Tennessee Travel Guide
Use this page as a resource for all the cool things to do in Tennessee — more specifically focused on Nashville, where I currently live.
Tennessee Mapped
The map below shows all the places I've blogged about with details, and links to the post.
Middle Tennessee
NASHVILLE + FRANKLIN + BON AQUA + COOKEVILLE
Eat
(denoted on map in green)
Breakfast
- Pancake Pantry
- (any) Waffle House
- Merridee's Breadbasket
- Ralph's Donut Shop (Cookeville, TN)
Lunch or Dinner
- Loveless Cafe
- Hattie B's Hot Chicken
- Mas Tacos Por Favor (cash only)
- Five Points Pizza
- Puckett's
- Martin's BBQ Joint
- Burger Up
- Oscar's Taco Shop
- Etc. (if you're feeling fancy)
- Jackson's
- Big Shake's Hot Chicken
Dessert
- Mike's Ice Cream
- Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream
- Five Daughters Bakery
- Hatcher's Chocolate Milk (available in local Whole Foods or from their dairy farm)
Tour & Explore
(denoted on map in purple)
Nashville
- Pedestrian Bridge
- The Ryman Auditorium
- Johnny Cash Museum
- Country Music Hall of Fame
- Hatch Show Print (good for a Nashville souvenir)
- Historic RCA Studio B
- Frist Center for the Visual Arts
- Union Station Hotel
- Opryland Hotel
- The Hermitage
- The Parthenon (go inside and see the huge statue of Athena!)
- Belle Meade Plantation
- Percy Warner Park
- Idea Hatchery
- Stardust Drive-in Theater (for Friday night — about an hour from Nashville)
- State Fair (only during select times)
- Peach Festival (usually in June)
- Holiday events
Franklin
- Natchez Trace Parkway & Bridge
- Lotz House
- Carnton Plantation
- Carter house
- Main Street in downtown historic Franklin
- The Narrows at Harpeth River State Park
- The Park at Harlinsdale Farm (Matt made a trail here)
- Leiper's Fork
- Franklin Theater
- Escape Room
- Williamson County Fair (at select times of the year)
- Charlie Haffner Memorial Shooting Range
Bon Aqua
Cookeville
Listen
(denoted on map in red)
Nashville
- Ryman Auditorium (also available for tours)
- Grand Ole Opry
- Bluebird Cafe
- The Listening Room Cafe (best fried pickles)
- Downtown Broadway
- Station Inn
- The Basement
- The 5 Spot
- Exit/In
- Mercy Lounge
- Tin Roof
Franklin
- Puckett's (also good food)
- Music City Roots (only on Wednesday nights)
East Tennessee
CHATTANOOGA + CUMBERLAND
Eat
- Good Dog Restaurant
- Clumpie's Ice Cream (made from local ingredients)
- Sugar's
- Maple Street Biscuit Company
Tour & Explore
- The Incline Railway
- Drive through Lookout Mountain en route to Rock City
- Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge
- Carousel Ride at Coolidge Park
- Polka Dot Wall — exact location hard to determine. By Broad and Main St, near The Feed restaurant.
- Lula Lake Trail
- Southern Belle Riverboat
- Cumberland Caverns
Listen
Related Posts
Scroll through the posts below for other Nashville and Tennessee experiences.
Rad Resources
A few resources to supplement your adventures, as they've already inspired some of mine.
Design Sponge Nashville City Guide
Experience Nashville Day Guide
This beautifully designed and written book: Wildsam Field Guide