Nashville is a car-dependent city that many people successfully visit without renting one. The key is understanding which method works for which situation, because there’s no single answer that covers everything.
On Foot: The Downtown Core
The most useful fact about carless Nashville travel: the core tourist attractions are walkable from each other. Broadway to the Country Music Hall of Fame is two blocks. The Ryman Auditorium is two blocks from Broadway. The Gulch is a 10-minute walk from lower Broadway. Germantown is a 15-minute walk north from upper Broadway.
If you stay in a downtown hotel, you can do the majority of a standard three-day itinerary entirely on foot. The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge connects downtown to East Nashville’s east bank for free, anytime.
Uber and Lyft: The Practical Default
For anything beyond the downtown core, rideshares are how most carless visitors actually move. This works reliably in Nashville’s central areas (downtown, Midtown, East Nashville, Germantown, 12 South, the Gulch) during normal hours. Pricing varies:
- Downtown to East Nashville: $8-12 most hours
- Downtown to 12 South: $8-14
- Downtown to Grand Ole Opry area: $18-25
- Airport to downtown: $25-35 standard hours
The complications are after major events and after 1 AM on weekends. Post-Predators game or post-midnight Broadway surge pricing can reach 3-4x normal rates and wait times lengthen. Having both Uber and Lyft installed lets you check which is cheaper in real time, which can save $10-15 on a single ride during surge.
WeGo Bus: The Budget Option With Trade-offs
WeGo runs Nashville’s public bus system with over 26 local routes radiating from the Riverfront transit hub downtown. Fares are $2 per ride, with a $4 day pass and $20 weekly pass available through the WeGo QuickTicket app (download this before arriving if you plan to use buses, as the alternative is exact cash change on board).
Route 18 connects downtown to Nashville Airport, running every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends. Route 34 connects downtown to the Grand Ole Opry/Opryland area. These two routes are the most relevant for tourists.
The honest limitations: most routes run every 30-60 minutes, which makes the bus impractical for tourist schedules that don’t want to wait half an hour. The bus network covers most of the city but requires patience and flexibility. It works well for a budget-conscious visitor who has time to work around schedules.
Scooters and Bikes
Electric scooters (Bird, Lime) and e-bikes are available throughout downtown and walkable neighborhoods. Cost runs $1 to start plus $0.25-0.35 per minute. Useful for short cross-neighborhood trips (Broadway to the Gulch, Germantown to downtown, East Nashville’s commercial strip) where the distance is too far to walk but too short to justify a rideshare. Nashville has bike lanes in parts of downtown and some neighborhoods, though the city is still building out this infrastructure.
The Group Rideshare Option
For groups of 5-8 people, a service called Fetii provides group rideshares where the cost is split automatically within the app. This is useful for bachelorette or group trips where multiple Ubers would be needed. Nashville-specific transportation like pedal taverns, party buses, and golf cart tours function similarly for groups wanting both transportation and entertainment together.
Practical Scenario: Three-Day No-Car Visit
Day one: Arrive BNA, Route 18 bus to downtown ($2), or Uber/Lyft ($25-35). Check into downtown hotel. Walk Broadway, walk to CMHOF, walk to Ryman. Total car-free day.
Day two: Walk to Germantown (15 min north), Uber to East Nashville ($8-12), Uber back to downtown. Listening Room Cafe in the evening (walking distance or short Uber).
Day three: Uber to 12 South for brunch ($8-14), walk the strip, Uber back to hotel. Return to airport via Route 18 ($2) or Uber ($25-35).
Total rideshare spend: $50-80 over three days. Reasonable tradeoff for skipping rental car and downtown parking costs.
Sources:
- WeGo Public Transit official site, route and fare information (wegotransit.com)
- Travel Lemming, “Getting Around Nashville (A Local’s Transportation Guide),” March 2025 (travellemming.com)
- Lonely Planet, “Do You Need a Car to Get Around Nashville?” (lonelyplanet.com)
- Nashville MLS, “Nashville Public Transportation: 6 Ways to Get Around” (nashvillesmls.com)
- GoodNight Stay, “How to Get Around Nashville Without a Car,” February 2025 (goodnightstay.com)