The top Nashville attractions for a first visit are the Country Music Hall of Fame ($31.95), a Ryman Auditorium tour, the Parthenon in Centennial Park ($15), Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage ($29.95) and the Nashville Zoo ($16 to $28). The best free ones are the Tennessee State Museum, the State Capitol and Fort Negley.

This page is the reference sheet: every major sight with its gate price, closed days, parking, distance from Broadway and the time it realistically takes, grouped by part of town so you can build a day from it. The one caveat that matters most is the calendar. Three of the best museums close every Tuesday and Wednesday, the State Museum closes Mondays, and the Capitol only opens on weekdays.

Last updated October 5, 2026. Prices, rules and details checked September 2026.

The Short Version

If you want	Go to	Adult price	Why
One museum, and only one	Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum	$31.95	The best-run museum in town, and it explains the rest of the city
The best free sight	Tennessee State Museum, or a Capitol tour on a weekday	Free	Both are better than most paid attractions
The best value	Lane Motor Museum	$15, kids 17 and under free	The strangest cars you’ll ever see, for less than a cocktail downtown
History	The Hermitage	$29.95	A full half-day, with a guided mansion tour included
A view	John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge	Free	The skyline shot everyone wants, especially at sunset
Something new	National Museum of African American Music	$35	Nashville’s most modern museum, and not only about country
Fans only	Johnny Cash Museum, Opry backstage tour	$32.95 plus tax, $46.65	Good, but short for the price unless you love the subject

If you’re after ranked experiences rather than a ticket sheet, such as the best shows, food and nights out, our guide to things to do in Nashville covers that side of the city.

Nashville Attractions at a Glance: Prices, Closed Days and Time Needed

Prices are the posted adult rates in September 2026; several attractions price by date, and a few add tax or fees at checkout. “From Broadway” assumes you start around Lower Broadway and drive outside rush hour.

Attraction	Adult ticket	Closed	Time needed	From Broadway
Country Music Hall of Fame	$31.95	Open daily	2 to 3 hours	2-minute walk
Ryman Auditorium tour	Priced by date	Check calendar	1 hour	2-minute walk
Johnny Cash Museum	$32.95 plus tax	Thanksgiving, Christmas	60 to 90 minutes	5-minute walk
National Museum of African American Music	$35	Thanksgiving, Christmas	2 hours	On Broadway
Frist Art Museum	See site; 18 and under free	Tuesday, Wednesday	1 to 2 hours	10-minute walk
Musicians Hall of Fame	See price list	Sundays, major holidays	1.5 to 2 hours	10-minute walk
Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge	Free	Never	30 to 45 minutes	5-minute walk
Tennessee State Capitol	Free	Weekends	45-minute tour	10-minute walk, uphill
Tennessee State Museum	Free	Mondays	1.5 to 2 hours	5-minute drive
Fort Negley	Free	Visitor center Sunday, Monday	45 to 60 minutes	5-minute drive
Adventure Science Center	See pricing page	Tuesday, Wednesday	2 to 3 hours	5-minute drive
Lane Motor Museum	$15	Tuesday, Wednesday	1.5 to 2 hours	10-minute drive
The Parthenon	$15	Hours vary by day	45 minutes	10-minute drive
Nashville Zoo	$16 to $28 by date, plus $10 parking	Check holidays	3 to 4 hours	15 to 20 minutes
Belmont Mansion	$18, or $22 guided	Check calendar	1 hour	10-minute drive
Belle Meade Historic Site	$32, wine tasting included	Open daily	2 hours	20-minute drive
Cheekwood	$26 to $32 by date, plus $5 parking	Check calendar	2 to 3 hours	20-minute drive
Travellers Rest	See site	Sunday, Monday	1.5 hours	15-minute drive
The Hermitage	$29.95	Thanksgiving, December 24 and 25	2.5 to 3 hours	20 to 25 minutes
Gaylord Opryland atriums	Free, paid parking	Never	1 to 2 hours	15 to 20 minutes
Opry daytime backstage tour	$46.65 including taxes and fees	Check calendar	50 minutes	15 to 20 minutes

Downtown and Lower Broadway Attractions

Seven of the city’s big sights sit within a 10-minute walk of Lower Broadway, the few blocks of honky tonks between the Cumberland River and Fifth Avenue. Park once, or don’t bring a car at all, and walk between them.

1. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

At 222 Rep. John Lewis Way South, a block off Broadway, this is the museum that explains Nashville to people who don’t think they like country music. The main exhibition runs chronologically from fiddle tunes and the early Opry to the present, with Elvis Presley’s gold Cadillac, rhinestone suits, guitars and handwritten lyrics along the way, and the rotating exhibits upstairs are consistently strong. Hatch Show Print, the letterpress shop behind a century of concert posters, is in the same building.

It opens daily from 9am to 5pm. Adults and teens 13 and up pay $31.95, youth 6 to 12 pay $21.95 and younger children are free; kids 18 and under from Davidson and bordering counties get in free. The RCA Studio B tour, sold through the museum, shuttles you to the small Music Row studio where Elvis and Dolly Parton recorded, and it’s the add-on worth buying. Verdict: worth full price, and the one paid museum to do if you only do one.

2. Ryman Auditorium (Daytime Tour)

The Ryman, at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, opened in 1892 as a gospel tabernacle and housed the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974, which is why it’s called the Mother Church of Country Music. The daytime tour lets you walk the pews, see the exhibits on the building’s history and stand on the stage, and every tour includes a professional souvenir photo up there. There’s a self-guided version and a guided backstage option.

Tour prices move with the date and sit on the booking calendar, before taxes and fees. Allow an hour. Verdict: worth it if you won’t see a show here; if you can get a concert ticket instead, do that, because the room is the attraction and it sounds best full. Our live music guide covers the Ryman’s shows and how to get seats.

3. Johnny Cash Museum

A compact, well-designed museum at 119 Third Avenue South holding one of the largest collections of Cash memorabilia anywhere: stage clothes, instruments, handwritten letters and the story of the Man in Black from Arkansas cotton fields to Folsom Prison. General admission is $32.95 plus tax, with $1 off for AAA members, military, seniors and students, and it opens daily from 9am to 7pm, closing on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The late closing time is the useful part: it’s one of the few downtown museums you can do after 5pm. Verdict: for fans, a satisfying hour; for everyone else it’s one of the most expensive hours in town, at more than $26 per hour of a typical visit.

4. National Museum of African American Music

NMAAM opened in 2021 on the lower floors of Fifth + Broadway, at 510 Broadway, and it’s the museum most visitors don’t expect to find in Nashville. Its galleries trace more than 50 genres, from spirituals and blues through jazz, gospel, R&B and hip-hop, and they’re heavily interactive, with hands-on stations for singing, dancing and making beats rather than only reading about them. It makes a strong pair with the Country Music Hall of Fame because it tells the other half of the story of American music, including the Black roots of much of country music.

Adult admission is $35, last entry is 4pm for everyone, and it closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Allow two hours. Verdict: worth it, especially for anyone whose music taste runs away from country.

5. Frist Art Museum

The Frist is a non-collecting museum, so everything on the walls is a rotating exhibition, housed in the city’s 1934 Art Deco former main post office at 919 Broadway, near Union Station. The building alone is worth the walk. Visitors 18 and younger are always free, and the hands-on Martin ArtQuest gallery makes it an easy win with children.

Hours are Monday, Friday and Saturday 10am to 5:30pm, Thursday 10am to 8pm and Sunday 1pm to 5:30pm; it’s closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Adult tickets are priced on the Frist’s site, and it has cut them during exhibition changeovers, as it did in September 2026, so check what’s on before you go. Verdict: decide by the exhibition. A major show makes it one of the best two hours downtown; a quiet changeover week isn’t worth crossing town for.

6. Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum

Housed in the round Municipal Auditorium at 401 Gay Street, this museum honors the players rather than the stars: the studio musicians behind thousands of hits, from Nashville’s A-Team session players to Muscle Shoals and Los Angeles’s Wrecking Crew. Expect walls of instruments, many of them the actual guitars, basses and drum kits used on records you know. It also holds a Grammy Museum gallery.

It opens Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and closes on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Thanksgiving. Prices are on its own price list. Verdict: essential for musicians and classic-rock fans; a lower priority than the Hall of Fame or NMAAM for everyone else.

