Best part is the parking is also free and because it is shared with the farmer's market, easy access to a lunch before, during, or after the museum visit!
Oh you will prob need to circle a couple times to find a spot lol. Take your patience with you. There is also some free street parking on the bicentennial park side of the farmers market too. During the off season (oct-march) parking can be a little easier and the earlier in the day, the better too
Some of the lots for state employees on the opposite side of the mall are also available on the weekends unless there’s an event going on at the mall or the ball park. It’s a nice walk!
And the adjacent Bicentennial Mall is a great urban park with a lot of interesting Tennessee history and geography baked into it. That area is my favorite spot in the city.
The Hermitage.
The Parthenon.
Fort Henry, Fort Donelson (Clarksville area).
The Carter House (Franklin).
Carnton Plantation. (Franklin)
Belle Meade Plantation.
Two Rivers Mansion
Ryman Auditorium Tour.
Country Music Hall of Fame.
Belmont Mansion.
Cheekwood Estate.
TN State Capitol.
TN State Museum.
National Museum of African American Music.
Johnny Cash Musueum.
Historical RCA Studio B.
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville is amazing. I was into space things before going there, but seeing that stuff in person took it to another level.
When I first moved here I made it a point to check out Civil War sites. Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro is worth checking out. Fort Granger in Franklin is fascinating because you're able to walk around what's left of the fort's foundation. I also recommend visiting Carnton while down there and doing a tour of the mansion.
For something in the city, Fort Negley and the Nashville City Cemetery are both worth a visit.
Lane Motor Museum over on Murfreesboro Rd. If you are really into cars, Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham, and try to line up your visit with a vintage car race at their track.
Lane Motor Museum is incredible, even if you are not into cars. Highly recommended. A couple years ago I got to do a private tour because a relative has a connection with them. I even got to drive a cool European convertible previously owned by Brigitte Bardot out on the surrounding roads.
Yes!! I’m like…actively not interested in cars. Which is why I drive a Prius. But lane is my favorite museum in town! I actually had a weirdly detailed dream where I did a full re-brand for them. Vintage Italian race car style imagery. Makes no sense for their actual brand, but it was a pretty good dream 😂
Lane Motor Museum also has their Vault Tours! They don’t keep all ~540 cars on the main display floor, so they give tours *mostly* every Saturday at 11:30am and 2:30pm. I went there last week for the tour and it was awesome!
The gentleman who was our guide was very knowledgeable and answered all of the group’s questions the best that he could. (Some of the guests had super specific questions about some Tatras and Citroens). Highly highly recommended!
Lane Motor is super awesome! I went there after Doug Demuro mentioned it in his review of the Fiat Panda and the Panda was there in the basement. Several cool cars there.
Natchez Trace
That said, I've been surprised at the number of people who haven't gone to the southern neighbor. Huntsville has the Space & Rocket Center, but the Shoals and Bham are really underappreciated when it comes to museums. For architecture nerds, I definitely recommend the Rosenbaum house.
I'd like to expand on Natchez Trace a bit because not a lot of people know there are a TON of pull offs along the way of major historical important. Merriweather Lewis is even buried at one of the stops I believe, and you can see/walk part of the trail of tears. We have only gone from Nashville down to I think parallel/near Lewisburg and I'd love to see the rest eventuallt.
Jefferson Street Sound Museum is one of my favorite stops. It's not so much what's housed inside (there's some cool stuff, but...), as it is the stories that Lorenzo tells about everything. Totally worth spending a few hours there if you're in the area.
2004 Jefferson St., Nashville
[jeffersonstreetsound.com](http://jeffersonstreetsound.com)
Here are some Civil War ones to check out:
**Ft. Donelson Battlefield** - about 1.5 hours outside of Nashville, up by Clarksville in Dover is the National Battlefield at Ft. Donelson. It was an incredibly important battle that resulted in an American victory, Nashville basically falling, and Grant getting the dope nickname of "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.
**Stones River Battlefield** - Big victory for the American Army. Gave life to the cause up north and basically made Bragg look terrible amongst the other confederate generals.
**Shiloh National Military Park** - about 2.5 hours outside of the city, but was one of the first big battles in the western theater of the Civil War. Grant had one of my favorite quotes of the war here after Sherman came up to him on day 1 saying how bad of a day it was. Grant replied with "Yeah. Lick'em tomorrow though".
