When you’re on vacation, you really need to stretch your budget and free activities can do that. Find all the best free things to do in Nashville — from museums to video games to visiting the Taylor Swift bench — in our post
For more help planning your trip to music city, check out all of our post about Nashville.
I say this a lot, but when I’m planning our vacations, I always look to see what free things there are to do in the area, then I incorporate them into our plan. That way, we’re saving money on some admission prices, which means we can spend more on food or other entertainment.
When we were visiting Nashville, I knew that we were going to a show at the Grand Ole Opry and would be doing the backstage tour after, which is well worth the money, but it is quite a bit of money. So, I wanted to make sure to add some free things in into our trip to sort of offset the cost of the Opry.
If you know exactly what I’m talking about, this post is for you. We filled it with all the best free things to do in Nashville, so enjoy.
If you’re looking for a cheap way to get around Nashville, renting a BCycle bike is so much more affordable than taking rideshare everywhere.
Find out more in our BCycle In Nashville post.
Free Things To Do In Nashville
Drugstore Divas doesn’t have any affiliation with these events or attractions. So make sure to double check their official websites for the most up-to-date information.
National Museum of African American Music
The National Museum of African American Music (510 Broadway) is amazing. It’s an incredibly educational, interactive museum that’s really unique.
From the green screen that puts you in a church choir to the sound booth where you get to have a rap battle with the Fugees, it’s really a unique experience.
On the first Wednesday of every month, the museum is free for everyone.
We really enjoyed the museum, but honestly, we wouldn’t have gone if we hadn’t been in town for the free day. So, if you’re around then, definitely go.
The NMAAM is located at the very popular 5th + Broadway shopping area (home of Assembly Food Hall), so it’s really convenient to access.
Tennessee State Museum
We love visiting museums when we’re on vacation. You really get to learn about the area you’re visiting, which I think is really important.
When we think of Nashville, we think of Honky Tonk and bars, but there’s so much more to know and the Tennessee State Museum (1000 Rosa L Parks Blvd) is filled with the history of the Volunteer State.
But the Forging A Nation exhibit is the drama filled room. It talked about some crazy duel between former president Andrew Jackson and another man over a horse race, politician Sam Houston and a scandal that resulted in his divorce (but no details of the scandal), and a quote from Davey Crocket basically telling everyone to go to hell.
I loved that the drama was on full display, even if that wasn’t the intention of the museum. Honestly, every museum needs a drama room.
So for me, I was obsessed with this museum. It’s free, so even if you don’t become obsessed with it, it’s a very frugal way to spend a little bit of your time in Nashville.
Nashville Farmers Market
Right next to the Tennessee State Museum is the Nashville Farmers Market (900 Rosa L Parks Blvd). So, if you’re going to the museum, you might as well pop into the market.
The market originated in 1801, moving a couple times before settling into its current permanent structure in 1995.
It’s filled with vendors, a huge garden center with really fun, Instagrammable items around, and a food court.
Admission and window shopping is free, but of course, anything you buy will cost you some money.
Video Games at 16-Bit Bar+Arcade
This one is a little bit free adjacent, but it was one of our favorite things we did in Nashville.
There’s a barcade in The Gulch section of Nashville called 16-Bit Bar+Arcade (1102 Grundy St Ste B). It’s filled with vintage arcade games, like Q-Bert and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
There are television screens with old consoles, like Genesis, in the back that you can play on televisions.
All of these games are free — as long as you purchase a drink at the bar.
There’s a very good chance you’re going to spend some time at a bar in Nashville, so you might as well spend your money at one where you can play free video games. It’s amazing and if we lived in Nashville, this would be our go-to Friday night spot.
Games & Duckpin Bowling at Pins Mechanical Co.
The aforementioned 16-Bit Bar+Arcade is in the same 30,000+ square foot complex as Pins Mechanical Co.
Pins is so much fun. There’s free Skee-Ball upstairs and downstairs is filled with a ton of games like Giant Connect Four, hookey, both of which are free, ping-pong (which costs a quarter to buy the ball, although people do leave the ping-pong balls on the table, so that’s basically free), and more — including a giant slide that goes from the second to first floor that you need to try.
The reason it’s called Pins Mechanical Co. is because of the duckpin bowling lanes that line the back wall of the complex. That’s usually $8 during the week or $9 on the weekend, but if you got on Monday after 8 pm, duckpin bowling is free.
Of course, that’s when we went and that’s when we bowled.
It helped that we were going there to watch Monday Night Football (which starts at around 7 pm in Nashville) so by the time halftime rolled around, we rolled over to bowling and had the best time. Like I said. If we lived in Nashville, this would be our weekend spot for sure.
The Parthenon at Centennial Park
For the Tennessee Centennial, Nashville built a bunch of temporary structures and held a half year celebration in Centennial Park (2598 West End Avenue). One of the structures that was built was an exact replica of the Parthenon in Greece.
