Nashville Travel Guide
For details of what to do and see in Nashville check out our Nashville guide to car hire in Nashville.
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Located right in the centre of the United States of America, and famously the home of both types of music, country and western, Nashville is a pleasant enough city to visit, with all of the usual American staples in place and correct, friendly helpful people every where, great value shopping in the down town streets and out of town strip malls, a few classical revival buildings such as the state Capitol, and also enough skyscrapers and tower blocks to constitute an impressive skyline.
Of course none of this is of any concern to 99% of the visitors who choose to come to the city, for country music fans, travelling to Nashville is the equivalent of the Hajj, a pilgrimage that they must undertake at least once, in order to hear the performances at the Grand Ole Opry, stare open mouthed at Patsy Kline's rhinestone dotted shirts, and stand underneath the road sign with their favourite artiste's name on it.
Nashville is not the kind of place that could ever be called a holiday destination, its great for dads as a stop off on the way to Disneyworld at Orlando, and will make the kids enjoy the saccharine sweetness of Mickey Mouse and fairytale castles even more, but aside from the attempts at bringing something uniquely American to the masses, its all a bit to much of a fan thing.
If you like Garth Brooks, then you'll love Nashville, if you don't, then you won't. It's that simple.
Almost everything in the city is related to country music, and fans of the genre will wander in wonder through the streets, staring at the billboards and attractions, and when they get to Opryland USA in Music Valley, they may well burst with joy.
Although these days, the Grand ole Opry performances take place at Opryland USA's custom-built theatre, the old home of the regular country music showcase was the Ryman Auditorium in the centre of the city. The graceful old theatre building was completed in 1890 and paid for by riverboat captain Thomas Ryman as a venue for spiritual music, before being offered to a wider market after his death in 1904.
Recently restored to its original glory after a multi million pound refit, the auditorium once again plays host to concerts, and is considered by aficionados of C&W music to be the most prestigious place in the world to see a performance.
