Nashville is nicknamed "Music City" for a reason, but it's the food, shopping, and Southern charm that keeps us coming back. If you can sidestep the bachelorette parties on Broadway and contain yourself when Taylor Swift walks by, you'll be blending in—and feeling so, so full of hot chicken, meat and threes, and biscuits—in no time.
How to Get Around
Don't take a bar bike or a party barge. What is a party barge, you might ask? An open-air limo that looks like a long, low-riding pick-up filled with intoxicated revelers. (If you're on a bachelorette or bachelor weekend—expect to see at least five on your trip—you'll probably ignore this batch of advice.)
Instead, use your own two legs to get around the easily walkable downtown and Germantown areas, where parking can be tricky. Public transportation in Nashville isn't the most reliable way to get around, as it's geared toward commuters. So if you're looking to go outside of those few pedestrian-friendly areas, which you will, you'll need to rent a car or use Uber or Lyft to get from place to place.
Local Tips
Don't bother the celebrities. When you see Nicole Kidman or Jack White or Tim McGraw, we give you full permission to freak out. On the inside. But in Nashville, Oscar-winning actors, Grammy-winning singers (country or otherwise), and celebrities are just normal Tennesseans, eating their breakfast at Biscuit Love, dropping their kids off at school, and cheering on the Titans just like anyone else. So unlike in Nashville, where photogs follow Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton's characters around non-stop, you won't see paparazzi on your trip. And that means you shouldn't pick up in their absence. Let the famous people be.
Do respect the hot chicken ratings. If a menu or a waiter says the hot chicken you ordered is really hot, trust them. You're putting fried chicken seasoned with cayenne pepper and chili powder in your body and we'll be blunt: this is no joke. We've cried at Hattie B's Hot Chicken and Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack many times, mouths on fire, chugging water and milk like there's no tomorrow. But it's just so good.
If you're a spice wimp, don't take this as the chance to step up the spice (stick with mild or medium). If you're no stranger to spice—and we mean serious Scovilles here—go with hot or the next level up ("damn hot" at Hattie B's or "xhot" at Prince's). The highest heat levels ("shut the cluck up" or "xxxhot") are only for the certifiable.
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Do get off Broadway. We love Robert’s Western World as much as the next boot-stomper, but it isn't the only place to dance and sing the night away. There's The Station Inn in the Gulch for live bluegrass. Or Santa's Pub, a doublewide trailer that's got some of the best karaoke in the city. And, of course, The Bluebird Cafe, where many a singer-songwriter has found their start. You can buy tickets online if you're fast enough for one of the 20 available tables in the tiny space. If you can't snatch one up online, head over with a folding chair about two to three hours before the show, to get one of the 10 to 12 first-come, first-served seats available at the door. Look to the website for more information.
Manners Matter
No, you won't say "howdy" to greet people in Nashville. But like much of the South, please, thank you, sir, ma'am, and a good helping of eye contact are all the norm. Even with more than ten million tourist visiting each year, people are neighborly even with strangers. (And yes, "y'all" is a thing.)
What to Wear
Nashville gets pretty hot (90 degrees is normal for August) and pretty cold (temps can drop below 30 in January), so check the weather to dress accordingly. But anything goes in Nashville, which has a relaxed atmosphere citywide. The weather is the biggest factor in your packing decisions, as you can get into most restaurants wearing shorts, jeans, dress pants, skirts, or whatever you've got hanging in your closet.
If you want to wear cowboy boots, go for it. You can even pick some up in town (go to the Lucchese outpost in the Gulch neighborhood for hand-stitched, high quality boots or to Goodbuy Girls in East Nashville for refurbished vintage options) before heading home. But—these things always come with "but"—treat them with respect. Don't walk your new $400 leather boots into a Broadway honky tonk.
Don't wear a cowboy hat. You aren't on a farm, at a rodeo, or in a 90s country music video.