That structure was scheduled to be knocked down, but the people in Nashville really claimed it as their own and rallied together to get the Parthenon to become a permanent structure in the park.
It’s still there now, over 100 years later.
You can go inside the Parthenon for $15 and see the art gallery and a full scale replica of the Athena statue.
I’ll be very honest. I was not interested in either of those things, and neither was Pete, so we just saw the Parthenon from the outside. He took a nap on the grounds while I walked over to the Sunken Gardens portion of Centennial Park so I could sit on the Taylor Swift bench.
Access to her bench, which, of course is under a willow tree, is completely free and it was absolutely the reason we took a bike ride over to Centennial Park.
You’re probably going for the Parthenon, but I am more of a Swiftie than I am a historian.
Bands on Broadway
If a local is reading this and saw that I was saying seeing bands on Broadway was free, they would come for me. But hear me out.
None of the bars that we went to on Broadway, which included the famous and historical ones — like Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and Robert’s Western World — did not have an entry charge. They all have bands playing from breakfast time until the wee hours of the morning.
And technically, you can walk in the bars and listen to the bands completely for free.
However, the heavily enforced unwritten rule in Nashville is that you have to tip the band when you’re listening to them. Many of the bands are full-time musicians, and there are lots of bars in Music City that don’t pay the band or don’t pay them enough. So, the bands really do rely on bar patrons to tip. Many of them will have a tip bucket that they walk around the bar to encourage you to tip.
I, too, would strongly encourage you to tip the bands because they’re amazing and pursuing their dreams and it’s really important that they get paid.
However, at the very core of it, you’re not forced to tip or pay a fee to see the band, that’s why it’s on this list.
Line Dancing at Category 10
You can tell the difference between the tourists and the locals in Nashville based on who’s wearing cowboy boots.
While that’s not entirely true, it’s also not completely false. But that’s fine. You’re on vacation. Break out your cowboy boots and hat. Life is too short to worry about what other people think.
If you want to dance in them too, but you don’t know how to line dance, that’s fine. Just get down to Luke Combs’ bar Category 10 (120 2nd Ave N). It is very well known for its free line dancing lessons.
There are free lessons, for any skill level, from (around) 11 am to 6 pm, Thursday to Sunday. Then, at 6:30 pm, there’s the Line Dance All Call where you can put those moves onto the dance floor.
Gaylord Opryland Garden Conservatory
You’re staying at a hotel on your trip, so telling you to stop into another hotel sounds kind of funny. Until you realize that the Gaylord Opryland Resort (2800 Opryland Dr) is not just a hotel. It’s an experience.
There’s a huge garden conservatory with over 10,000 tropical plants, gardens, waterfalls, gazebos, and waterways, all of which are free.
During Christmas in Nashville, it’s decorated beautifully as a winter wonderland. There are paid activities that you can do during that time. But, if you want to keep this free, you can just marvel at the decorations.
Marathon Village
A long, long time ago, Marathon was a car company. It was the only brand that made every single part of the car, plus assembled it, in house. And that all happened in a three block building in Nashville.
The reason that doesn’t sound at all familiar is because, well, Marathon Motor Works stopped making cars in 1914 and eventually went out of business in 1918.
But the building and about eight (that’s up to debate) cars still remain.
The building is now Marathon Village (1305 Clinton St STE 100), a popular shopping center filled with distilleries, souvenir shops, and tons of Marathon Motor Works memorabilia. The halls are lined with car parts and machinery. It’s not a museum, so the majority of the pieces aren’t labeled with too much information, but it’s still informative.
Across the street, in a second building, are the remaining Marathon cars with the stories behind them (like how one was won in a raffle for $1 and one was probably stolen because the Marathon Motor Works logo is pulled off, so it’s definitely a Marathon car, but can’t officially be called one).
If you like cars — or shopping — you wanna stop by.
Fort Nashborough Interpretive Center
We rented bikes for a few days in Nashville, which made it really easy to zoom around town and see some things we might not have seen otherwise.
One of those things is the Fort Nashborough Interpretive Center (170 1st Ave N).
Fort Nashborough, named for Francis Nash, a general in the American Revolution, was the first settlement in Tennessee. It was founded in 1780 by James Robertson who led a group of pioneers across a frozen Cumberland River and operated as a small city, with 20 log cabins to protect occupants against weather and Indians.
There, the Cumberland Compact was written, which annexed the area from North Carolina. That settlement would would eventually become Nashville.
None of the original buildings are there. It’s all replicas. The buildings were recreated in the 1930s, but were so damaged by the floods in Nashville in Tennessee that they were eventually demolished in 2015. They were recreated, again, and reopened to the public in 2018.
So, you’re standing on history there, just not exactly looking at it.
Fort Nashborough wasn’t a military fort. If you want to see one of those, you’ll have to go to Fort Negley (1100 Fort Negley Blvd.), which was used by Union troops after Nashville was captured during the Civil War.
