Attractions in Nashville, Tennessee

Fort Campbell Army Base Sommet Center Opry Mills Mall Tennessee State Museum Frist Center for Visual Arts Museum of Art Ryman Auditorium Centennial Park

Country Music Fan Fair/CMA. The annual 4-day day Country Music Fan Fair of the Country Music Association is a huge and important event in Downtown Nashville. Country music’s most popular performers are featured along with an exhibit hall, an amateur “Rising Star” vocal competition, cooking competitions, activities for children, and much more. Meet the celebrities and enjoy a wide variety of eating choices throughout the event including food sampling and sponsored brunches and barbeques. Fans can test drive a choice of Chevy vehicles, watch champion Frisbee Dogs, and see the exciting and fun tractor races. Only 4 miles from the Econolodge Nashville, this great event is full of opportunities for maximum fun.

Fort Campbell Army Base. Home of the Screaming Eagles, the Fort Campbell Army Base lies on the Kentucky-Tennessee border between the towns of Hopkinsville, KY and Clarksville, TN, about 60 miles northwest of Nashville on I-24. On post are a variety of activities for residents and visitors alike and, within an hour drive of the post, are numerous outdoor recreation areas such as "Land Between the Lakes." Cultural attractions on base include a concert series, theater productions, and two museums – the Customs House Museum and the Cumberland Science Museum. Check their Web site before you go to see what’s offered and consider staying at the Econolodge Nashville in Nashville – a perfect hotel for those visiting Fort Campbell and planning to enjoy Nashville’s many sites and events in the same trip.  [Top]

Sommet Center (aka Gaylord Entertainment Ctr). Sommet Center, the Nashville Arena, serves as a tribute to the city’s musical heritage. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2006, Sommet Center (previously known as the Gaylord Entertainment Center) has hosted more than 10 million guests. It has become Nashville’s No. 1 venue for large-scale musical productions, as well as one of the nation’s most highly acclaimed entertainment and sports venues. The entrance to the Arena faces Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry and only 4 and ½ miles from the Econolodge Nashville. Sommet Center, an exciting and modern entertainment facility, has the flexibility to host national touring events and major professional sports franchises, as well as hometown entertainment. The facility accommodates disabled guests with accessible entrances, restrooms, seating, and other services  [Top]

Opry Mills Mall. Right next door to the Grand Ole Opry, you’ll find one of Nashville’s best shopping opportunities. Opry Mills Mall shopping center features some of the best names in manufacturers' and retail outlets including Nike, Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue, Gap Outlet, and Old Navy; along with high quality entertainment venues and themed restaurants including Regal Cinemas, Dave & Buster's and The Aquarium. Only 8 miles from the Econolodge Nashville, Opry Mills Mall is located on the Opryland grounds between Two Rivers Parkway and McGavock Pike and borders the Cumberland River. Special guest services include shuttle buses and accommodations for disabled guests.  [Top]

Tennessee State Museum. The beginnings of the Tennessee State Museum can be traced back to a now-famous portrait - a life-size painting of then General Andrew Jackson spotted by an admiring young boy in 1817. A state museum was created in 1837 and that same painting hangs today in the Tennessee State Museum. Located just 3 and ½ miles from the Econolodge Nashville, the Tennessee State Museum currently occupies three floors, covering approximately 120,000 square feet with more than 60,000 square feet devoted to exhibits. The Museum’s permanent exhibits include The first Tennesseans, The Frontier, The Age of Jackson, Antebellum, The Civil War and Reconstruction, and The New South. They also present a number of changing exhibits that you can find out about on their Web site at www.tnmuseum.org. The museum is fully accessible to guests with physical disabilities.  [Top]

Frist Center for Visual Arts. The purpose of Nashville’s Frist Center for Visual Arts is to inspire people to look at their world in new ways through the presentation of visual art with high quality exhibitions along with related educational programs and community outreach activities. Since it opened in April 2001, Frist Center has hosted a spectacular array of art from the region, the country, and around the world. With an exhibitions schedule that has new art flowing through the magnificent Art Deco building every 6-8 weeks, no matter how often you visit, there is always something new and exciting to see in the spacious galleries. The Frist Center is open 7 days a week. For more information, check out their Web site.  [Top]

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art. The history and origin of Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art are intimately interwoven with the growth of Nashville and with the Cheeks, one of the city's early entrepreneurial families. From the proceeds of the sale of the Cheek family-owned Maxwell House Coffee Company, the Cheekwood family home was built and competed in 1932. The result is a limestone mansion and extensive formal gardens inspired by the grand houses of England in the 18th century. Cheek family members lived in the home until the 1950s when they offered it as a site for a botanical garden and art museum. The new facility opened to the public in 1960 as the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art. Since then, guests have enjoyed special events, and exhibits, as well as a variety of tours. The lovely home and grounds are located just 14 miles from the Econolodge Nashville, an ideal hotel for vacation and business visitors to the Nashville area.  [Top]

Ryman Auditorium. Original home to the Grand Ole Opry until they moved to the Gaylord Opryland Resort, the Ryman Auditorium was restored in 1994 to the national showplace that it is today. The most famous and loved American music entertainers – ranging from Roy Acuff to James Brown and Patsy Cline to Sheryl Crow – have performed on the Ryman stage, making it a historial as well as a modern day entertainment venue for visitors to Nashville. In addition to country music, the Ryman features performances of rock, gospel, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music. The Ryman Auditorium is now a National Historic Landmark and guests can enjoy daily self-guided tours of the historic building.  [Top]

The Parthenon, Centennial Park. Nashville’s replica of the original Parthenon in Athens - originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition - serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Naos are direct casts of the original sculptures that adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 B.C. Nashville’s Parthenon stands proudly as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park. The Parthenon also serves as the city of Nashville's art museum and can be used to explore art, architecture, science and even mathematical problems.  [Top]