7. John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge

A 1909 steel truss bridge over the Cumberland River that now carries only people, joining SoBro near the Music City Center to the East Bank by the Titans’ stadium. Walk out to the middle for the best free view of the downtown skyline in Nashville, and go around sunset if you can. It’s open, free and takes 30 to 45 minutes round trip with photos. On game days and concert nights at Nissan Stadium, it becomes a crowded walkway, which is worth knowing if you want the photo without the crowd. Verdict: the best free thing downtown.

Capitol Hill and Bicentennial Mall

Just north of downtown, a 10-to-15-minute walk up from Broadway, the state’s government buildings and its best free museum share a hill and a long park. Everything here is free, which makes it the best-value half-day in the city.

8. Tennessee State Capitol

The Greek Revival Capitol at 600 Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Boulevard was finished in 1859 and still houses the governor’s office and the legislature. Its architect, William Strickland, is buried inside its walls, and President James K. Polk and his wife Sarah are buried on the grounds. The Capitol is open to visitors Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm, and free 45-minute guided tours leave on weekdays at 9, 10 and 11am and at 1, 2 and 3pm, first come, first served.

Expect a security check at the entrance, and expect the building to be busier when the legislature is in session in the first months of the year. Verdict: the most underrated free hour in Nashville, but only on a weekday.

9. Tennessee State Museum

The State Museum moved into a large new building at 1000 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, at the foot of Capitol Hill, in 2018, and it’s free. The permanent galleries cover everything from the first people in the region through the Civil War and civil rights to Tennessee’s music, and they’re well done enough that it’s the best free museum in the state. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 1pm to 5pm, and it’s closed on Mondays.

Allow 90 minutes to two hours, and pair it with the mall outside and lunch at the Farmers’ Market next door. Verdict: an easy yes, particularly on a hot or wet afternoon.

10. Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park and the Farmers’ Market

The mall is a long state park running north from the Capitol, built for Tennessee’s 1996 bicentennial, with a granite map of the state set into the ground, a World War II memorial, and a row of fountains representing the state’s major rivers that children run through in warm weather. It’s free and open daily. The Nashville Farmers’ Market next to the mall adds open-air farm sheds, a garden center and an international food hall. Verdict: not a destination on its own, but a pleasant 30 minutes between the State Museum and lunch.

South of Downtown: Fort Negley, Science and Cars

A few minutes south of downtown by car, four very different attractions line up along the route to the zoo. Two of them close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so plan this area for the other days of the week.

11. Fort Negley

On a hill at 1100 Fort Negley Boulevard stand the stone walls of the largest inland masonry fort built during the Civil War, raised by the Union Army in 1862 largely through the forced labor of Black Nashvillians, enslaved and free, many of whom were never paid. The site tells that story plainly. The park is free and open during daylight hours, and the free visitor center’s posted hours are noon to 4pm Tuesday to Friday and 9am to 4pm on Saturday.

Walk the loop to the top for a skyline view. It takes 45 minutes to an hour, and it pairs neatly with the Adventure Science Center next door. Verdict: free, short and more affecting than most visitors expect.

12. Adventure Science Center

A hands-on science museum at 800 Fort Negley Boulevard, with the Sudekum Planetarium upstairs. On its fall 2026 schedule it opens Monday, Thursday and Friday from 9am to 3pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Planetarium shows are an add-on at $10 for laser shows and $13 for the others; general admission changes with the calendar and is on the center’s pricing page. Verdict: excellent with children aged 4 to 10, and skippable for adults traveling without them. Our guide to things to do in Nashville with kids covers how to fit it into a family trip.

13. Lane Motor Museum

The best-value attraction in Nashville fills a former Sunbeam bread bakery at 702 Murfreesboro Pike with one of the most unusual vehicle collections in the country: microcars, amphibious cars, prototypes and rare European models, many of them things you’ve never seen on a road. Adults 18 to 64 pay $15, and visitors 17 and under are free. It opens Monday and Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm and is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

You don’t need to care about cars; the collection is so odd that it works as design history and comedy at once. Allow 90 minutes to two hours. Verdict: a strong yes, and the attraction most visitors leave recommending to friends.

