Nashville with Kids

Do you want to discover one of the great cities of Tennessee but not sure what to do in Nashville with kids in tow? Read on to see how we spent a week in an adult oasis with our three kids!

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Tennessee’s State Capital

When you think of traveling to Nashville, the first thing that pops into your mind is probably a honky-tonk bar. Bar hopping and dancing all day and night sounds like a great way to spend a long weekend…unless you have your kids with you! Rivaling Vegas for the bachelorette capital of the U.S., it was not the top of my list for a family vacation. It was taken out of my hands when we found out it was mandatory for one of my daughter’s dance competitions! With our marching orders in hand, I began to research how to spend a week in Nashville with kids.

Cowboy/Girl Gear

First and foremost, your kids are definitely going to want to dress the part (so long as they aren’t teenagers and are too cool to do anything fun…) While cowboy hats and boot shops are plentiful in the Nashville area, things are also pricey. If you’re just purchasing for your kids to wear things for a few days and then forget about them (we have the smushed cowboy hat in the basement as evidence), I’d suggest buying ahead to save a few bucks. Check out these from Amazon!

Amazon also has a selection of inexpensive cowboy hats-

If you don’t want to travel with hats, there are a few Nashville themed stores at the Opry Mills Mall with decent prices. The mall also has several boot stores as well.

Cowboy Hats for Kids

If you are visiting in the summer it will be HOT! We were there mid July and the temps were around 90 most days. Pack sunscreen, water bottles and light weight clothing. As mentioned above, the Opry Mills Mall is a great place to visit if you need extra clothes or just want to sit in an air conditioned movie theater for a few hours. The mall is a gigantic with the aforementioned theater, a food court, an Aquarium Restaurant and of course, shopping.

Trolley Tour through Nashville

Since the temps were lava-like, we decided the best way to tackle the downtown area was on a hop on/hop off trolley tour. I was able to score a Groupon for Old Town Trolley Tours. While not air conditioned, it was still a better alternative to walking everywhere ourselves. Although we had pre-purchased tickets, we still had to wait in a substantial line for our turn on the trolley. We were able to take our collapsible umbrella stroller with us easily. The company offers several tour choices but we went with the one day hop on/hop off tour. Be sure to check what times the trolley is running the day of your tour so you aren’t caught far away without a ride back to your car or hotel! We drove to Nashville and had our car with us. We parked at the Frist Art Museum for the day and walked to the trolley pick up just down the street. The nice part about this particular tour company is that it is narrated. It was much more interesting to hear what we were driving past rather than just looking out the windows.

Centennial Park

One of the places we chose to ‘hop off’ was at Centennial Park. At this stop you are able to walk over to Nashville’s own Parthenon.

This was a fun building to explore for the kids, especially my middle kiddo who was really into Greek mythology at the time. The older kids ran around taking pictures while my sleepy little one and I found a rare shady spot to rest. The area surrounding the Parthenon is large and grassy, plenty of space to run and get some sillies out of kids who’ve been couped up on the trolley. There were some water fountains available but no public restrooms nearby. For an additional fee you can enter the building, exhibits rotate and tickets can be purchased ahead of time. The park itself is huge and has a playground, walking trails, gardens and more.

Nashville Hot Chicken

Nashville is the home of the now famous hot chicken. If you’re looking to bite into the real thing on your travels, plan to get in line early! Hattie B’s is accessible on the trolley tour and has a few different restaurants around the Nashville area. The storied originator of the hot chicken recipe is rumored to belong to Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. The story is one of a scorned lover, chicken and revenge!

Want to make some Nashville inspired food at home? Check out my most popular recipe- Nashville Hot Honey!

Country Music Hall of Fame

Another stop on the trolley tour is at the Country Music Hall of Fame. While we did not buy tickets to enter the building itself, we did have a fun time exploring the Walk of Fame!

We had a great time walking around and finding some of our favorite music artists. The Walk is not limited to country artists at all. Also of important note when touring Nashville with kids- public restrooms are located in that nice little building at the far end of the picture above.

