I recommend having some sort of Air BNB, especially if you are with a larger group. The experience as a whole, is TEN times more fun if everyone can all stay together. This option is way better than having to be in separate hotel rooms! This is one of the few times when I would say that renting a car is not entirely necessary. If drinking is any part of your plans, I would suggest just taking Ubers/Lifts everywhere. If you do plan on spending a large majority of your time downtown, you may want to look at the hotels. There is MANY surrounding the Broadway area. Do expect to pay a lot more for the room being so close to downtown. We had a few individuals with our group that were in their 50’s, and they stayed in a hotel downtown. I believe that they paid over $1,000 for 3 nights.
Expect to see Bachelor and Bachelorette parties EVERYWHERE! From what I’ve read, Nashville is currently the Bachelorette capital of the United States. Even surpassing Las Vegas. But I can completely see why! There is so much to do here. Even if you don’t like country music, I highly suggest coming here. There is really SO much to do.
We had so much fun on the Nashville Tractor Tour. In my opinion, I thought that it was WAY more fun than the pedal pubs. I have personally never been on a pedal pub, but I think it would be that last thing I’d want to do drunk. Especially in 95 degree weather. With the Nashville Tractor Tour they bring you around Broadway on a lit up trailer (peep the photo above). We had a DJ and bartender on the trailer with us. They did such a good job catering to my sister Ciara (the bride) and getting everyone up and dancing. Halfway through the tractor stopped briefly at a bar. Which was nice cause it gave everyone the chance to use the bathroom if they needed. Normally a private tour is roughly $400-500. Me trying to save money wherever possible, I looked for a way to find a deal. When you book online, you can see how many people have booked a public tour. At the time that I booked, the Nashville Tractor Tour had a Buy One Get One Free deal going on. This was only for public tours, but cut the price down significantly. I also booked the 1030PM-1200 (1.5 hours), so we had the ENTIRE tour to ourselves. There is the chance that other people may be on the tour as well though. So just something to consider when you’re looking at booking. We happened to save $300 overall, buy booking this way. See what your group wants overall though, we had fun by ourselves. But I’ve also heard that it’s fun to be able to drink with other people as well.
Pinewood Social– If you’ve done any research on Nashville, I know that you’ve seen some photos of Pinewood Social. And it is exactly what you see online! They have both a pool and a bowling alley connected to the restaurant. I wish we would have been able to book the bowling alley when we were there, because it was SUPER cute! Please make sure you get a reservation, we had to wait for quite some time in order to get a table. Also make sure you do some research on the time of day, and what food they serve. We went there during the week, and were expecting to get brunch. But they had already gotten to the point where only lunch was served. Which may be a small let down when you’re craving breakfast food. Super cute atmosphere with great food and drinks though.
Sinema– Again, we were idiots and didn’t happen to make a reservation. In my head, I didn’t think it was best since we had no idea to know what time we could even get up. But let me tell you this, if you don’t make a reservation there is NO WAY you’re getting in to this place in a timely fashion. You may not even get in at all (like in our case). So take from my mistakes and please make a reservation. Luckily for us though, the manager was there while we were talking. And made room for us to come back for dinner if we wanted. The place was SO cute that we immediately agreed. Thankfully we did, because it was one of the best meals that we had while in Nashville. While dinner was a bit spendier than most places in Nashville, It was extremely reasonable. I happen to get both a meat and cheese tray, two made drinks, a mixed seafood entrée and tip for about $100.
Broadway– You’re going to end up down here, even if you don’t drink. This area is so much fun! The bars are packed and the food is good. Broadway reminded me of a smaller country version of Vegas. The area is packed with restaurants and bars owned by some of the biggest Country music names. Make sure you come down here with your group, there is an endless selection of places to choose from. We ended up down here every night due to the selection of bars. Expect to pay a bit more for drinks and food though.
Big Bang Piano bar at Dicks Last Resort– I had only been to one other piano bar before in San Diego. The place was your typical Dicks Last resort, with an asshole (but secretively a sweetheart). The piano bar was fun, but nothing like the one that I went to in San Diego. Everyone was so spread out, and the entertainers only did an “alright” job of interacting with everyone. It seemed like all they wanted to do was play songs and get tipped. Regardless, the night was still fun and everyone really enjoyed. They did play a song for the bride, and brought her on stage. But it wasn’t until we tipped them $20. Which was funny because we already paid for the VIP package. Which was supposed to include the bride being brought on stage regardless. But look at getting some sort of package prior. It did allow us a table right next to the piano and “stage”. Some I don’t think you had to even pay for, there was just some sort of minimum final bill necessary.
Drag’n Brunch at Suzy Wongs– Fish Bowls, Pride mimosas, amazing food, and gorgeous women lip singing. Again make sure you make a reservation, which you can do online! Bring plenty of cash, because the girls are well deserving of any tips! The food surprised was surprisingly amazing! I figured the show was the “main” reason for coming here, but the found was just as good. Especially to help cure a hangover, after a long weekend of nothing but partying. They only do the drag show on certain days, so make sure you look up their schedule! The show went on longer than I imagined. When we left the girls were still going! The place itself was a bit farther away than other places, but worth the longer drive.
The Gulch– The #WhatLift’sYou wings are here. I know you’ve seen a picture of this at some point! Super cute area, and there is so many other murals to take a picture in front of. They are all over! Plus other than the wings you don’t have to wait in line. The area is filled with cute little shops, apartments, and restaurants. I wish we would have had more time to walk around and see everything. But we ran out of time, and just came down for the picture. We were those girls…. doing it for the Gram.
AxeVentures– Buy the Groupon. It ends up being less than half the price with it! Super fun though! None of the girls in our group had tried Axe Throwing prior to this. Which made it even more fun, since it was a learning experience for everyone! They also allow canned alcohol inside the building. So make sure to pack a cooler full. The sessions are 1.5 hours long, and include a tutorial from the instructors. I believe there is another Axe throwing place, closer to Broadway. I went with this one based on the Groupon though. Make sure to get competitive and start documenting how many points people are getting once everyone has had enough practice.
Flea Market– Nashville has one of the top ten flea markets in the Country. The Market takes place about once a month I believe. The market is huge! And filled with A LOT of cute stuff. I happened to pick up a few different signs for the house, as well as a sweater. If you are looking for unique things this is the place! Especially if you are really into shopping, I definitely suggest spending a few hours here, if you are in town while it is going on. You can search the dates they’re opened on their website.
Fenwick’s 300– Like most places in Nashville, expect some time to be seated. Especially around brunch time! We walked here after we didn’t get into Sinema. We would have had to wait around 30 minutes to get a table. We offered to sit at the bar, and were able to go in right away. The food was really good! I had the smoked salmon for brunch, and it was AMAZING. I wouldn’t suggest it though, if you are super hungover. Only because it does have a fairly strong fishy smell and texture! Everyone in our group said the breakfast food was super good! Sadly small mimosa’s though…. They should have some sort of bottomless mimosa’s deal or larger glasses. You’d have like 4 sips and it was gone.
