Nashville's headline attractions are centred on music history, and they are genuinely exceptional. The Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame are not to be missed. Beyond those two, the more recent Johnny Cash Museum on Third Avenue, Hatch Show Print inside the Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame, and the National Museum of African American Music at Fifth and Broadway form a tight downtown cluster you can walk in a day.
Centennial Park and its full-scale Parthenon replica are an essential half-day west of downtown. The hilltop Tennessee State Capitol, the Tennessee State Museum at the foot of the same hill, and Fort Nashborough on the river round out the city-history loop. For green space, the Warner Parks and Radnor Lake are both within easy reach. Out at the Grand Ole Opry House, a Saturday evening Opry show is the closest most visitors can come to the institution that built Nashville's modern reputation; the Bluebird Cafe in Green Hills requires planning ahead but is worth the effort for anyone serious about the songwriter tradition.