What are the best things to do in Germantown?

February 19, 2026

Germantown is a neighborhood best experienced slowly rather than checked off a list. Its value is not in having singular attractions that demand a visit but in the combination of things that makes spending a half-day or full day there feel rewarding. Here is what to actually do.

Eat a serious meal

This is the most important thing to do in Germantown, and you should plan around it. City House, Rolf and Daughters, Henrietta Red, 5th and Taylor, Tailor, and Butchertown Hall are all operating at a level of cooking that is among the best in Tennessee. City House chef Tandy Wilson won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2016. Rolf and Daughters was named one of America’s Best New Restaurants by Bon Appétit. Henrietta Red made the same list. If you make a reservation at one of these places, you are having a meal that stands up to serious food cities. Do not show up expecting a table; book ahead, especially on weekends.

Walk the historic district

The 18-block historic core on the National Register of Historic Places is worth an hour of unhurried walking. Fifth Avenue North has the best concentration of preserved Italianate architecture. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin at 1227 5th Avenue North built in 1859 using bricks from Nashville’s first Catholic church is the architectural centerpiece and worth stopping to look at from the street. The brick sidewalks and mature tree canopy make walking here more pleasant than most of Nashville.

Visit the Tennessee State Museum

1000 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. Free admission. The museum covers Tennessee history from pre-Columbian times through the 20th century in well-organized permanent and rotating exhibits. It opened in its current building in 2018 and has both the scale and the curation to justify two or three hours. It is consistently less crowded than the Country Music Hall of Fame and covers more historical ground for less money (zero money).

Drink at Bearded Iris Brewing

101 Van Buren Street. One of the best craft breweries in Nashville, with a taproom on the Cumberland River Greenway. The IPA focus is serious and consistent. The patio has board games. Happy hour runs 4pm to 6pm daily with $2 off drafts. If the weather is good, this is one of the better outdoor drinking spots in the city.

Walk the Nashville Farmers Market

900 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. The outdoor produce market is most active on weekend mornings. The food hall inside has international vendors operating year-round. Worth 30 to 45 minutes before or after a museum visit.

Catch a Nashville Sounds game

First Horizon Park is in the neighborhood, and a Sounds game is one of the most pleasant low-key sports experiences in Nashville. Minor league baseball, cheap tickets, a guitar-shaped scoreboard, and an easy walk to dinner afterward.

The polar bears

For something actually obscure: two restored concrete polar bears sit at 1225 6th Avenue North near Monell’s restaurant. They were brought to Nashville in the 1930s to advertise a frozen custard stand, acquired by a local funeral parlor owner when the stand closed, lost for years under weeds in an abandoned yard, and eventually restored and placed here. Nobody talks about them. They are worth the small detour.

Sources

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