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NashvilleImage by Paul Brennan from Pix

Nashville, Tennessee, also called ‘Music City’, is the stuff of legends. A mecca for country music fans, Nashville is vibrant yet cool, with a rich and layered cultural history that goes beyond music even. It’s got green spaces, lots of great museums, and a fun foodie scene too — permeating through the coffee houses, bars and microbreweries, venues, and hip, Southern eateries. There’s plenty of choice when it comes to accommodation for Nashville pilgrims, with different kinds popping up in different Nashville neighbourhoods. If you want to match your ideal Nashville experience with the right kind of neighbourhood start with our guide to Nashville’s neighbourhoods.

Guide to Nashville’s Neighbourhoods

Nashville’s most famous attractions are arguably the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Old Opry House, the National Museum of African American Music, and the Johnny Cash Museum. If you walk along Music Row, which is just west of Downtown, around 16th and 17th Avenues, you’ll have sights on both sides, from the studios where Elvis, Dolly Parton and the Everly Brothers recorded some of their classic ‘Nashville Sound’ hits, to the music agency offices and production houses.

But this city also has a collection of non-music related museums and galleries. If you’re here for a while, or just as interested in Civil War history as you are music, then you may want to visit Fort Negley — a Civil War era fort — Fort Nashborough (a reconstruction of the original settlement of Nashville), The Hermitage (home of President Andrew Jackson), the Belle Meade Plantation and Travellers Rest Plantation.

Nashville is a green city, with plenty of parks and tree-lined avenues and beautiful botanical gardens. It also boasts some elegant architecture — try the State Capitol and the Nashville Public Library for starters. If you're travelling with kids, you may be interested in the zoo. All the live music venues mean Nashville is a lively place to be of an evening, and the numerous local universities add a youthful feel to the mix, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great place for families to visit as well.

Downtown

Downtown NashvilleImage by Domingo Trejo from Pi

Downtown Nashville is the heart of Music City, the hub of honky tonk and where you’ll find many of Nashville’s music museums and venues. There are plenty of places to eat and drink, as well as to listen to music, and opportunities to get yourself some cowboy boots, or maybe even record a demo! Not to mention the vast choice when it comes to accommodation. As well as appreciating its history, Downtown Nashville is a neighbourhood embracing newness, and new hotels spring up here regularly, along with new music venues, restaurants, bars and microbreweries. There are lots of walking tours that will take you round the highlights, but they generally include the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Tennessee State Museum, the National Museum of African American Music, the Nashville Public Library, and, of course, the Honky Tonk Highway — a row of live music venues that seemingly run day and night, all year round.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: super central, great live music, lots of places to eat and drink, lively and fun, walkable, numerous attractions
  • Cons: constant live music, busy, popular with bachelor and bachelorette parties
  • Ideal for: music lovers, short city breaks, families, sightseeing, night owls, party people

Discover our recommended hotels in Downtown Nashville

SoBro

SoBro NeighbourhoodBy OLE BENDIK KVISBERG - https

SoBro is the abbreviation for South of Broadway, and it’s part of Downtown Nashville with an atmosphere all of its own. In addition to the live music venues, bars and restaurants, SoBro is where you’ll find Nashville’s huge convention centre, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the architecturally impressive Schermerhorn Symphony Centre, so it’s a neighbourhood with quite a number of larger hotels, and some pretty hip ones too, as well as some great value business options. SoBro is also home to The Johnny Cash Museum, the Patsy Cline Museum, and the Nashville Children’s Theatre. It’s a good choice if you want to be in the heart of everything, and you don’t want to faff around too much choosing a hotel.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: super central, numerous attractions, walkable, lots of live music venues, great choice of bars and restaurants
  • Cons: busy, lots of visitors
  • Ideal for: music lovers, city break, couples

