What Apps Should You Download Before Visiting Nashville?

February 19, 2026

The apps that actually matter for a Nashville trip fall into three practical categories: getting around, finding food and music, and paying for parking. Most “Nashville app” lists include things you don’t need. This one doesn’t.

Transportation

Uber and Lyft are both active in Nashville and you’ll want both installed because surge pricing sometimes differs significantly between them at peak hours. Post-midnight on Broadway, Lyft can be cheaper when Uber surges hard. Having both takes ten seconds to check and can save $10-15 on a single ride.

WeGo QuickTicket is the official Nashville public transit app. If you’re planning to use the bus system at any point (one-day pass is $4, seven-day is $20), load funds onto the app before arriving. The bus fare payment system requires the app or exact change.

Parking

ParkWhiz or SpotHero are the most reliable apps for booking parking spots in Nashville in advance. Downtown weekend parking sells out at closer-in garages, and booking a spot ahead of time through these apps often costs less than showing up at the gate. Both apps show real-time availability.

Parkitdowntown.com is not an app but a website worth bookmarking on your phone. It shows all public parking options in downtown Nashville with current rates and availability. Useful for finding a $15 garage when the $30 one is the first result that comes up.

Live Music

Nashville Scene (nashvillescene.com, mobile-friendly) is the definitive local source for what’s happening in music across every venue in the city. Better than any dedicated app for this purpose. It covers Broadway, East Nashville, Germantown, and every independent venue in the city with actual listings rather than algorithm-curated highlights. The website functions well on mobile.

Bandsintown or Songkick are useful if you want alerts for specific artists performing while you’re in town. Both apps let you follow artists and get push notifications when they add shows near you.

The Listening Room Cafe and Ryman Auditorium both have mobile-responsive booking pages. Download tickets to their wallets or have confirmation emails ready before arriving.

Food

Yelp handles Nashville reasonably well. OpenTable is the best option for restaurant reservations, especially for East Nashville spots that accept online booking. Some highly-sought restaurants (Catbird Seat, Locust) run their own reservation systems via Tock; if any of these are on your list, download Tock and book as far in advance as possible.

Hattie B’s Hot Chicken has an online to-go order system at hattieb.com that bypasses the counter line entirely. For lunch at the busiest hours, order ahead and pick up in the to-go area. Worth doing on a Saturday.

Event Discovery

Eventbrite covers paid events across Nashville including festivals, comedy shows, and one-off music events at smaller venues. Nashville’s local event culture is active and Eventbrite captures much of it in one place.

Do615 (do615.com) is a Nashville-specific events aggregator covering concerts, festivals, pop-ups, and special events. It’s the local alternative to national aggregators and surfaces things that Eventbrite or generic searches miss.

What You Don’t Need

Dedicated “Nashville travel apps” from third-party developers tend to be outdated and worse than simply searching on a mobile browser. The official Visit Nashville TN website (visitmusiccity.com) is mobile-responsive and useful. The Nashville Guru (nashvilleguru.com) is a local blog worth bookmarking for recommendations.

Google Maps functions reliably throughout Nashville for navigation. No Nashville-specific navigation app improves on it.

Sources

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