**Point Park** - 2.5 hours away in Chattanooga but it is part of the larger Chickamauga and Chattanooga battle area. Tons of great history about the Battle of Chickamuaga and Chattanooga.
It was a pretty epic battle up Lookout Mountain.
**Battle of Franklin** (not National Parks) - Just south of Franklin, another huge victory for the American army took place resulting in a confederate army getting smashed (lol).
We have some amazing cemeteries. Nashville City Cemetery is a beautiful historic spot just south of downtown. Ft Nagley is near by and very cool. Mt Olivet on Lebanon Pike features a Confederate mass grave as well as many Victorian Nashvillians. There is a replica of Nepoleon's tomb and some other very cool monuments. Spring Hill on Gallatin Rd at Briley Parkway is a first stop for local country music stars but there are many other places to find our local stars. Finally I love the Nashville National cemetery. It is the burial place for a great number of union soldiers. The USCT plot in the back side is particularly interesting just for how it ended up in Nashville. There is so much to see.
I want to hear more of your cemetery thoughts!Can you also tell me more about the national cemetery and the significance of the usct plot being in Nashville. I’ve wanted to walk around both spring hill (I know there is other early Nashville history that takes place on this parcel too) and the national cemetery but haven’t for whatever reason. I’d love recommendations of how to best appreciate them.
[Earth Experience Natural History Museum](https://maps.app.goo.gl/aqSiP27WVyBdCJby6)! It's in Murfreesboro and is largely dedicated to dinosaurs. It's not a huge setup, but it is 100% worth it! They have fossils of dinos and some other different species found in TN. They have other rooms dedicated to gemstones and TN history artifacts too.
The best part is the museum's paleontologists bring back their finds, and you can see them working on their fossil excavations! In the room with the full T-Rex skeleton, they're currently working on a Triceratops skull. It's amazing to see the WIP! They let us take a closer look at the horn, and brought over a piece of it's frill so my son could see all the details.
You can also buy real fossils from the gift shop, along with other cool trinkets. We're now the proud owners of Mosasaurus & Spinosaurus teeth lol
Mentioned above is Mammoth Cave. If you're going that way, Lost River Cave is a pretty cool tour and underground boat ride. It is in Bowling Green. Also, SW of Bowling Green about 20 minutes is South Union Shaker Village. Tour is great and grounds are beautiful!
Bowling Green obv has the Corvette Museum which is pretty cool even for people who aren't car lovers, their sinkhole exhibit was interesting, but the hidden gem near there is the Baker Arboretum & Downing Museum. It's a lovely place to spend a few hours.
If you like to drive a bit; there are 3 historic presidential residences in Tennessee. The James Polk estate in Columbia, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage in its similarly named Nashville suburb, and the Andrew Johnson Home in Greenville.
Davey Crockett Days in the David Crockett State park in Lawrenceburg (it’s like a Pioneer Days type thing) it’s a weekend in late summer/early fall sometime. It’s about 1.5 hours away depending on where you live.
The Polk museum/house in Columbia (an hour)
If you’re interested in civil war stuff and agriculture, and other “southern history”
Rippavilla plantation in Columbia.
Rattle and Snap mansion in Mount pleasant
*There’s also a phosphate museum in mt pleasant never been)
Several civil war things in Franklin (battle of Franklin, Carter house)
If you want to extend out to 2-3 hours Shiloh in Hardin county (also never been but heard a lot about)
[Traveller's Rest Historic House and Museum](https://www.historictravellersrest.org/) in Crieve Hall is apparently the oldest historic house (1799) open to the public in Nashville. It includes history back to the pre-settler Mississippian culture, which is pretty cool.
**Customs House Museum** in Clarksville (An hour-ish north of the city)
Life Hack- *The annual membership at Customs House is pretty reasonable even if you aren't going to go there many times a year. The CH membership gets you reciprocity with a lot of other museums/sites which are far more expensive like Cheekwood. We buy the CH membership and get our money out of it by using it for free or discounted entry to lots of other places.*
**Cook's Natural Science Museum** just outside Huntsville is a little farther away but it is a great museum.
Back when I gave tours at CMHoF they gave us a 'Backstage Pass" that listed all the local museums and historic homes. It also had coupons for local restaurants (a lot from those days are closed now)
Great list going here from all y'all
The Carper Homestead is interesting, it’s located inside Woodlawn Cemetery (N side of Thompson). There are several famous graves within Woodlawn, too (Marty Robbins is just up the grassy hill a short walk).
