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Nashville Downtown Walking Tour: Ryman & Broadway Honkytonks

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/12

Duration2h

GroupUp to 30

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

What do you actually see on a Nashville walking tour?

You walk 2.5 miles through downtown Nashville with a local guide who knows the city's actual history—from the Ryman Auditorium to Lower Broadway honky-tonks to the 1903 Arcade. The tour hits 13+ landmarks in two hours at a leisurely pace with photo stops and insider tips on food and live music. Small groups keep it personal, and you finish near Jeni's Ice Creams and the Assembly food hall on 5th & Broadway.

Step-by-step itinerary

Downtown Nashville walking tour highlights

Start at The Hermitage Hotel
Visit Tennessee Performing Arts Center and War Memorial Auditorium
Walk through Tennessee State Capitol grounds
Explore Printers Alley and prohibition tales
Stop at The Arcade shopping center
Admire Downtown Presbyterian Church architecture
Walk across John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge
View Ryman Auditorium exterior
See Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum outside
Spot Bridgestone Arena from downtown
Experience Lower Broadway honky-tonks and nightlife
Visit Music City Walk of Fame for photos
Stop at Goo Goo Shop for iconic candy
Pass by Johnny Cash Museum exterior
End at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

The Experience

Two and a half miles through downtown Nashville, at a pace that lets you breathe and ask questions. The tour starts at the Hermitage Hotel—that Beaux-Arts landmark from 1910 with the stained-glass ceiling—and moves through the city's actual music history, not the polished version. You'll stand in front of the Ryman Auditorium, where the Grand Ole Opry lived from 1943 to 1974, and your guide will tell you why the acoustics made it legendary. Then Lower Broadway, where the honky-tonks still pour live music onto the street, and you get sent to the ones locals actually go to—Roberts Western World, where the prices really are stuck in the 1960s.

The walk takes you through The Arcade, built in 1903 and modeled after an Italian shopping center, with its twin glass ceilings still intact. You'll see the Downtown Presbyterian Church, which is Egyptian Revival from 1851 and looks like nothing else in Tennessee. There's the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, the old Shelby Street Bridge reborn as a walkway in 2003, with views that make sense for why people propose there. The Country Music Hall of Fame exterior—designed with a bass clef curve and piano-key windows—sits near the Bridgestone Arena, where the Predators play and Taylor Swift has performed. Small group sizes mean your guide actually knows your name and can answer the questions people ask, not the ones they're supposed to ask.

You'll walk past the Goo Goo Shop, where they've been making the first-ever combination candy bar since 1912, and the Johnny Cash Museum, which holds the largest collection of Cash memorabilia anywhere. The tour includes stops at Printers Alley, where the printing industry once boomed and the jazz clubs still hint at Prohibition-era stories. Bi-Centennial Park from atop Capitol Hill gives you the view of what Tennessee looks like when it's proud of itself. Two hours, moderate inclines, plenty of photo stops, and at the end your guide leaves you with the real recommendations—where to eat, where to hear live music that isn't a tourist trap, what to do after dark.

What’s included

Your tour includes a local guide who leads the group through downtown Nashville, stopping at the Hermitage Hotel, Tennessee State Capitol grounds, Printers Alley, Lower Broadway honky-tonks, the Music City Walk of Fame, The Arcade, Downtown Presbyterian Church, the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, the Ryman Auditorium, Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena, the Goo Goo Shop, and the Johnny Cash Museum.
The guide shares stories about Nashville's music history, Prohibition era, and the city's cultural landmarks, and finishes with insider recommendations for restaurants, bars, and live music venues.
Museum entry fees are not included.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Music City Adventure Company

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Nashville's actual music landmarks and honky-tonks without arranging your own route or missing the stories that connect them—the small group size and local guide are what make two hours feel like enough time to understand the city.