Until recently, I had never been to Nashville except when connecting onward to other cities. Man, have I been missing out! As soon as we arrived Downtown to go to the Visit Music City office, I was surprised how vibrant and lively the scene was. I just knew we were in for an awesome weekend while using the Nashville Total Access Pass to explore all of the local attractions.
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A big thank you goes out to our new friends at Visit Music City that provided us a Nashville Star Card (the media version of the Nashville Total Access Pass) to explore as much as we could during our long weekend visit to Nashville.
In This Post
Why Nashville?
I’ve heard plenty of great things about Nashville from friends who’ve been there. Nashville has been on my list of places to visit, I just haven’t made it a priority the last few years as we’ve been focusing much of our vacation days on international trips.
One of my goals is to attend a home game for every NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB team. We originally booked a November trip to see the NFL Titans play, but work commitments caused us to cancel the trip.
Looking at the calendar, we had a long weekend available in January and it just so happened that the NHL Predators were hosting the Florida Panthers. Awesome! Let’s do it.
Where to stay in Nashville
The Kimpton Aertson Hotel recently opened so I booked a reservation to redeem my Inner Circle free night. The Aertson is a modern hotel with super-friendly staff and all of the awesome benefits I’ve come to expect when staying at a Kimpton property.
Here are a few hotels I’d suggest booking:
- Kimpton Aertson Hotel (IHG Category 9 – 60K points)
- Hotel Indigo Nashville (IHG Category 9 – 50K points)
- Union Station Hotel (Marriott Category 9 – 40-45K points)
- Residence Inn Nashville Vanderbilt/West End (Marriott Category 7 – 30-35K points)
- Hyatt Place Nashville (Hyatt Category 4 – 15K points)
- The Westin Nashville (SPG Category 5 – 12-16K points)
- Embassy Suites Nashville at Vanderbilt (Hilton Category 6 – 30-50K points)
As we drove around, we noticed many other hotel brands building new properties in the Downtown Nashville area, including the new hotel brand, Virgin Hotels.
Nashville is certainly poppin’ with activity.
Why you need the Nashville Total Access Pass when visiting Nashville
One of the things I hate when traveling is the feeling of being nickel-and-dimed as we try to explore the city. $5 here. $10 there. Etc. And then magnify that by 4 when you have a wife and 2 kids like I do. Ouch.
With the Nashville Total Access Pass, you can get:
- Admission into your choice of 4 attractions & tours
- Free admission to The Parthenon
- Free admission to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
- 25% off any Gray Line of Tennessee Sightseeing Tour
- 10% off at the Music City Shop or Music City Marketplace
Here are a few of the 33 attractions the Nashville Total Access Pass will provide free admission:
- Adventure Science CenterAndrew Jackson’s Hermitage: Home of the People’s President
- Belle Meade Plantation
- Belmont Mansion
- Cheekwood Estate & Gardens
- Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
- Cruzzin Nashville
- The Delta Riverboat Company at Gaylord Opryland
- Echoes of Nashville
- The Escape Game
- The Famous Footsteps (Walking Tour)
… and so much more.
That’s 6 attractions and 2 discounts for just $75 – saving you up to 54% during your visit to Music City.
Attractions we visited in Nashville
We were in Nashville for only a couple of days, but we had a great time. The Nashville Predators demolished the Florida Panthers.
We learned the history of country music at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
And Scarlett found her true calling as a country music singer at Donato’s Pizza Midtown.
And we weren’t sure if we were in Greece or Nashville thanks to the life-size replica of the Parthenon.
And 100 yards away in Centennial Park is statue honoring the women’s suffrage movement.
We can’t wait to visit Nashville again and explore everything else that the city has to offer. We feel like we barely scratched the surface!
How do you buy a Nashville Total Access Pass?
To buy the Nashville Total Access Pass, go online to or stop by the Visit Music City shop at 501 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203. I used GPS to find the Visit Music City office and totally still had trouble finding it.
Look for the huge antennae in the sky attached to the Bridgestone Arena, where the Nashville Predators play.
Another way to find the Visit Music City store is to look for the beginning of all of the touristy-looking bars and restaurants. Literally, stop at that stoplight and look to your 4 o’clock and you’ll find it.
Fun and Free in Music City
If you’re looking for more activities in Music City, but are a little light in the wallet, there are plenty of free things to do in Nashville as well.
Here is a sample of the free things to do in Nashville:
- Free live music – music is everywhere in Nashville
- Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park
- First Saturday Art Crawl
- Nashville Shakespeare Festival – Shakespeare in the Park
- Arrington Vineyards
- Cooter’s Place Museum and Store
- Gaylord Opryland Resort
Go to this page at the Visit Music City website and you’ll find many more attractions that are free for everyone (or some that offer free admission for kids).
The Bald Thoughts
I’m a big fan of fixing your travel expenses so you can more 
easily budget for a vacation without sacrificing being able to do all of the fun activities that make a city special. With the Nashville Total Access Pass, you can see 6 of the 35 best Nashville attractions for one low price, with the added benefit of additional discounts for bunches of other attractions and restaurants.
Because we were only in Nashville for a couple of days, we didn’t get to explore everything we wanted to. However, we’re really looking forward to our next visit to Music City to experience even more of the culture and charm of Nashville.
Have you been to Nashville before? What was your favorite thing to do? Did you purchase the Nashville Total Access Pass or did you pay for admission a-la-carte to each activity that you did?
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