The obvious Nashville itinerary writes itself: Broadway, Country Music Hall of Fame, Ryman, hot chicken, maybe Cheekwood. That version of the city is good and worth doing. But it’s also the version 15 million annual visitors already know about. These are the things that don’t make the first page of travel guides.
The Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library
This is one of the most significant and undervisited spaces in the city. Located inside the main downtown branch at 615 Church Street, the Civil Rights Room documents Nashville’s 1960 lunch counter sit-ins with photographs, recordings, and first-person accounts. It’s free, takes about 45 minutes to an hour, and covers a story that shaped the national civil rights movement in concrete, Nashville-specific terms. The same building is a few blocks from Broadway, yet few tourists find it.
The Arcade
Built in 1902, The Arcade is a two-story covered passageway that runs between 4th and 5th Avenues in the heart of downtown, and most visitors walk past it without noticing. After renovations it reopened in 2024, mixing longtime tenants like The Peanut Shop with new ones. The second floor runs an artist-in-residence program with studios that open to the public on the Second Saturday Art Crawl. It’s one of the few historic commercial spaces in downtown Nashville that didn’t get bulldozed or converted.
Station Inn
The Station Inn on Cowan Street in the Gulch books bluegrass and Americana seven nights a week to a crowd that comes to listen. No cover charge for many shows, or minimal covers in the $5-15 range. The room holds around 200 people, the sound is good, the bar is simple. It’s been operating since 1974 and has hosted virtually every significant bluegrass musician. Most visitors on Broadway have no idea it exists despite being a short walk away.
Love Circle
Love Circle is a small green hill off West End Avenue, tucked into a residential area with no signage directing you to it. It offers an unobstructed 360-degree view of the Nashville skyline, particularly good at sunset. Locals treat it as a place to sit with food, drink, or a conversation. Tourists almost never find it because it appears on no official attraction list. It’s free, accessible anytime, and the sunset view from there is better than most rooftop bars.
Lane Motor Museum
This is the genuine version of unusual. The Lane Motor Museum near the airport holds over 500 vehicles, with the collection focused specifically on rare European microcars, amphibious vehicles, and mechanical oddities. It’s housed in a former Wonder Bread bakery, runs on a nonprofit model, and has a rotating selection of vehicles on display out of its total collection. Admission is around $12 for adults, tickets available at the door. It has nothing to do with country music and is visited almost entirely by car enthusiasts and people who stumble upon it.
Monell’s
Monell’s on Gallatin Avenue in Germantown serves Southern food at communal tables where you sit with strangers and pass dishes family-style. No menu to order from, just whatever the kitchen prepared that day. Fried chicken, green beans, biscuits, multiple sides, corn pudding. The meal costs around $20-25 per person. It’s been operating since 1995 and is one of the more specifically Nashville dining experiences available, but most tourists default to Broadway-adjacent restaurants and miss it.
Mas Tacos Por Favor
A cash-only taco stand in East Nashville on Meridian Street that has maintained both a following and a consistent quality for well over a decade. It’s tiny, counter-service, and the menu is short. The tacos are $4-5 each. It’s one of the few Nashville food experiences that costs almost nothing and delivers at a high level. Worth mentioning alongside hot chicken as the other essential cheap meal in the city.
Shelby Bottoms Greenway
Nearly 10 miles of trails running along the Cumberland River in East Nashville, with paved and unpaved sections, observation decks, and river views. Completely free, open dawn to dusk, and accessible from multiple East Nashville entry points. On a weekday morning it’s quiet and beautiful. Shelby Park connects to it, adding ball fields, a community center, and a golf course.
The Nashville Farmers Market Shed
Everyone mentions Nashville Farmers Market generally, but the specific thing worth knowing is the indoor shed section with international food stalls. Kurdish food, Latin American, barbecue, Mexican, Thai, and more running as full restaurant operations under one roof. Lunch here is $8-12 and covers international food options better than most sit-down restaurants in the tourist zone. The market is at 900 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, open seven days a week.
Sources:
- Tucked Trails, “Hidden Gems in Nashville: 25+ Local Favorites” (tuckedtrails.com)
- Nashville Downtown, “10 Hidden Gems in Downtown Nashville” (nashvilledowntown.com)
- Nashville Todo, “24 Nashville Hidden Gems” (nashvilletodo.com)
- Seeing Tennessee, “A Local’s Guide to Nashville” (seeingtennessee.com)
- Wandrly, “The 25+ Nashville Hidden Gems” (wandrly.app)