14. Nashville Zoo at Grassmere

The zoo occupies the old Grassmere farm at 3777 Nolensville Pike, 15 to 20 minutes south of downtown. Adults and teens pay $16 to $28 depending on the date, children 2 to 12 pay $4 less than the adult price, under-2s are free, and parking is $10 a car. The $11 Adventure Pass covers unlimited rides and feedings: the carousel, the train, the zip line, a 4D theater and lorikeet feedings. Hours run 9am to 6pm through October 12, 2026 and 9am to 4pm from October 13 into early March.

Allow three to four hours and arrive at opening. Verdict: with children, the best morning in Nashville; without them, a good zoo, but not a reason to give up a day of a short trip.

West End and the Historic Houses

West of downtown, past Vanderbilt, the city’s grandest 19th-century houses and its most famous replica sit within 20 minutes of each other. These are the attractions where Nashville’s history of wealth, horses and slavery is told most directly, and they reward a slower day.

15. The Parthenon and Centennial Park

Nashville’s full-scale replica of the Athens Parthenon was built for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition and later rebuilt in permanent materials, and it now serves as the city’s art museum, at 2500 West End Avenue in Centennial Park. The draw inside is a 42-foot gilded statue of Athena, which is startling at that scale. Admission is $15 for adults, $8 for ages 4 to 17 and free for under-4s. Posted hours in September 2026 were 9am to 7pm Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:30pm Friday and Saturday, and 12:30pm to 4:30pm on Sunday.

The building is free to admire from the outside, and the park around it, with a lake and lawns, is free and pleasant. Verdict: 45 minutes inside is enough; go in for Athena, and if the gallery art doesn’t grab you, the $15 is for her alone.

16. Belmont Mansion

An 1850s Italianate villa on the Belmont University campus, built for Adelicia Acklen, one of the wealthiest women in the country before the Civil War, and among the grandest houses in antebellum Tennessee. It opens Monday to Saturday from 10am to 3:30pm and Sunday from 11am to 3:30pm, with last admission at 3:30pm; general admission is $18 for adults and a guided tour $22. Verdict: an hour well spent if you’re already around 12 South or Belmont; not worth a special trip if you’re also doing Belle Meade.

17. Belle Meade Historic Site

Once one of the most famous thoroughbred horse farms of the 1800s, Belle Meade is a Greek Revival mansion with outbuildings on more than 30 acres of grounds, about 20 minutes southwest of downtown (arrival address 110 Leake Avenue). The ticket includes a 45-minute guided mansion tour, which leaves every 30 to 45 minutes between 9:30am and 4pm, the grounds from 9am to 5pm, and a complimentary tasting at the on-site winery for anyone 21 and older. Adults pay $32, seniors 65 and up $30 and youth 5 to 17 $20, and children 4 and under are free.

The grounds include reconstructed cabins where enslaved people lived, and the site presents their history alongside the family’s. Arrive 15 minutes before your tour time, and allow five minutes for the walk from the visitor center to the house. Verdict: the best of the house museums for most visitors, and the wine tasting takes the sting out of $32.

18. Cheekwood Estate and Gardens

Cheekwood is a 1930s limestone mansion built with a Maxwell House coffee fortune, now an art museum set in gardens and woodland at 1200 Forrest Park Drive. The grounds are the reason to go: themed gardens, a woodland sculpture trail and seasonal events, from spring bloom and the fall harvest displays to Holiday LIGHTS in winter. Adult tickets run $26 to $32 and youth $20 to $26 depending on the date and event, a per-ticket service fee is added to paid orders, and parking is $5. Verdict: worth it in spring, in fall color or on a lights night; in the dead of winter or midsummer heat, it’s a lot of money for a garden.

19. Travellers Rest Historic House Museum

Built in 1799 for Judge John Overton, a close adviser to Andrew Jackson, Travellers Rest is the oldest of the city’s house museums, and its grounds were a Confederate headquarters during the Battle of Nashville in December 1864. It’s about 15 minutes south of downtown. Tours run Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4:30pm, with guided tours at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Verdict: for history buffs and Civil War readers; first-time visitors with one historic house in their schedule should choose Belle Meade or the Hermitage.

East Side: The Hermitage and Opryland

The east side’s two big draws are 15 minutes apart, which makes an easy day: history in the morning, the Opry House and the Gaylord atriums in the afternoon, and a show at night.

20. Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage

The Hermitage, at 4580 Rachel’s Lane about 20 to 25 minutes east of downtown, was the plantation home of the seventh president, and it’s where he and his wife Rachel are buried. Admission covers a film, the museum, a guided mansion tour of 25 to 30 minutes and the grounds, where the history of the enslaved people who worked the plantation is part of the story. Adults pay $29.95, seniors 62 and up and military $26.95, youth 5 to 12 $19.95, children 4 and under are free, and a family pass is $93.80.

It opens 8:30am to 6pm, with last tickets at 5pm and mansion arrival by 5:30pm, and closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Allow two and a half to three hours. Verdict: the best history attraction in the Nashville area, and good value for a half-day.

21. Gaylord Opryland and the Opry House Tours

Gaylord Opryland Resort, at 2800 Opryland Drive, is a hotel whose glass-roofed atriums of tropical gardens and waterfalls are free to walk through, although you’ll pay to park. From early November into early January it runs A Country Christmas, and the crowds grow accordingly. Next door, the Grand Ole Opry House, at 600 Opry Mills Drive, sells backstage tours: the 50-minute daytime tour is $46.65 including taxes and fees and covers the dressing rooms, the stage and the WSM radio studio; a 90-minute VIP tour is $88.34; and a post-show tour for that night’s ticket holders is $45.

Verdict: the atriums are a good free hour, especially in bad weather. The tour is for Opry fans; everyone else gets more from a ticket to the show itself.

Which Nashville Attractions Are Worth the Money?

A ticket price means little until you set it against how long you’ll spend inside. Divide each adult price by a realistic visit and the picture gets clearer: the zoo and the Lane cost less than $9 an hour, the Hermitage and the Hall of Fame about $12 to $13, and the Johnny Cash Museum and the Opry tour are the most expensive per hour.

That’s not the whole story, since an hour in the Ryman means more to some people than three at the zoo, but it’s a fair way to sort a budget. Our verdicts:

• Worth full price for almost anyone: the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Hermitage, Lane Motor Museum and NMAAM.
• Worth it for the right person: the Johnny Cash Museum and the Musicians Hall of Fame for fans, Cheekwood in its best seasons, Belle Meade if you’ll use the tasting, the Frist when a big exhibition is on.
• Free and better than many paid sights: the Tennessee State Museum, a weekday Capitol tour, Fort Negley and the pedestrian bridge.
• Nice, but optional: the inside of the Parthenon, Belmont Mansion if you’re also seeing Belle Meade, and the Opry tour if you’re seeing the show anyway.

What to Skip or Downgrade

A few famous names don’t deliver much once you’re standing in front of them, and it’s better to know that before you plan a morning around one.

• Music Row as a walk. The district southwest of downtown is a working neighborhood of label offices and studios, many in converted houses. Apart from RCA Studio B, which you can only enter on the Hall of Fame’s tour, there’s nothing to go inside, so a trolley loop or a drive-through covers it.
• The Batman Building. The AT&T tower with the two spires is the skyline’s signature, and you’ll see it from everywhere, but it’s an office building with no public observation deck. The pedestrian bridge is where to photograph it.
• Printers Alley in daylight. The alley’s bars and clubs come alive at night; at noon it’s a narrow service lane with neon signs switched off. Save it for after dinner.
• Both the Ryman tour and a Ryman show. Pick one. If a show you’d enjoy is on during your trip, the concert gives you the building at its best and the tour adds little.
• A hop-on, hop-off ticket for downtown alone. Everything downtown is walkable. Trolleys earn their price when they link downtown with Music Row, Midtown and the Gulch in one loop, which our Nashville tours guide weighs up.

Closed Days That Catch Visitors

Nashville’s attraction calendar has more holes in it than most cities’, and they cluster on the same days.

