Discover Nashville from the Honky Tonks to Hidden Gems

With direct flights now from Dublin you can enjoy lunch at Dublin Airport and arrive in Nashville by 5pm local time, giving you plenty of time to reach your hotel, freshen up, enjoy dinner and hit the famous Broadway and all its Honky Tonk Bars. I can really only describe it as a feeling, a vibe like no other where the neon lights glow and every bar seems to have its own band playing everything from country, rock and the blues.

 We found Nashville very easy to explore on foot, we even took an occasional E-Bike for a spin which was fun too and one thing we noticed was how clean and safe the city felt. Kick off your day with a delicious breakfast and with LIVE music from as early as 11am, stroll from bar to bar, mostly with no cover charges with musicians of all ages and genres until loooooong into the night if that’s your thing. Many of the bars are owned by well known musicians including Lainey Wilson, Alan Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, Luke Byran, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean and Post Malone to name but a few.

Wondering where to stay?

Downtown & South of Broadway: Perfect if you want to be steps from the honky-tonks, the Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame, with easy access to top restaurants and lots of rooftop bars.

The Gulch: A fashionable warehouse district turned upscale, full of smart boutiques, innovative restaurants and sleek hotels, just a short walk from Broadway. Milk & Honey an absolute must - we had breakfast there every day. So good!

Midtown & Music Row: This is where we stayed and only 10 minutes walk to the Gulch and another 10 or so to Broadway Slightly more local in feel, with fabulous bars and eateries and quick access to Centennial Park, while still being close enough to downtown for a night out

And a little of what we got up to. So no trip to Nashville would be complete without visiting some or all of these attractions:

The Johnny Cash Museum – We do love the Man in Black so spent a lovely hour or more here

Country Music Hall of Fame – Again another couple of hours were easily spent here with all the names and greats from past and present genres.

Studio B – Where many of the greats have recorded albums

Ryman – the original Grand Ole Opry

A night at the Grand Old Opry – a surreal experience and an evening we highly recommend.

For shopping lovers we spent a few hours at the Opry Mills Mall – a huge outlet right beside the Grand Old Opry. And we also took a spin to Centennial Park and checked out the Taylor Swift bench – your Swifties will know and appreciate this.

Some other attractions we didn’t get to do but that only means we need to go back included the Nashville Pedal Tavern, blend your own Bourbon Experience at one of the many distilleries, an Old Town Trolley Tour, a visit to one of the many Comedy Clubs and my biggest regret was not getting to do a Line Dancing Lesson – so I have to go back just for this!

So grab your Cowboy boots (trust me they are almost mandatory) if Live Music and good Southern food & hospitality appeal to you then feel free to reach out and let’s create that Deep South adventure – Nashville can easily be extended with a few days in Memphis and also New Orleans. It makes the perfect Fly-Drive experience like no other. Also a fab addition to a beach stay in the Caribbean or even a Caribbean Cruise.

Nashville is the perfect addition to a honeymoon, a fun long weekend trip with a group of friends or the perfect girls escape. We really loooooved Nashville!