10 Things to Do in Nashville at Night

Summer and winter, hot and cold, day and night, Nashville has many attractions to discover, especially when the sun goes down and the city of festivals and concerts turns on one of its best profiles, that of bars open around the clock with country music shows.

Some of the best things to do in Nashville at night include taking a comedy and singing tour bus tour, visiting the iconic Bluebird Café, taking a ride on the city's trolley, going on a haunted bar tour and joining a pub crawl to experience the best of Nashville's party scene.

The best way to get to know Nashville's bars and nightlife is to join a pub crawl experience through the most iconic night spots in Music City. Depending on the tour route, you can visit the picturesque Printers Alley, where you'll experience a trip back in time to the first half of the 20th century, or the best bars in downtown.

On a pub crawl, you can also get to know the nooks and crannies of a city that at night becomes a universe of country music and other genres of the American South, and immerse yourself in the main shows and concerts of Tennessee's capital, even those that only locals know about, as these tours are usually run by Nashville guides.

If you want to discover the city by night, a pub crawl experience can be one of the best Nashville tours, especially if the excursion includes a tour of Broadway's Honky Tonks and 2nd Ave's restaurants.

Details of interest

• Price... A pub crawl tour with admission and drinks included has a starting cost of approximately 76 euros.
• Duration.... Pub crawl tours last between 2 and 3 hours.
• Please note... These tours are generally for people over 21 years of age.

For an alternative way to enjoy music and entertainment in Nashville, opt for a nighttime singing and comedy bus tour. These tours are very popular in Tennessee's capital city and consist of a guided tour of the city while taking in a musical and comedy show.

These experiences are interactive, as in addition to attending the show as a guest, you can sing, dance and be part of the show. This musical bus tour usually also includes stops at the Music Row district, the Antique Archeology antique shop and some of the city's top honky tonks.

During these tours, in addition to the musical performances and stand-up shows, you'll also get to visit bars and experience the festive spirit of the city, especially if you're planning to visit Nashville during Christmas or the holiday season.

Interesting details

• Price... These experiences have an initial cost of approximately 47 euros per person.
• Duration... Interactive bus tours with comedy show and singing last approximately 2 hours.
• Please note... These tours are generally for people over 21 years of age.

The Bluebird Café's small lounge is one of Nashville's most traditional venues, offering nightly shows on a varied schedule and is also the city's up-and-coming stage, having hosted artists who went on to become global music stars such as Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks and Keith Urban.

Bluebird Café is also the place to be for aspiring professional musicians because it's the place to be for agents and producers looking for new talent, so if you want to get a taste of Nashville's nightlife you can't miss this bar, which sells out every day, so I recommend you book your visit in advance online. The lounge seats 90 people during each show.

If you're planning a visit to Nashville in April, you can attend the Bluebird Café's talent fair, which brings aspiring artists face to face with music producers, so not only do you get to visit the stage where the big stars have performed, but you may also be lucky enough to meet the future Johnny Cash live.

There's a different show every day at Bluebird Café, such as open mic Mondays, where you can take part in the singing show, writers on Sundays, independent artists on Wednesdays and stand up comedy on Saturdays.

Interesting details

• Price... Admission to the bar is free, you only pay for what you consume.
• Where... 4104 Hillboro Pike, Nashville.
• Please note... Space in the lounge is limited, so I advise you to book your visit in advance.

One of the best city tours you can take in Nashville is by helicopter at night, as the capital of Tennessee has a wealth of attractions to see, such as the Ryman Auditorium, the Capitol and Nissan Stadium, which is one of the most modern stadiums in the United States, and which you can see lit up during your nighttime visit.

Helicopter tours depend on the individual service provider but you'll usually also fly over Vanderbilt Stadium, Belmont University, Broadway Street and the Southern Parthenon, giving you a wide panoramic view of the entire city.

Helicopter tours are available year-round but you can enjoy the city's clear skyline if you visit Nashville in July or during the summer months. Also, during the warmer seasons there is no wind and the flights are more pleasant, so you can relax and enjoy the lights of one of the most iconic cities in the southern United States from above.

Interesting details

• Price... Helicopter flights start at approximately 93 euros per person.
• Duration... Helicopter tours last approximately 15-20 minutes.

Nashville's bars, restaurants and music venues are open all day, but it's at night when the colours and lights of the city come alive, making the capital of Tennessee a magical place to visit. One of the best ways to experience Nashville's party scene as well as its monuments and historic sites is on a local trolley tour.