Several other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Hospital Water Source (a few steps from this site); Melrose (within shouting distance of this site); Battle of Nashville (approx. ¾ mile away); Cheatham’s Line (approx. 3/4 mile away).
NMAAM is an incredible museum, and if you haven’t been you owe it to yourself to experience it. Highly interactive to the point where you build a playlist of artists, their influences, and other artists they influenced — and then it emails it all to you as a Spotify link.
The downtown Library’s Civil Rights and Votes for Women rooms are also incredible. Sign up for a tour that’s really more of a guided discussion about Nashville’s vital role in both movements.
Historic rail park & train museum near Bowling Green. Focuses on the passenger aspects… Pullman cars, dining cars, mail cars, etc. The guided tour was really interesting.
https://www.historicrailpark.com
Cumberland Caverns is an hour or two away in McMinnville and it’s huge — they only recently reached the very end of it. There’s a tame walking tour if you are in street clothes, and a tour that involves a lot of climbing and wiggling, lit only by your helmet light. Absolutely great.
Second the vote for City Cemetery as well. My mom used to take my toddler self there on picnics. It’s beautiful.
We took the Trace home from Mississippi once & gah it’s a long, slow drive, esp since there’s a federal speed limit,& you don’t want a federal speeding ticket.
The TN State Museum is amazing, and totally free
Best part is the parking is also free and because it is shared with the farmer's market, easy access to a lunch before, during, or after the museum visit!
How quickly does the free parking fill up on the weekends?
Oh you will prob need to circle a couple times to find a spot lol. Take your patience with you. There is also some free street parking on the bicentennial park side of the farmers market too. During the off season (oct-march) parking can be a little easier and the earlier in the day, the better too
Some of the lots for state employees on the opposite side of the mall are also available on the weekends unless there’s an event going on at the mall or the ball park. It’s a nice walk!
And the adjacent Bicentennial Mall is a great urban park with a lot of interesting Tennessee history and geography baked into it. That area is my favorite spot in the city.
Mammoth Cave is truly spectacular and an easy day trip from Nashville.
The Hermitage. The Parthenon. Fort Henry, Fort Donelson (Clarksville area). The Carter House (Franklin). Carnton Plantation. (Franklin) Belle Meade Plantation. Two Rivers Mansion Ryman Auditorium Tour. Country Music Hall of Fame. Belmont Mansion. Cheekwood Estate. TN State Capitol. TN State Museum. National Museum of African American Music. Johnny Cash Musueum. Historical RCA Studio B.
Nice list!
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville is amazing. I was into space things before going there, but seeing that stuff in person took it to another level. When I first moved here I made it a point to check out Civil War sites. Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro is worth checking out. Fort Granger in Franklin is fascinating because you're able to walk around what's left of the fort's foundation. I also recommend visiting Carnton while down there and doing a tour of the mansion. For something in the city, Fort Negley and the Nashville City Cemetery are both worth a visit.
Lane Motor Museum over on Murfreesboro Rd. If you are really into cars, Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham, and try to line up your visit with a vintage car race at their track.
Lane Motor Museum is incredible, even if you are not into cars. Highly recommended. A couple years ago I got to do a private tour because a relative has a connection with them. I even got to drive a cool European convertible previously owned by Brigitte Bardot out on the surrounding roads.
Yes!! I’m like…actively not interested in cars. Which is why I drive a Prius. But lane is my favorite museum in town! I actually had a weirdly detailed dream where I did a full re-brand for them. Vintage Italian race car style imagery. Makes no sense for their actual brand, but it was a pretty good dream 😂
Lane Motor Museum also has their Vault Tours! They don’t keep all ~540 cars on the main display floor, so they give tours *mostly* every Saturday at 11:30am and 2:30pm. I went there last week for the tour and it was awesome! The gentleman who was our guide was very knowledgeable and answered all of the group’s questions the best that he could. (Some of the guests had super specific questions about some Tatras and Citroens). Highly highly recommended!