• Tuesday and Wednesday: the Adventure Science Center, Lane Motor Museum and the Frist are all closed. Plan the Hall of Fame, the Hermitage, Belle Meade, the Capitol or the zoo instead.
• Monday: the Tennessee State Museum is closed, and so are Travellers Rest’s tours and the Fort Negley visitor center.
• Weekends: the State Capitol is closed to visitors on Saturdays and Sundays.
• Sunday: the Musicians Hall of Fame is closed, and the Frist and the Parthenon open late (1pm and 12:30pm).
• Early closes: the Adventure Science Center shuts at 3pm on weekdays, Belmont Mansion’s last admission is 3:30pm, NMAAM’s last entry is 4pm, and the zoo closes at 4pm from mid-October.
• Late opens: the Johnny Cash Museum runs to 7pm daily and the Frist to 8pm on Thursdays, which makes them the two best downtown options for a late afternoon.

Seasonal Attractions Worth Planning Around

Several attractions change character with the calendar, and a few only exist for part of the year:

• Holidays: Gaylord Opryland’s A Country Christmas runs from November 6, 2026 to January 2, 2027, according to the city’s visitor bureau, with an ICE! exhibit themed on Home Alone this year. Cheekwood’s Holiday LIGHTS turn the gardens into an evening walk through the season, and the zoo runs its own winter light festival, Zoolumination. All three sell dated tickets, and weekend nights go first.
• Spring: Cheekwood’s gardens peak, the historic houses are at their prettiest, and the Iroquois Steeplechase, a horse race in Percy Warner Park, is scheduled for May 8, 2027.
• Summer: July averages a high of 91°F, so do the outdoor sights (the zoo, Fort Negley, the Hermitage grounds, the bridge) before 11am and the museums in the afternoon. The Fourth of July show downtown, Let Freedom Sing, draws one of the year’s biggest crowds.
• Fall: the best all-round season for sightseeing, with Cheekwood’s harvest displays, mild afternoons for the house museums and Oktoberfest on Bicentennial Capitol Mall in early October.
• New Year’s Eve: the free Big Bash was held on Bicentennial Capitol Mall for 2025; watch the visitor bureau for the 2026 plans.

For weather and crowds month by month, see the best time to visit Nashville.

Discounts, Combos and Passes: What Actually Saves Money

Nashville’s discounts are specific rather than sweeping, and most of them are aimed at kids and families. The ones worth knowing:

• Free for kids: Lane Motor Museum (17 and under) and the Frist (18 and under). Local kids from Davidson and bordering counties get into the Country Music Hall of Fame museum free.
• Family and group rates: the Hermitage family pass is $93.80, against $99.80 for two adults and two children on individual tickets.
• Small discounts: the Johnny Cash Museum takes $1 off for AAA members, military, seniors and students; the Parthenon admits SNAP and WIC families free, up to four people per card.
• Built-in extras: a Belle Meade ticket includes a wine tasting, and every Ryman tour includes a stage photo, so compare those prices with that in mind.
• Bundles: the Opry sells combinations that pair its backstage tour with a Ryman tour, and the Hall of Fame sells museum and Studio B packages. Third-party sightseeing passes and hop-on, hop-off trolley tickets can pay off if you’d visit several of their included attractions anyway, so check the list first.

What doesn’t save money: buying a pass and then rushing through five attractions a day to justify it. Two attractions a day, one paid and one free, is a better trip.

Parking at Nashville Attractions

Downtown, walk. The Hall of Fame, the Ryman, the Johnny Cash Museum, NMAAM, the Frist, the Musicians Hall of Fame, the pedestrian bridge and the Capitol are all within about 15 minutes of one another on foot, and garage rates rise sharply on event nights. Outside downtown, most attractions have their own lots: the zoo charges $10 a car, Cheekwood $5, and Gaylord Opryland charges for parking at the resort. If you’re relying on rideshares, the zoo, Lane, Fort Negley and the Adventure Science Center are short, cheap rides from downtown; Belle Meade, Cheekwood and the Hermitage are longer ones. Our guide to getting around Nashville has garage, bus and rideshare details.

How to Build a Day From This List

Pick one area per day and one or two paid attractions in it, and fill the rest with the free sights nearby:

• Downtown day: Country Music Hall of Fame at 9am, lunch, NMAAM or the Frist, the pedestrian bridge at sunset.
• Capitol and south day (weekday): Capitol tour at 10am, the State Museum, lunch at the Farmers’ Market, then Fort Negley and Lane Motor Museum.
• West side day: Belle Meade at opening, Cheekwood or the Parthenon after lunch.
• East side day: the Hermitage in the morning, the Gaylord atriums after lunch, the Opry at night.

