The Perfect Nashville Weekend Itinerary

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Our weekend trip to Nashville was to celebrate my sister-in-law’s 30th birthday. All the horribly cliched phrases I’ve heard used to describe a weekend in Nashville had me less than enthused to visit. The Phrases “Nash-Bash”, “Smashed in Nash”, or worse yet: “Nash-Vegas” come to mind. But I’m happy to report that we had a blast visiting Nashville and I’m so excited to share this Nashville weekend itinerary with you to help you plan your trip to Nashville, Tennessee!

Friday Night in Nashville

Many people head to Nashville to check out their extensive country music scene. That’s not really our thing, but if you’re looking to listen to some live music while you’re in Nashville, Friday night would be a great time to head down to Broadway.

Our first night in Nashville was spent at a distillery. Nelson’s Green Brier came highly recommended from friends who had visited before, so we started our visit to Nashville there.

We absolutely loved the tour of this small distilling facility. There is a heavy focus on the history of the family company and lots of very entertaining stories told by even more entertaining tour guides. You get a peek at every step of the distilling process and at the end of it all, a tasting!

We tried three different varieties of their whiskey on our tour. Their coffee caramel pecan liquor was on our tasting menu, too, and that certainly did not disappoint. They call it Louisa’s Liqueur. If they don’t offer it for your tasting, it is worth purchasing at the store at the end of the tour (trust me!)

Saturday Morning in Nashville

Travel does something weird to us…it makes us early birds. I could sleep in for the entire morning of a weekend at home. But when we’re traveling, I have no problem waking up before the sun to explore. This trip was a family trip for us, so in order to squeeze in a couple of stops that we wanted to make, we had to get up before everyone else.

Saturday morning was an early one. We grabbed some coffee at the hotel and then headed over to the Parthenon.

The Parthenon in Nashville

Nashville’s Parthenon was built as a temporary attraction, but it was so popular it became a permanent structure. While the outside is impressive, what’s more impressive is what’s on the inside…

A recreation of the large, gold Athena statue is housed inside the building. If you need an idea of scale, I am a full foot shorter than the person she is holding in her hand. It’s an incredible stop, and one I’m so glad we made.

Saturday in Nashville

If I were in charge of every stop we made, this Nashville Weekend Itinerary might look a bit different. Because I wasn’t the planning mastermind, some things that made our itinerary looked quite different than they normally would have.

The Pedal Tavern

The one thing that was set in stone for our trip was a ride around Broadway on a Pedal Tavern. If I’m being completely honest, I was not expecting to enjoy this. While I’m okay with tourist stops during travel, this was a step beyond touristy that was borderline tacky to me (#notsorry). I was not planning on enjoying the Pedal Tavern…but I was so, so wrong!

We had an absolute blast riding through Nashville on this bar-on-wheels. We were a group of nine, and they paired us up with one other group about our size.

Drinking, laughing, and heckling people on the street were all encouraged. There were mini drinking games for stop lights, call-and-responses for hills (and after a few drinks we made an additional call-and-response for fellow Chiefs fans) and lots of music that everyone could agree on.

Our Pedal guide was so much fun, and I would absolutely do one of these rides again!

Visiting the Bars in Nashville

One thing you could not have prepared me for was how many bars there are in Nashville. The bars on Broadway in Nashville alone are overwhelming. Every side street for the entire stretch of this tourist district is full of even more bars. If you venture out to the neighborhoods that the locals hang out in, even more. I was completely under prepared.

Luckily, our Pedal Tavern stopped at a few places along the way to take the decision making element out of the equation. After a while, you let your heart, stomach, or your new best friend you met at a bar ten minutes earlier be your guide.

One of the most memorable places we stopped at was the HQ Beercade. Arcade games, cocktails, no overwhelmingly large crowds. And even though they call it a Beercade, their menu is so much more extensive than that. We ordered beers, shots, and I even sipped on a cocktail.

Things to do in Nashville that aren’t Drinking

I’ll be honest, drinking is a big part of my travel experience. And in cities like Nashville that are known for their bar scene, I love finding the innovative spots that offer a beautiful cocktail. But there are plenty of things to do in Nashville that don’t involve drinking, too. Here are a few of our favorite spots for a few sober hours on Broadway and beyond.

The GooGoo Shop

During our research phase of our Nashville planning, there were many, many mentions of the Nashville famous GooGoo Cluster. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew if Instagram loved it, I had to try it. Based on the large crowds that were gathered inside the store, I wasn’t the only one who was curious to try the GooGoo Cluster.

The GooGoo Cluster is a candy bar made of milk chocolate, peanuts, caramel, and marshmallow. At the GooGoo Shop, they have a dessert bar where you can get sundaes or milkshakes made with a little GooGoo flair.

Can’t wait until you make it to Nashville to try one of these? I don’t blame you. You can grab some in advance from Amazon.

If you’re making the GooGoo Shop a stop on your Broadway bar crawl, head directly across the street to the Johnny Cash Bar after you grab your GooGoo to go. If you’re looking for more booze-free fun Near Broadway, check out the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge.

The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge

Everyone loves an iconic skyline photo. The best place to grab this postcard-perfect skyline shot is on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. We headed that way close to sunset and got some beautiful lighting for all our photos.

You can walk the whole thing for a relaxing afternoon, or you can rent a scooter and ride across the bridge. Either way, you’re going to love the views you get from up here.

Sunday in Nashville

We spent our Sunday morning visiting an antique store that was hugely popular on social media. I was really excited to visit it. But once we got there, it was a major disappointment. It was one of those antique stores that I would rather classify as a “junk store” because it was more of a garage sale with a permanent home than an antique store. Oh well.

To redeem our last few hours in Nashville, we did what we do best, searched for the best donuts in Nashville.

The Best Donuts in Nashville

A quick search for the best donuts in Nashville revealed one winner that everyone seemed to agree on: Five Daughter’s Bakery. They’re best known for their 100 layer donuts, so naturally we had to try one. We absolutely loved them and highly recommend making it a stop on your way out of town!

Your Perfect Nashville Weekend Itinerary

There’s so much to see and do in Nashville, that it will be really hard to fit it all in over just one weekend. You’re going to be especially pressed for time if you’re a fan of Country Music. You can download a printable copy of our Nashville Weekend Itinerary below and use it to help make your own travel plans. Happy Traveling!

Download the Nashville Weekend Itinerary

Click the image below to grab your free itinerary download now!

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