I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting Nashville to be a revelation. I went in with a vague mental image of cowboy boots, country music, and fried chicken and while all three of those things are absolutely present and genuinely excellent, what I didn’t anticipate was how completely the city would win me over.
Nashville is one of those rare places that works for everyone. It’s the kind of destination you can sell to a friend who loves rooftop cocktails and another friend who wants live music every single night and a third friend who just wants excellent food and the kind of atmosphere that makes a weeknight feel like a celebration. They will all have the time of their lives. And yes, it is absolutely that good.
Whether you’re planning a hen weekend, a girls’ trip, a birthday, or simply a long-overdue transatlantic escape with your favourite people here’s your guide to doing Nashville properly.
Getting There
Nashville International Airport (BNA) connects directly to most major UK and European hubs via connecting flights through New York, Chicago, or Atlanta with journey times typically landing around 11–13 hours door to door from London. Once you arrive, the airport is refreshingly close to the city centre: rideshares to downtown run around $20–$30 and take roughly 15 minutes. No epic transfer, no faff. You’ll be on Broadway before your ears have finished popping.
Where to Stay?
The golden rule in Nashville is to stay downtown specifically within walking distance of Broadway, the city’s glittering entertainment strip. The neighbourhoods are compact and very walkable once you’re central, and being close to the action means you’re not haemorrhaging money on rideshares between venues.
The Noelle: is one of the most stylish hotels in the city a beautifully converted building downtown with great rooftop views and the kind of design-forward interior that photographs brilliantly. It sits right in the middle of everything.
21c Museum Hotel: doubles as a contemporary art museum, which sounds gimmicky but absolutely isn’t. The rooms are enormous, the location is walkable to everything on Broadway, and the lobby alone is worth seeing. I’d book it again without hesitation.
Dream Nashville: is the choice if your group wants to start the party without even leaving the hotel it has its own nightclub (Dirty Little Secret, no less) inside a pair of historic buildings in Printer’s Alley. Perfect energy for a hen weekend arrival.
How to Spend Your Days?
Nashville’s days are genuinely as good as its nights, which catches a lot of first-timers off guard.
Start at Biscuit Love in the Gulch for brunch. The queue forms early and for entirely understandable reasons the bonuts (biscuit doughnuts with lemon mascarpone) are a life experience. Budget an hour and a half because nobody leaves quickly.
After brunch, the 12South neighbourhood is perfect for exploring on foot. The famous “I Believe in Nashville” mural is here, along with the blue and white striped wall outside Draper James yes, Reese Witherspoon’s clothing boutique. The Gulch has the iconic wings mural that seems to be on every Nashville Instagram ever taken. Both neighbourhoods have brilliant independent shops and coffee shops worth lingering in.
If you want a bit of culture between brunches, the Country Music Hall of Fame is genuinely impressive even for those of us who didn’t grow up on country music the exhibits are well put-together, the artefacts are fascinating, and the building itself is architecturally striking. The Ryman Auditorium, just a short walk away, is one of the most storied music venues in America and well worth seeing even just from the outside.
The Evening: Where Nashville Really Comes Alive
Here is where Nashville reveals its full hand. The city has the rare quality of making a Wednesday night feel identical to a Saturday the energy is simply always on.
The move that separates a good Nashville evening from an exceptional one is booking a Nashville party bus before you hit Broadway. Rather than attempting to navigate the city in fragments coordinating rideshares, losing half the group between venues, spending half the evening on logistics, you keep everyone together on an open-air two-hour tour through the heart of Music City.
Rowdy Bus is the city’s highest-rated operator, holding a 4.9-star rating from over 1,200 guests, and their Nashville party bus format is unlike anything available back home. You bring your own drinks BYOB, canned only, no glass, nothing over 8% while a VIP bartender on board mixes everything throughout the journey. The open-air bus loops through downtown Nashville for just under two hours, taking in the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, the Gulch, Music Row, and 12South, with a premium sound system and LED lighting throughout. It genuinely feels like the party is already in full swing before you’ve set foot on Broadway.
Private charters for up to 25 people run from $395 on weekdays and $595 at weekends split across a group of 15, that’s roughly £25–£38 each at current exchange rates, which by London standards is frankly remarkable for two hours of private city entertainment. There’s also a public tour option at $49 per person for smaller groups. All tours depart from 1205 Milson Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203. Book well in advance weekend slots in spring fill up weeks ahead.
Broadway: Just Go With It
After the bus drops you back, Broadway is waiting. Honky Tonk Highway is one of those places you have to experience to understand music blasting out of every single bar, no cover charges anywhere, performers standing on the bar, the whole street lit up like a fever dream of neon.
Even if country music is not remotely your thing at home, something happens when you’re actually there. You will find yourself genuinely entertained, possibly dancing, probably staying much longer than intended. The bars run multiple floors with rooftop terraces Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge for history and character, Luke’s 32 Bridge for five floors including a rooftop with sweeping city views. Don’t over-plan it. Just move between bars as the mood takes you.
Day Two: Recovery and Hot Chicken
Pinewood Social has a bowling alley inside, which is either ridiculous or genius depending on your energy levels the morning after Broadway. The brunch is genuinely excellent the brûléed grapefruit is a revelation and the industrial-warehouse aesthetic is satisfying. Book ahead.
Before you leave the city, you must eat hot chicken at Hattie B’s. This is non-negotiable. Spicy fried chicken drenched in cayenne pepper sauce, served with pickles and white bread. Order “medium” unless you have genuinely high heat tolerance. The “Shut the Cluck Up” level is exactly what it sounds like.
Bonus: Add a Third Day on the Water
If you’re extending a long weekend and you should, the same team behind the party bus runs Rowdy Boats, a BYOB party boat experience on Percy Priest Lake about 20 minutes from the city. Same concept: bring your own drinks, they supply the captain, ice, coolers, cups, and water toys. Three hours on a lake with your best people, sun, and a floating playlist. It’s the perfect contrast to the Broadway nights and genuinely one of the most fun things you can do on a Nashville trip. Book both in advance.
The Essentials
- Flights: Direct connections from most major European hubs via US hub cities. Door-to-door from London roughly 11–13 hours.
- Getting around: Rideshares (Uber/Lyft) are cheap and reliable. Most downtown trips cost $10–$15. No rental car needed.
- Currency: USD. At the time of writing, $1 = roughly £0.79. Nashville is an excellent value by European standards.
- When to go: April through June is the sweet spot warm enough for rooftop bars and outdoor patios, not yet August-level hot. Spring is peak bachelorette season so book everything well in advance.
- Tipping: 18–20% at restaurants and bars is standard. Budget it in. The service culture is genuinely warm and tips matter.
Nashville surprised me more than almost any American city I’ve visited. It’s louder than expected, warmer than expected, and considerably more interesting than the country music capital label suggests. If you’ve been putting it off because it didn’t quite make the shortlist move it up. You’ll land and immediately understand why every single person who has been there has already told you to go.