These tours are usually guided by a tour guide, who will walk you through the tour and tell you about each of the sites so you can get the most out of your nighttime visit. During the tour you can also enjoy stops at Nashville's bars and honky tonks.

The length of these tours depends on the tour provider, but they generally last between 1.5 and 2 hours. It's also one of the most effective ways to get to know the city's nightlife, especially if you're planning a short stay, as you'll be able to visit several places in a short period of time. If that's your case, here's a list of the best activities to discover Nashville in 3 days.

Interesting details

• Price... Helicopter flights start at approximately 93 euros per person.
• Duration... Helicopter tours last approximately 15-20 minutes.

Nashville is a big city and walking around it can be uncomfortable and can cause delays in your visit, but if you want to take a short walk around the city you can start at the Capitol and walk to Centennial Park, which is one of the city's most characteristic green lungs, and there you can see the Parthenon.

Nashville's Parthenon is an imitation of the original, from Greece, and was built temporarily for an exhibition, but it was such a success that the organisers decided to reinforce the structure and keep it standing. At night, this full-scale replica is artificially illuminated in the centre of the park, providing one of the most beautiful images of the city.

If you don't want to walk from the Capitol and just prefer to see the illuminated Parthenon at sunset, you can ride the Nashville tour buses to Centennial Park , which in some cases run into the early evening hours.

For an alternative tour, you can opt for tours of Nashville's haunted bars and haunted sites that attempt to recapture the city's dark side, which has less to do with concerts and music shows and more to do with the Tennessee capital's role in the Civil War and its relationship with the old red-light district.

On these tours you can visit old mortuaries, hotels, abandoned sites, haunted bars and other areas of the city that are included in Nashville's best ghost tours. You'll also get to hear the scariest stories during the guided bus tour assistance.

The haunted bar tours are generally for ages 21 and over, but if you plan to visit Nashville with children you can opt for similar nighttime excursions, such as the ghost story walking tours, which don't include age prohibitions.

Details of interest

• Price... These tours have a starting cost of approximately 29 euros per person.
• Duration... The tours last approximately 2 hours.
• Please note... These tours are generally for people over the age of 21.

One of the best ways to see a different side of the city is from the Cumberland River, as Nashville is built on its banks and the tributary is central to its success as an industrial hub. You can take an evening cruise, including dinner, and enjoy one of the city's premier water activities.

These night cruise tours are available year-round but you'll find the best weather and views if you visit Nashville in August or during the summer or spring months. Either way, during these tours you'll be able to take a stroll along the river and also enjoy dinner on the cruise deck.

Cruise tours usually start before sunset, so you can watch the sunset from the water, and then enjoy dinner while taking in the nighttime views of the city.

Interesting details

• Price... Dinner cruise tours have an initial cost of approximately 100 euros.
• Duration... Tours last between 3 and 4 hours.

If you really want to enjoy and experience Nashville's nightlife, you can't miss the honky tonk bars, which are typical Southern venues where live country and bluegrass music concerts start at sundown. You can take a tour of these bars on a guided tour, visit them on your own or include them in your Nashville food tours, as most of them offer food as well.

You can find honky tonks in different parts of the city but the main ones are on Broadway Avenue, which is one of the central arteries of Tennessee's capital city and the epicentre of the nightlife party. There you can visit Honky Tonk Central or Nudie's Honky Tonk, two of the biggest and most famous, but any of the city's bars will provide you with a good music and southern experience.

Keep in mind that while these bars are free to enter during the day, at night many of them tend to charge admission and some are 21 and over only, something to consider if you're planning on visiting Nashville with family or children.

Nashville is a city of traditions and one of the most famous is the Grand Ole Opry country music radio show, which is the oldest country music radio show in the United States, having been in existence for almost 100 years. The show is broadcast live every week from the Opryland Theatre and draws huge crowds, so if you want to be part of the event you need to book in advance.

Since its inception, the Grand Ole Opry has featured some of the biggest names in country music and has become a benchmark for the genre. Moreover, the history of the show is closely linked to that of the city, as for more than 50 years the event was broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium, one of the most famous venues in the American South.

If you're a country music fan and want to be part of one of the best shows in town, the Grand Ole Opry and its nightly shows are definitely not to be missed.

Interesting details

• Price... Tickets for the live radio show start at approximately 30 euros.
• Duration... The show lasts approximately 3 hours.
• Where... 2804 Opryland Dr, Nashville.