City Guides - Nashville
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If you are a visitor to Nashville, chances are you are there because you are a country music fan. That being the case the best place to begin your visit is the not-to-be-missed Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the Downtown entertainment district. The main permanent exhibit, Sing Me Back Home, is a journey through the history of country Music, drawing on the museum's rich collection of historical costumes, memorabilia, instruments, photographs, manuscripts and other objects. Live performances, interactive exhibits, and lots of great music supplement these artefacts. Among the exhibits are Elvis Presley's gold-leaf covered Cadillac, Emmy Lou Harris' jewelled cowboy boots and Bob Dylan's autographed lyric sheets. Live music is played in the atrium and digital film presentations are offered in the theatre. Visitors can also watch museum archivists and restoration experts at work, and study a vast wall displaying chart-topping gold and platinum country records.
Telephone: (615) 416 2001
Website: www.countrymusichalloffame.com
Transport:
Opening times: Daily 9am to 5pm. Closed Tuesdays in January and February, and closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day
Ryman Auditorium
This National Historic Landmark in downtown Nashville is regarded as the founding home of country music, having been the performance venue for the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. The theatre was originally built in 1892 as a gospel tabernacle and served as an evangelical meeting hall. A stage was built for the Grand Ole Opry broadcasts and such great names as Sarah Bernhardt, Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley trod the boards here in their time. Today the Grand Ole Opry has moved on to a new theatre, but the Ryman Auditorium has been restored and is still a popular performance venue where concerts are held regularly. By day the theatre acts as a museum, which visually portrays the stories of its rich history with a series of displays and exhibits.
Telephone: Box office: (615) 889 3060
Website: www.ryman.com
Transport:
Opening times: Daily 9am to 4pm for museum visiting, and in the evening for various shows
Grand Ole Opry
The home of the world-famous country music show, the Grand Ole Opry, is now in Opryland Drive in a vast 4,400 seat auditorium which is part of the Opryland resort complex north of Nashville's city centre. From here the world's longest running radio show is still broadcast on the Nashville station WSM (650 on the AM dial), featuring new stars, superstars and legends of country and bluegrass music performing live on stage. No visit to Nashville is complete without attending a show at the Grand Ole Opry, which has been going strong on the airwaves since 1925.
Telephone: (615) 871 6779
Website: www.opry.com
Transport:
Opening times: Shows generally take place on Friday at 7.30pm, Saturday 6.30pm and 9.30pm, and Tuesday at 7pm. (Times can vary according to season)
Belle Meade Plantation
One popular Nashville attraction that is not music related is the Belle Meade Plantation, known as 'the queen of Tennessee plantations', boasting an 1853 Greek Revival mansion that has been carefully restored to show its original elegance. The authentic Civil War bullet holes that riddle its columns are still visible. Among the outbuildings that survive on the 12-hectare (30-acre) site is one of the oldest houses in Tennessee, a log cabin built in 1790. There is also a carriage house, visitor centre, tearoom and gift shop. The Belle Meade estate was one of America's first and finest thoroughbred breeding farms. Tours of the antebellum furnished mansion and grounds are given by guides dressed in period costume.
Telephone: (615) 356 0501
Website: www.bellemeadeplantation.com
Transport: The estate can be reached by public bus number 3 from Riverfront Park
Opening times: Daily tours are from Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm. Last tour starts at 4pm
Parthenon
The centrepiece of Nashville's Centennial Park is the world's only full-scale replica of the Parthenon temple in Athens, Greece, complete with a re-creation of the 42ft (13m) high statue of Athena that stood outside the temple in ancient Greece. The Parthenon was originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition, it's plaster decoration being direct casts of the Parthenon Marbles and original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Greek Parthenon that was built in 438 BC. The building today serves as Nashville's art museum, with a permanent collection that highlights 19th and 20th century American artists. A variety of temporary shows and exhibitions are also presented.
Telephone: (615) 862 8431
Website: www.parthenon.org
Transport:
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 4.30pm. From June to August the museum is also open on Sundays from 12.30pm to 4.30pm
Tennessee State Museum
The interesting Tennessee State Museum is one of the largest of its kind in the nation with a huge array of permanent exhibits telling the story of Tennessee, starting out 15,000 years ago in prehistoric times and culminating in the early 20th century. Prominent historic figures are highlighted, like former US President Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone and legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett. Exhibits include displays of furniture, silverware, weapons, uniforms, battle flags, quilts and artworks from the civil war period. The museum also features reproductions of a 19th-century gristmill, and 18th-century print shop, a frontier cabin, antebellum parlour and a Victorian painting gallery.
Telephone: (615) 741 2692
Website: www.tnmuseum.org
Transport:
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sundays 1pm to 5pm. Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas
One popular Nashville attraction that is not music related is the Belle Meade Plantation, known as 'the queen of Tennessee plantations', boasting an 1853 Greek Revival mansion that has been carefully restored to show its original elegance. The authentic Civil War bullet holes that riddle its columns are still visible. Among the outbuildings that survive on the 12-hectare (30-acre) site is one of the oldest houses in Tennessee, a log cabin built in 1790. There is also a carriage house, visitor centre, tearoom and gift shop. The Belle Meade estate was one of America's first and finest thoroughbred breeding farms. Tours of the antebellum furnished mansion and grounds are given by guides dressed in period costume.
Telephone: (615) 356 0501
Website: www.bellemeadeplantation.com
Transport: The estate can be reached by public bus number 3 from Riverfront Park
Opening times: Daily tours are from Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm. Last tour starts at 4pm
Parthenon
The centrepiece of Nashville's Centennial Park is the world's only full-scale replica of the Parthenon temple in Athens, Greece, complete with a re-creation of the 42ft (13m) high statue of Athena that stood outside the temple in ancient Greece. The Parthenon was originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition, it's plaster decoration being direct casts of the Parthenon Marbles and original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Greek Parthenon that was built in 438 BC. The building today serves as Nashville's art museum, with a permanent collection that highlights 19th and 20th century American artists. A variety of temporary shows and exhibitions are also presented.
Telephone: (615) 862 8431
Website: www.parthenon.org
Transport:
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 4.30pm. From June to August the museum is also open on Sundays from 12.30pm to 4.30pm
Tennessee State Museum
The interesting Tennessee State Museum is one of the largest of its kind in the nation with a huge array of permanent exhibits telling the story of Tennessee, starting out 15,000 years ago in prehistoric times and culminating in the early 20th century. Prominent historic figures are highlighted, like former US President Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone and legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett. Exhibits include displays of furniture, silverware, weapons, uniforms, battle flags, quilts and artworks from the civil war period. The museum also features reproductions of a 19th-century gristmill, and 18th-century print shop, a frontier cabin, antebellum parlour and a Victorian painting gallery.
Telephone: (615) 741 2692
Website: www.tnmuseum.org
Transport:
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sundays 1pm to 5pm. Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas
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