nashville safe?
We found no official safety rating or crime comparison, so we give no verdict. The one official step we found reported is the weekend closure of Broadway to cars, described above. WSMV also reported that on 1 August 2026 a driver ran a red light at 4th Avenue and Broadway and hit four people on foot, one of whom died. Plan your ride home before you go out, stay with your group in crowds, and call 911 in an emergency.
Where to stay in Nashville
We did not check any hotel's rate or room list, so we give no prices.
| Area | What it is near |
|---|---|
| Downtown | Lower Broadway, the Ryman, the Johnny Cash Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame, WeGo Central and the airport bus |
| Midtown | The Parthenon and Centennial Park on West End Avenue |
Downtown suits a first visit, because the main sights and the airport bus stop are all there. We did not measure walking times between them.
What we checked and what can change
Read on 14 October 2026: the Grand Ole Opry home and tours pages, the Ryman tours page, the Country Music Hall of Fame plan your visit and select your experience pages, the Johnny Cash Museum tickets page, the Parthenon hours and admission page, the Bluebird Cafe FAQ and contact pages, WeGo's airport and how to ride pages, Visit Music City's home page, Wikipedia's Nashville entry, and WSMV's reports of 13 March and 1 August 2026.
Not confirmed: the Opry show ticket price, how to reach the Opry House without a car, Bluebird ticket release times, which Broadway bars charge a cover and their age rules, the current hours of the weekend Broadway closure, route 18's frequency, and any hotel rate. Prices and hours change, so check the operator's page for your date. We did not visit Nashville for this page.