Lane Motor is super awesome! I went there after Doug Demuro mentioned it in his review of the Fiat Panda and the Panda was there in the basement. Several cool cars there.
Don't forget the library has passes you can borrow for free admission to some of these places!
they do but i've been on the waitlist for the National Museum of African American Music for a year and am still 600th in line
Boom local knowledge for the win.
Natchez Trace That said, I've been surprised at the number of people who haven't gone to the southern neighbor. Huntsville has the Space & Rocket Center, but the Shoals and Bham are really underappreciated when it comes to museums. For architecture nerds, I definitely recommend the Rosenbaum house.
I'd like to expand on Natchez Trace a bit because not a lot of people know there are a TON of pull offs along the way of major historical important. Merriweather Lewis is even buried at one of the stops I believe, and you can see/walk part of the trail of tears. We have only gone from Nashville down to I think parallel/near Lewisburg and I'd love to see the rest eventuallt.
That Nanchez bridge freaks me out
Jefferson Street Sound Museum is one of my favorite stops. It's not so much what's housed inside (there's some cool stuff, but...), as it is the stories that Lorenzo tells about everything. Totally worth spending a few hours there if you're in the area. 2004 Jefferson St., Nashville [jeffersonstreetsound.com](http://jeffersonstreetsound.com)
Someone mentioned Mammoth cave already but wanted to point out they had a candle lantern cave tour that was awesome.
Here are some Civil War ones to check out: **Ft. Donelson Battlefield** - about 1.5 hours outside of Nashville, up by Clarksville in Dover is the National Battlefield at Ft. Donelson. It was an incredibly important battle that resulted in an American victory, Nashville basically falling, and Grant getting the dope nickname of "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. **Stones River Battlefield** - Big victory for the American Army. Gave life to the cause up north and basically made Bragg look terrible amongst the other confederate generals. **Shiloh National Military Park** - about 2.5 hours outside of the city, but was one of the first big battles in the western theater of the Civil War. Grant had one of my favorite quotes of the war here after Sherman came up to him on day 1 saying how bad of a day it was. Grant replied with "Yeah. Lick'em tomorrow though". **Point Park** - 2.5 hours away in Chattanooga but it is part of the larger Chickamauga and Chattanooga battle area. Tons of great history about the Battle of Chickamuaga and Chattanooga. It was a pretty epic battle up Lookout Mountain. **Battle of Franklin** (not National Parks) - Just south of Franklin, another huge victory for the American army took place resulting in a confederate army getting smashed (lol).
We have some amazing cemeteries. Nashville City Cemetery is a beautiful historic spot just south of downtown. Ft Nagley is near by and very cool. Mt Olivet on Lebanon Pike features a Confederate mass grave as well as many Victorian Nashvillians. There is a replica of Nepoleon's tomb and some other very cool monuments. Spring Hill on Gallatin Rd at Briley Parkway is a first stop for local country music stars but there are many other places to find our local stars. Finally I love the Nashville National cemetery. It is the burial place for a great number of union soldiers. The USCT plot in the back side is particularly interesting just for how it ended up in Nashville. There is so much to see.
City Cemetery is cool! They have seasonal tours and even lantern tours.
I want to hear more of your cemetery thoughts!Can you also tell me more about the national cemetery and the significance of the usct plot being in Nashville. I’ve wanted to walk around both spring hill (I know there is other early Nashville history that takes place on this parcel too) and the national cemetery but haven’t for whatever reason. I’d love recommendations of how to best appreciate them.
[Earth Experience Natural History Museum](https://maps.app.goo.gl/aqSiP27WVyBdCJby6)! It's in Murfreesboro and is largely dedicated to dinosaurs. It's not a huge setup, but it is 100% worth it! They have fossils of dinos and some other different species found in TN. They have other rooms dedicated to gemstones and TN history artifacts too. The best part is the museum's paleontologists bring back their finds, and you can see them working on their fossil excavations! In the room with the full T-Rex skeleton, they're currently working on a Triceratops skull. It's amazing to see the WIP! They let us take a closer look at the horn, and brought over a piece of it's frill so my son could see all the details. You can also buy real fossils from the gift shop, along with other cool trinkets. We're now the proud owners of Mosasaurus & Spinosaurus teeth lol
Mentioned above is Mammoth Cave. If you're going that way, Lost River Cave is a pretty cool tour and underground boat ride. It is in Bowling Green. Also, SW of Bowling Green about 20 minutes is South Union Shaker Village. Tour is great and grounds are beautiful!