Beyond the Trolley

Wildhorse Saloon

Beyond the trolley tour we spent our week in Nashville exploring even more parts of the city. While the quintessential Nashville is definitely located downtown on Broadway Street, there’s more to see than all of the bar fronts! That being said, one of the highlights of the week was our evening at Wildhorse Saloon. If you check their website (linked above) you can find out when their line dancing classes are held. I would choose the earliest time and head on in with your boots & hats! After 9pm the saloon is 21+ but prior to that they have family friendly entertainment and dining.

Be warned- if your traveling party has sensory issues this is not the place for you. It is loud, dark and crowded. Some of my kids fared better than others. There are some tables available but this place gets crowded quickly. The dance floor was an absolute blast and I would come back here in a heartbeat. Parking garages are nearby but it is in a very busy area.

Opry

I mentioned the Opry Mills Mall above, but failed to mention the other surrounding entertainment. The famed Grand Ole Opry itself shares a parking lot with the mall! Look ahead and see if they have entertainment for your travel dates. Also nearby is the Gaylord Opryland Resort. It is home to an indoor water park, shopping, dining and more.

Museums

In addition to shopping and touring downtown, we also stopped at a few museums. See my post on the Adventure Science Center here. I will also be posting about the Frist Art Museum in the coming days.

Accommodations

While you could choose to stay at the Gaylord Opryland Resort to enjoy all of its features, you can also just pop in to visit for the shopping and dining experiences. The area it is located in is about a 20 minute drive away from downtown Nashville. We also stayed in this area, but across the street from Opry headquarters. Our hotel was the Holiday Inn Express Nashville-Opryland. As I mentioned, we were in town for a dance competition and this hotel conveniently located across the street from the convention center at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. Our room boasted a separate bedroom, living area AND kitchen for an extremely reasonable rate! We had a full dining table and it was so nice to be able to cook some meals ourselves.

Eats

Nashville’s dining options are abundant. Here are some of the places we enjoyed during our visit.

Assembly Food Hall– This is a huge location with countless food options. While this makes it easy to find food for all of the different types of eaters in your family, it is also large and crowded. The good news is you are able to order from multiple places all on their app! We hunted down a table and submitted our order. I then sent off my husband and oldest to collect our food while the younger ones and I kept dibs on the table. Sensory Warning: This is a large echoey building with a lot of sounds and people. We ate on the second floor.

Blanco Cocina & Cantina– While my family did not eat here, several of the families we were traveling with did and said it was great!

Elliston Place Soda Shop– This restaurant kept showing up on my Pinterest searches of where to eat in Nashville with kids. It absolutely lived up to the fun hype! With a working jukebox and milkshakes on the menu, my kids had a blast eating here. The parking lot is quite tiny but we had no problem finding a spot for an early dinner.

Five Daughters Bakery– We visited the Eastland Ave. location bright and early one morning and it did not disappoint. They had a huge selection of donuts including some that didn’t have any artificial ingredients!

Nashville with Kids

Since we were in town for the competition we filtered in our touring of the city between call-times. If you are just visiting for a family trip then a long weekend would probably be sufficient. Although there are plenty of things you are able to do with your kids, in my opinion, Nashville is definitely a city better spent in adult company.

Broadway Street is filled with bars and parties of people meandering in and out of them all day. Even at 10 in the morning the crowds on the main drag were a bit overwhelming to walk amongst with the kids. I would not plan on spending an evening out with children at all in the main downtown Nashville area unless you are prepared for the various party bus crowds.

During the day we had a great time checking the area off of our list. The Frist Art Museum was fun and we enjoyed the special children’s area they offered. The Adventure Science Museum is also one of the better museums we’ve been to for kids.

Need to prepare for your road trip to Nashville? Check out these tips-

Preparing for a Road Trip with Kids

More than Bingo, entertaining your kids on a road trip