For full day-by-day plans with meals and music, see our Nashville itinerary, and for where to sleep so these days work, where to stay in Nashville.

Nashville Attractions FAQ

What is the number one attraction in Nashville?

For most visitors it’s the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, a block off Broadway, which costs $31.95 for adults and takes two to three hours. The Ryman Auditorium is its equal as a landmark, but the Ryman is best experienced at a show rather than on the daytime tour.

What are the best free attractions in Nashville?

The Tennessee State Museum (closed Mondays), a guided tour of the State Capitol (weekdays only), Fort Negley, the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, Bicentennial Capitol Mall, Centennial Park and the atriums at Gaylord Opryland, where only parking costs money. Together they fill two days without a single ticket.

Which Nashville attractions are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays?

The Adventure Science Center, Lane Motor Museum and the Frist Art Museum are all closed on both days. The Country Music Hall of Fame, the Hermitage, Belle Meade, the Johnny Cash Museum, the zoo and the Capitol (on weekdays) are good choices for those days instead.

How much does it cost to visit Nashville’s top attractions?

Adult tickets at the major paid sights ran from $15 (the Parthenon and Lane Motor Museum) to $35 (NMAAM) in September 2026, with the Hall of Fame at $31.95, the Hermitage at $29.95 and Belle Meade at $32. A 50-minute Opry backstage tour is $46.65. Several of the best sights are free.

Is the Johnny Cash Museum worth it?

For a Cash fan, yes: it’s a well-made museum with a deep collection, and it stays open until 7pm daily. For everyone else, $32.95 plus tax for 60 to 90 minutes makes it one of the priciest hours in town, and the Country Music Hall of Fame covers far more ground for about the same price.

How many attractions can you see in a day in Nashville?

Two, comfortably, and three if two of them are free and close together. Downtown’s museums are walkable, so a Hall of Fame morning and an NMAAM afternoon work well; the historic houses and the Hermitage are spread out, so pair each with something nearby rather than crossing town.

Related Nashville Guides

• Things to Do in Nashville: the ranked list of experiences, from shows to food, that goes with this ticket sheet.
• Things to Do in Nashville With Kids: which of these attractions suit which ages, and a three-day family plan.
• Nashville Tours: trolleys, buses and guided tours, and when a tour beats doing it yourself.
• Nashville Itinerary: day-by-day plans that fit these attractions around music and meals.
• Day Trips From Nashville: Franklin’s Civil War sites, Mammoth Cave and more within a few hours.
• Best Time to Visit Nashville: when the gardens peak, when the crowds thin and what July heat means for sightseeing.

Sources and verification

Details in this guide were checked on September 25, 2026 against the attractions, operators and agencies listed below; the guide is based on that research and doesn’t claim first-hand visits.

• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: tickets
• Ryman Auditorium: tours
• Johnny Cash Museum: tickets
• National Museum of African American Music: visit
• Frist Art Museum: location, hours and admission
• Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum: information and prices
• Tennessee State Museum: State Capitol tours and plan your visit
• Metro Parks: Fort Negley
• Adventure Science Center: visit
• Lane Motor Museum: visit
• The Parthenon: hours and admission
• Nashville Zoo: tickets
• Belle Meade Historic Site: mansion tour admission, Belmont Mansion: plan your visit and Travellers Rest: hours
• Cheekwood: tickets
• Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage: admission and Grand Ole Opry: tours

Photo credits

• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: photo by Jumpy542, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
• Musicians Hall of Fame at the Municipal Auditorium: photo by Ɱ, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• View from the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge: photo by Andysedgley, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Tennessee State Capitol: photo by Kaldari, Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
• Fort Negley Park entrance: photo by Unknown photographer, Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
• Reconstructed cabin at Belle Meade Historic Site: photo by Dreamyshade, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Travellers Rest Historic House Museum: photo by Thomas R Machnitzki (thomasmachnitzki.com), Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
• The Hermitage mansion and cedar lane: photo by Antony-22, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The Parthenon, Centennial Park (featured image): photo by Aaron Archuleta, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photos are from Wikimedia Commons and have been resized for the web. The chart is our own, drawn from the figures in this guide.