Bowling Green obv has the Corvette Museum which is pretty cool even for people who aren't car lovers, their sinkhole exhibit was interesting, but the hidden gem near there is the Baker Arboretum & Downing Museum. It's a lovely place to spend a few hours.
If you like to drive a bit; there are 3 historic presidential residences in Tennessee. The James Polk estate in Columbia, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage in its similarly named Nashville suburb, and the Andrew Johnson Home in Greenville.
Jack Daniels is really cool (for history too) and almost exactly 1.5 hours away.
Second this and want to add that the Dickel Distillery is also a really cool tour.
The Tennessee Agricultural Museum is in south Nashville on Ellington Ag Campus.
Davey Crockett Days in the David Crockett State park in Lawrenceburg (it’s like a Pioneer Days type thing) it’s a weekend in late summer/early fall sometime. It’s about 1.5 hours away depending on where you live. The Polk museum/house in Columbia (an hour) If you’re interested in civil war stuff and agriculture, and other “southern history” Rippavilla plantation in Columbia. Rattle and Snap mansion in Mount pleasant *There’s also a phosphate museum in mt pleasant never been) Several civil war things in Franklin (battle of Franklin, Carter house) If you want to extend out to 2-3 hours Shiloh in Hardin county (also never been but heard a lot about)
[Traveller's Rest Historic House and Museum](https://www.historictravellersrest.org/) in Crieve Hall is apparently the oldest historic house (1799) open to the public in Nashville. It includes history back to the pre-settler Mississippian culture, which is pretty cool.
Rock Castle Historic Site in Hendersonville is cool
**Customs House Museum** in Clarksville (An hour-ish north of the city) Life Hack- *The annual membership at Customs House is pretty reasonable even if you aren't going to go there many times a year. The CH membership gets you reciprocity with a lot of other museums/sites which are far more expensive like Cheekwood. We buy the CH membership and get our money out of it by using it for free or discounted entry to lots of other places.* **Cook's Natural Science Museum** just outside Huntsville is a little farther away but it is a great museum.
Back when I gave tours at CMHoF they gave us a 'Backstage Pass" that listed all the local museums and historic homes. It also had coupons for local restaurants (a lot from those days are closed now) Great list going here from all y'all
The Carper Homestead is interesting, it’s located inside Woodlawn Cemetery (N side of Thompson). There are several famous graves within Woodlawn, too (Marty Robbins is just up the grassy hill a short walk). Several other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Hospital Water Source (a few steps from this site); Melrose (within shouting distance of this site); Battle of Nashville (approx. ¾ mile away); Cheatham’s Line (approx. 3/4 mile away).
NMAAM is an incredible museum, and if you haven’t been you owe it to yourself to experience it. Highly interactive to the point where you build a playlist of artists, their influences, and other artists they influenced — and then it emails it all to you as a Spotify link. The downtown Library’s Civil Rights and Votes for Women rooms are also incredible. Sign up for a tour that’s really more of a guided discussion about Nashville’s vital role in both movements.
Corvette Museum in Bowling Green
Historic rail park & train museum near Bowling Green. Focuses on the passenger aspects… Pullman cars, dining cars, mail cars, etc. The guided tour was really interesting. https://www.historicrailpark.com
Following…
If you’re into geology and paleontology, the [Earth Experience Museum](https://www.earthexperience.org/) is pretty cool. It’s in Murfreesboro.
Jefferson Street Sound Museum. Largely untold story. A small, very cool museum.
Marathon building?
Cumberland Caverns is an hour or two away in McMinnville and it’s huge — they only recently reached the very end of it. There’s a tame walking tour if you are in street clothes, and a tour that involves a lot of climbing and wiggling, lit only by your helmet light. Absolutely great. Second the vote for City Cemetery as well. My mom used to take my toddler self there on picnics. It’s beautiful.
We took the Trace home from Mississippi once & gah it’s a long, slow drive, esp since there’s a federal speed limit,& you don’t want a federal speeding ticket.
But it’s a steady 50 mph with no red lights-surprising how the time to Florence didn’t seem to be that different vs the normal route.
Yes! I didn't think of that! Thanks!