Museums · Nashville · United States
6 best museums in Nashville
The collections worth your time, how long each takes and how to fit them together.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
Start with Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Johnny Cash Museum and National Museum of African American Music. Together the 6 picks below take roughly 9–13 hours across 2 areas; all charge for entry.
Key facts
- Places in this guide
- 6
- Free entry
- 0
- Time to see them all
- 9–13 hours
- Areas
- Downtown and Lower Broadway and Midtown and Music Row
Museums in Nashville
Museum · Downtown and Lower Broadway
1.Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
The largest museum dedicated to a single genre traces country music from its folk roots to today, with instruments, costumes, Elvis Presley's gold Cadillac and the Hall of Fame rotunda of inductees' plaques.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- History
- Rainy day
Museum · Downtown and Lower Broadway
2.Johnny Cash Museum
A compact museum of Johnny Cash's life and career, with costumes, instruments, handwritten letters and a stone wall from his Hendersonville home.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Rainy day
Museum · Downtown and Lower Broadway
3.National Museum of African American Music
Opened in 2021 at Fifth and Broadway, this museum traces more than 50 genres shaped by African American musicians, from spirituals and the blues to jazz, gospel, R&B and hip-hop, with interactive booths where you can sing, dance or produce a beat.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Rainy day
- Kids
- Art
Museum · Midtown and Music Row
4.The Parthenon
A full-scale replica of the Athens Parthenon built for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition stands in Centennial Park.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Architecture
- Art
- Kids
- Rainy day
Gallery · Downtown and Lower Broadway
5.Frist Art Museum
An exhibition centre with no permanent collection, housed in the city's former Art Deco main post office, which shows touring exhibitions from major museums, plus a hands-on art studio for children.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- Architecture
- Kids
Museum · Downtown and Lower Broadway
6.Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum
Honours the session musicians who played on famous recordings across genres, from Nashville's 'A-Team' to Motown's Funk Brothers, with instruments used on classic records and an interactive gallery.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Grouped by area
| Area | Places | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown and Lower Broadway | Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Johnny Cash Museum, National Museum of African American Music, Frist Art Museum and Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum | 2–3 hours + 1–1.5 hours + 2–3 hours + 1.5–2 hours + 1.5 hours |
| Midtown and Music Row | The Parthenon | 1–1.5 hours |
Booking and timing
Of these 6, 1 low cost, 5 mid-priced. None needs booking far in advance. The longest visit is Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum; group the rest by area to save travel time.
How to fit them into 3 half-days
Grouped by area and kept to about four hours each, so you walk more than you ride.
- Half-day 1 (Downtown and Lower Broadway): Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum → Johnny Cash Museum, at least 3 hours.
- Half-day 2 (Downtown and Lower Broadway): National Museum of African American Music → Frist Art Museum, at least 4 hours.
- Half-day 3 (Downtown and Lower Broadway and Midtown and Music Row): Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum → The Parthenon, at least 3 hours.
The quietest months for queues
- January: highs of 9°C (48°F), about 11 rainy days, very quiet crowds. Cold and damp with occasional snow or ice; quiet and good for museums.
- February: highs of 12°C (54°F), about 11 rainy days, quiet crowds. Still cool with variable weather; good hotel deals outside convention weeks.
- August: highs of 32°C (90°F), about 9 rainy days, moderate crowds. Still hot and humid; plan museums for midday.
The neighbourhoods they are in
- Downtown and Lower Broadway — Neon honky-tonks, the Ryman and the big music museums
- Midtown and Music Row — Record labels, studios, Vanderbilt and the Parthenon
More of Nashville
Questions travellers ask
+Where should I start in Nashville?
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The largest museum dedicated to a single genre traces country music from its folk roots to today, with instruments, costumes, Elvis Presley's gold Cadillac and the Hall of Fame rotunda of inductees' plaques.