We’ve just returned from Nashville and though we didn’t do a ton of stuff, we did almost all the things on our list of must-dos. As always, I’m here to give you the tips on how to do places for less and make the most of your time and money.
If you’re short on time and/or on a tight budget while visiting Nashville, there are two places that I feel are an easy way to indulge in culture for not a ton of money. If you have a rental car, for $40 (and free parking!), you can visit 4 great places that will make you feel like a more well-rounded tourist of Music City:
The Tennessee State Museum
This free museum tells you the history of Tennessee through dioramas, videos, textiles, and artifacts. You can spend as much time as you want and there’s free parking nearby. You can read more about it in my last post here.
Bicentennial Park
Directly across the street from the museum is one of the best parks in the city. It isn’t overwhelming in space and sometimes there are festivals happening there. There is a wall that encircles the whole thing that spans a billion years of history with fun facts to learn about. Inside the park are memorials to veterans, civil rights activists, and slavery.
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| The organ that runs the carillon bells |
At one end is an amphitheater and the other is the Carillon, a set of 50 bells that are played by an organ-like instrument. Within the park, you can also sit and enjoy some good weather, watch people walk their dogs, see pieces of the old Capitol building columns, or go across the street and get food from one of the international vendors at the Nashville Farmer’s Market.
The Parthenon
For just $10 per person, you can gain entry to the only full-scale replication of the Greek Parthenon. This was built for the Centennial of Tennessee in 1897, where they held a huge Exhibition to celebrate their state. Since Nashville was often referred to as “the Athens of the South”, they decided to make it official.
Inside the Parthenon, you’ll find photos and items from the Centennial, along with plaques explaining everything, on this first level, there’s also an art gallery, with a permanent exhibit hall and then a rotating one in the main room. In the back hallway, there are hands-on exhibits that explain the importance of replicas that will prepare you for what you’ll see on the second floor.
The main floor was always meant to be a gallery, giving accessible art to everyone. There’s a fun variety of paintings, and each one has a pretty good bio of the piece and artist, which I love.
I wasn’t prepared for the second floor at all, because I’d only read about the roof construction and the columns. Upstairs are some of the largest doors you’ve ever seen (two sets done in bronze), but also, a 40′ tall statue of Athena, complete with gold dress, a giant shield, and holding a 6’4″ statue of Nike, the Angel of Victory. It’s quite something to go up the stairs and turn the corner to see her on the other side of the many columns. Because of this, I don’t want to spoil it for you.
In the room behind her are replicas of the replicas that sit outside on the top of the building, and the griffons that are also on the roof.
The Parthenon sits in the middle of Centennial Park. One of the largest parks, it has a lake, sunken gardens, a storybook trail, sculptures, and even a Taylor Swift bench. It was pouring on the day of our visit, so we made a quick trip across the bridge to see the gardens and lake, and then we got back in the car.
Cheekwood Estate
If you have time, the means to get there, and can spare 3-4 hours, I highly recommend Cheekwood Estate and Gardens. I heard about it through City Cast Nashville, and wanted to visit for the Harvest Festival. They do have live music and food trucks there on Thursday evenings and some weekends, but not while we were there.
What they did have was a fun scarecrow walk, pumpkins everywhere, Fall photo ops, and you could buy a variety of pumpkins and plants to take home.
You may not be visiting during this time, so I’ll tell you what there is year-round: a Japanese garden, a sculpture garden, a color garden, a water garden, a ton of sitting areas, a children’s garden, model trains (if it’s not raining), an herb garden, and a great big house.
The house was the home of the Cheek family and was furnished with items that were brought over from Europe. They wanted an old world feel to it and they definitely got that. The first and second floor are set up as much as possible as the family would have had it, and you can learn more about it, and them, through an audio tour, or by talking to the docents and reading plaques in each room. We did a mix of those, because talking to knowledgeable people is always fun.
The third floor, where the bedrooms and studies would have been, is entirely art (except one study that has been left to view). All of the art is by American artists, but you’ll find landscapes, impressionist, portraits, porcelain, statues, and glass pieces. These are all their permanent collection and almost better than some actual art museums I’ve visited.
You can make a whole day of visiting Cheekwood. We stopped into the café for a bite and were pretty happy with the food and espresso drinks we had. You can also bring your own food and dine on the property at one of the many shady spots with picnic tables. Now, you don’t have to visit the house, but I highly recommend it.
An all-inclusive ticket will run you $30 per person, but I felt like we got our money’s worth between the house tour, the art, the history, and the garden strolls. It’s a little bit on the outskirts of Nashville to the south, but it’s a lovely drive. We went on a Saturday morning and there weren’t too many people there, but keep in mind it was drizzly weather, so if it’s nicer out, you might want to visit on a weekday or go as soon as they open on the weekend.
This is certainly not the only museums or places to gain some affordable culture, but they are my picks for a budget-friendly visit. You can also walk around different neighborhoods to look at building art and murals. I’ve written about some of those in this post.
Tell me about your favorite affordable ways to see art and history when you travel.
Want to read more tips for traveling worldwide on a budget? Check out my blog at Shereen Travels Cheap or find me on Facebook or Twitter. You’ll also find product and website suggestions, packing tips, current deals and a whole lot more to help you travel better for less!
Source:
http://www.shereentravelscheap.com/2024/10/affordable-art-history-in-nashville.html
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