Discover our recommended hotels in SoBro

Music Row

Music Row NeighbourhoodFlickr user harry_nl

Music Row is at the heart of Nashville’s music scene, where you’ll find not only live venues, but also the recording studios, radio studios and stations, the record labels and agents’ offices. It’s a great neighbourhood to stay in for anyone who is coming here to get a taste of the contemporary music scene, or who just wants to have a fun time! As you might imagine, Music Row is quite a hip spot, with a leaning towards design hotels, and high end restaurants - as well as the super friendly restaurants and burger joins that keep this town fuelled.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: live music capital of ‘Music City’; hip hotels, bars and restaurants; super central location
  • Cons: busy; lots of visitors, lively in the evenings
  • Ideal for: music lovers; party people, cool kids

Discover our hotel recommendations in Music Row

East Nashville

East Nashville neighbourhoodFlickr user Brent Moore

A little bit quirkier than Downtown Nashville, East Nashville is across the Cumberland River from Downtown — it's close to all the action, but not quite so busy. It’s got a great collection of bars and restaurants, and independent boutique shopping. In fact East Nashville’s thriving foodie scene is a reason to stay here, because you’ll have a wealth of places worth trying right on your doorstep. Our pick of the hotels here has a boutique feel, which reflects the neighbourhood — independent, creative, arty and unique. There are some nice converted townhouses dating from the neighbourhood’s boom around 1900, which tie in nicely with the sprinkling of vintage stores.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: just off centre, great foodie scene, independent hotels, bars and restaurants, not so touristy
  • Cons: off centre, no big local attractions, quiet
  • Ideal for: foodies, families, short break

Discover our hotel recommendations in East Nashville

Germantown

Germantown neighbourhoodBy Andrew Jameson - Own work,

Germantown is an elegant and historic neighbourhood just northwest of the Downtown Nashville area. This part of town is known for its beautiful Victorian-era architecture, its art galleries and creative cuisine — Germantown is arguably one of the best places to eat out in Nashville. It’s called Germantown for the European settlers who made this neighbourhood their home in the middle of the 19th century, but it’s where you’ll find all American sights like the Capitol Mall, and the Tennessee State Library and Museum. It also hosts Nashville’s Farmer’s Market, and has several very charming parks and gardens — including the sprawling Bicentennial Park.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: elegant architecture, great food and drink, close to major sights, lively music scene
  • Cons: just off centre, can be expensive
  • Ideal for: foodies, historic atmosphere, families

Discover our recommended hotels in Germantown

Midtown

Midtown neighbourhoodImage by Simon from Pixabay

Midtown is another neighbourhood with borders that overlap with Downtown. It’s sort of sandwiched in by the Vanderbilt University, Downtown, Music Row, the West End and Hillsboro Village. Within its boundaries is a very walkable neighbourhood, known for its numerous independent restaurants and bars, and for its great variety of accommodation. This is a really well connected place to stay especially for music tourists, which is why there’s such a wealth of accommodation. That said, it is definitely less touristy than Downtown, with bars and restaurants frequented by locals as well as visitors. Midtown really comes alive in the evening and into the night — more than a handful of its bars are open until three AM — making this a great pick for night owls and party people.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: lively in the evenings, lots of great independent restaurants, bars and live music venues, central location, less touristy
  • Cons: lively in the evenings
  • Ideal for: night owls, sightseeing, party atmosphere

Discover our pick of the best hotels in Midtown

West End & Hillsboro

Hillsboro neighbouhoodFlickr user Brent Moore

Nashville’s West End runs from Downtown and spreads westwards until Belle Meade — which is quite a sprawl if you’re not familiar with the city. This neighbourhood is green as well as large, incorporating a number of parks and gardens, including Nashville’s flagship urban park, Centennial Park, and the lush Vanderbilt University Campus. Centennial Park is home to one of Nashville’s best known attractions: the Parthenon, a full-size replica of the original Athenian temple. Adjoining Hillsboro is another neighbourhood for fans of somewhere quieter. It's a cute spot, with trendy boutiques, cafes, galleries and music venues, alongside hip restaurants and cocktail bars.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros: green space, central, good transport links, great food and drink options
  • Cons: off centre
  • Ideal for: families, hipsters

Check out our recommended hotels in Hillsboro/West End