13 Best Sights in Nashville, Tennessee

Once a wholesale hardware store, this historic building has been converted into a hotel, museum, event space, and rooftop restaurant in a thoughtful art-centric renovation. The multiple gallery spaces are spread throughout the building, and docent-led tours are available on select days.

David Lusk’s Memphis gallery has been around since 1995; the Nashville location opened in 2014 and features paintings, photography, and sculpture by regional and national artists. The gallery takes part in the Wedgwood-Houston art crawls and also hosts receptions and other events.

While Hillsboro Village itself offers plenty of charming outdoor walking space, the nearby Fannie Mae Dee's Park is the perfect place to stop for a picnic with your Fido goodies. Take the little ones to play on the playground, and check out the large dragon statue. Kids can play on it, but, with its bright colors and funky design, it's just as fun for adults who love a good photo op.

Fort Granger was an earthwork fort created by the Union troops during the Civil War. Today, it’s a park along the Harpeth River with a self-guided walking tour through the Franklin Battlefield. Start at the beginning of the path and follow the placards to learn the history of the Battle of Franklin. If you follow the path all the way to the end, it will lead you to Pinkerton Park.

A makers' space offering classes, workshops, and studio and workspaces, the on-site gallery at Fort Houston has changing exhibits and is a key part of the monthly Wedgewood-Houston art crawls. Tours of the 17,000-square-foot facility are available by appointment. There is also an on-site eatery called The Loading Dock Cafe.

The history of the Civil War–era fort is told through videos in the visitor center and panels along outdoor pathways. This is also the site of veterans events throughout the year. There’s a gift shop and views of the Nashville skyline.

Sitting squarely in the Music Row roundabout (also known as Buddy Killen Circle), Musica was originally a point of controversy, but now represents the artistic and cultural diversity of this thriving city. Musica is a bronze statue depicting nine dancing nude figures—including African American, Asian American, Native, and Latinx men and women—enthralled by music. At its pinnacle stands a woman holding a tambourine. The 14- and 15-foot-tall figures also stand on limestone boulders, which are native to the area.

This park has not one but two playgrounds for little ones to explore. For older kids, there are Ping-Pong tables, plenty of green space, and a paved 1-mile walking trail around the park’s perimeter. There are also picnic tables, pavilions, and grills if the weather calls for barbecue.

This 1,339-acre state park offers 6 miles of trails spanning all difficulty levels, so visitors can enjoy an afternoon of leisurely bird-watching or take a strenuous hike. The most popular trail is the 2.6-mile Lake Trail, which circles the lake’s circumference and provides great lookouts for viewing local wildlife, such as wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, owls, and blue herons. There’s also an aviary, open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays, where injured birds of prey are rehabilitated and cared for.

Shelby Park (as well as the connecting Shelby Bottoms and Cornelia Fort Airpark) is an east Nashville gem. With more than 336 acres of park land, hiking trails, public recreational facilities, and bike/pedestrian paths, Shelby offers a wide variety of free outdoor activities to locals and visitors alike. There's a public 18-hole golf course, too, so bring your clubs.

The Labyrinth is located at the Scarritt Bennett Center, a former college for Christian workers that now serves as a community-focused meeting space for people of all faiths who are interested in issues of social justice and spiritual enrichment. The Labyrinth is a seven-circuit path based on medieval models, and is designed to mirror the journey of life: there is only one path, and those who are entering often meet others at various stages who are moving in different directions. Visitors are encouraged to clear their minds and allow their bodies to move at whatever pace feels most comfortable.

Vanderbilt’s entire 330-acre campus is a designated arboretum, with more than 6,000 identified species of trees and shrubs. Guided tours are available via smartphone, and many famous trees (such as Sir Isaac Newton’s Apple Tree, a descendent of the tree whose falling fruit allegedly inspired the physicist’s theories on gravity) have plaques that tell visitors the story of their ecological and historical significance. Other trees have QR codes that visitors can scan with their phones to learn more about a specific species.

The anchor of the Wedgewood-Houston art scene, this gallery shares space with an architectural studio responsible for designing several of Nashville’s most popular—dare one say, hip—places. Zeitgeist shows artists who explore daring concepts through intelligent, sophisticated work. Zeitgeist’s receptions draw a large, knowledgeable crowd of local art insiders and often include cross-genre performances of dance, live music, and/or spoken word.