But, same deal. Fort Negley is a recreation. There is a visitors center there where you can visit and watch two films about the fort and its history.
Tennessee State Capitol
I’ve only been to a state capitol once and that was on a field trip when I was in elementary school. So, I definitely wasn’t retaining anything from that trip.
If you want to visit a working capitol building, the Tennessee State Capitol (600 Dr. M.L.K. Jr Blvd) is free and open to the public.
You can’t just wander in there and look around. But you can take a free, 45-minute guided tour any Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm.
Reservations aren’t required. So if you just happen to be in the area and need something frugal to do for an hour, this is it.
Frist Art Museum
This one is a little niche, but I want this list to be as inclusive as possible.
The Frist Art Museum (919 Broadway) is an art museum housed in a former post office, which is just a very cool repurpose of a building.
There is an admission charge usually ($20 for adults, $15 for seniors, military members, and college students).
But, the Frist Art Museum participates in Bank of America’s Museums on Us program. During the first full weekend of every month, Bank of America card holders get complementary admission to tons of museums and gardens around the country. And the Frist Art Museum is one of them.
So, if you happen to be a Bank of America user, and you happen to be in Nashville the first weekend of the month, definitely take advantage of this.
Do A Tasting At Ole Smoky Distillery
Ole Smoky Distillery is part of the popular 6th and Peabody complex (423 6th Ave S), which is also home to Yee-Haw Brewing, our favorite spot in Nashville. Our hotel was around the corner, literally, from 6th and Peabody and we would end up here on our way home.
When you’re visiting Ole Smoky Distillery, you can do a moonshine tasting.
Our hotel actually had coupons so you could do the tasting for free, so definitely ask about those at your hotel (or stop into the Hyatt Place downtown and ask them for one).
Even if you don’t have the coupon to get it for free, it’s free with girl math. You spend $10 and get seven Ole Smoky tastings, a 9 oz. Yee Haw beer, and you get a $10 coupon for the shop.
Mural Tour
Nashville is filled with murals. There’s no exact number posted anywhere online, but a rough estimate is between 30 and 40. Which is a lot. You’re not gonna be able to see them all, but you can definitely see some of them, like the most popular Nashville WhatLiftsYou Wings Mural (302 11th Ave S).
There are actually services in Nashville where you can hire a photographer to take your group around to the most popular murals, stage you, and take photos.
But, you can do this yourself for free.
And if you do, in addition to the mural above, definitely go to the Hear This Nashville Mural (at 901 Gleaves St, on the side of the now closed Stock & Barrel restaurant, across the alley from Peg Leg Porker), which is my favorite mural, and the Wanna Spoon Cereal Bar mural (at 1111 Caruthers Ave, across the street from Five Daughters Bakery in The Gulch) where you actually sit in a spoon.
Hatch Show Print
When you’re visiting somewhere, you can’t do everything. And one of the things we couldn’t do was take a guided tour through Hatch Show Print (224 Rep. John Lewis Way S), the space known for creating those iconic letterpress tour posters.
Hatch Show Print has been in operation since 1879, however, it has moved a ton of times since then, most recently to a space in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2013.
So, the history is very cool, and my friend who took the tour gave it great marks, especially because you get to roll a color of the printing press to finish your own souvenir poster.
But if you’re on a budget, you can actually just go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum building and go to the Hatch Show Print shop. You can see a ton of the posters there — and purchase some to bring home too.
Outside of the shop is a large window where you can watch the posters being made. Watching from there and visiting the gift shop are completely free, so definitely at least do that.
Gibson Garage
If you like guitars, you absolutely have to go to the Gibson Garage (209 10th Ave S #209). I surprised Pete by going there and he absolutely loved it.
It’s mostly a guitar shop, with an acoustic room and a custom shop. There are vintage guitars (with hefty price tags) in the center. And a stage right in the middle.
My favorite part was the conveyer belt of guitars that ran across the ceiling of the shop. It was so cool to watch them go by.
There are listening areas with videos and headsets where you can learn about the history of different guitars, which was so interesting to me.
It’s free to enter and free to try out any of the guitars too (except Pete didn’t because he already has almost a dozen guitars and doesn’t need to add another to the collection).
Cooter’s Museum and Store
Cooter’s Museum and Store (2613B McGavock Pk) is an honorable mention on this list because it’s the one thing we didn’t actually do. We saw it from the outside because we ate dinner at a restaurant in the same parking lot, but we ran out of time so we didn’t run in.
It’s a Dukes of Hazzard Museum and Shop operated by Ben Jones who played Cooter Davenport on the show.
The museum has photos, props from the show, Cooter’s Tow Truck, Daisy’s Jeep, Rosco’s Patrol Car, and more, all on display.
It’s free to get in to the museum, but they will charge you to take photos with one of the four iconic cars from the show.
Which of these Free Things To Do In Nashville have you done? Be sure to let us know in the comments.