Music Valley – The fun top 10 things to do in the area

Music Valley is a part of Nashville I visit often. If you want to enjoy local country music artists and great food away from the craziness of Lower Broadway, this area is THE place to be! It is also the most reasonably priced area of Nashville.

Music Valley Nashville is where you will find most of the locals. There are lots of places with live music, restaurants, put-put golf, museums, a shopping center, and great hotels some with shuttles to downtown. It is within walking distance of the Opryland hotel so you can check it out as well.

If you are wanting to stay or party in an area away from the chaos of Lower Broadway, then the Music Valley area is where you need to be. I was gonna do a top 10 list, naaa .. there is way too much cool stuff in Music Valley to just limit it to 10. Let’s go!

Live Music in the Music Valley

The Music of Nashville

The Music of Nashville is one of the fastest-growing live musical acts in Nashville. This show takes you through 70 years of Nashville’s most famous songs and the stories behind them. Songs by the most world-renowned artists such as Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Reba, and sooo many more!! Click here for more information.

The Nashville King

Elvis lives in Nashville!! Well, not really but this is really close. John Beardsley put on a heck of a good show in tribute to the King himself. The show consists of over 30 songs and 5 costumes taking you through many phases of Elvis’ musical career. Here is the Facebook page. Here is the website.

The Nashville Palace

This is probably one of the most well-known live music places in the Music Valley Nashville area. If you want a chill laid back environment away from the downtown Broadway tourist chaos, this is the place to be. The Nashville Palace has been on TV shows such as “Hee Haw” and “Nashville Now” and has helped launch many famous music artists into the limelight. Artists such as Laurie Morgan, Randy Travis, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and many more have played here. Jerry Reed was once a frequent performer for many years.

So, if you gotta ask where the locals go to chill, eat, drink, and enjoy some good music, it’s right here at the Nashville Palace. Here is the Nashville Palace Facebook page.

There are many restaurants in the Music Valley area that feature live entertainment throughout the evenings. The places mentioned above are some of the most famous or are more dedicated to music than food as well.

Things to do

Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussauds wax museum features over 60 wax figures of legendary musicians such as Johnny Cash, Beyonce’, Taylor Swift, and many more. For the 21+ crowd, there is an opportunity to experience a wine tasting of 19 award-winning wines from Amber Falls Winery and Cellars.

Gaylord Opryland Hotel

Come explore 9 acres of indoor gardens, waterfalls, and walking trails. Along with beautiful scenery, there are lots of great places to eat and grab a drink or two. Got an Instagram account? There are lots of places for that perfect selfie to post up. Check out the article about walking around the Opryland Hotel for free.

AxeVenture Axe Throwing

Got some built-up work frustration? Got an X that has you down in the dumps? Come to AxeVentures to vent your frustrations. Obviously by the name they have axe throwing that can take us back to our beginning days of primal existence. Then there is the Rage Room, grab a bat, golf club, or hammer and start smashing! Take your rage out on all types of objects such as TVs, and computers, you just never know what’s going to be in the room with you. You can even bring your own items to smash upon their approval.

Nashville Tours

Grayline tours are located in Music Valley and they are the premium sightseeing tour service in Nashville. Book a tour to see the homes of the stars, a historic city tour, the General Jackson Showboat tour, or a nighttime trolley tour. Click here for more info.

Things to do for kids

Grand Old Golf and Go Carts

My boys and I have had lots of fun here! There are 3 outdoor mini-golf courses each with its own unique challenges. Along with each unique challenge, there are great bits of scenery such as waterfalls, rock gardens, and a very cool waterwheel house.

The go-karts are lots of fun as well with the tight turns and bumper-to-bumper fast-paced thrills. You can have some friendly competition against friends and family in a single-seat cart or side-by-side.

There are also indoor bumper cars for lots of bumps and bangs with giggles and laughs for the whole family.

Dave and Buster’s

Located inside Oprymills shopping mall this entertainment venue has tons of games, pinball, basketball, and bowling. With such a huge variety of games to play there is something for the little ones all the way up to the older generation. Along with the games, there are lots of great selections for food to keep your energy up for all the playtime. For legal drinking age gamers, there is a great selection of adult beverages available as well.

Jae’s Gem Mine

Do you or your child enjoy collecting unique minerals and gen stones? If so then while you are in Music Valley Nashville come check out Jae’s Gen Stones. They use an interactive mining experience with water separating the stones from the sand and dirt. They have four bucket options ranging from $20 to $100 giving an opportunity for a good variety to add to the collection.

Shopping

Oprymills Shopping Mall

Opry Mills features more than 200 stores, along with a food court, fine dining, and indoor entertainment. The entertainment consists of a wax museum of many famous musicians and other entertainers, little animal carts that can be ridden in the mall, The Escape Room, children’s play area, and a Regal IMAX theater. Oprymills mall has something for everyone young or the young at heart.

Kids’ Corral

Inside the Opryland hotel in the Delta atrium is a little kids’ shopping store called the Kids’ Korral. They have a great selection of toys and games for all younger ages to enjoy. One might think that being located inside the glorious hotel that the prices would be inflated. Welp, the prices are fairly comparable to what you would find on Amazon. So you could get your little ones some cool Nashville souvenir toys on your visit to the Music City.

SmART Supplies

Calling all crafters! This is Nashville’s craft supply thrift store, where most of their stock is less than $5. At Smart Art and Craft they reuse, recycle and repurpose products and art supplies to keep costs down and leftover supplies from being in landfills. There are art classes such as basic sewing machine functions, making wind chimes, and more. Just check the website or call to check for class availability due to supply stock. Smart Art and Craft’s mission is to offer employment opportunities to adults with intellectual disabilities. Here is the website.

Music Valley Village

This is basically the strip mall of the area. Within this strip mall, there are many unique merchants and more. There is SmART Supplies mentioned above, AxeVentures, an antique shop, a coffee shop, Grey Line Tours, and even a recording studio. So if you are in the area, drop in and take a stroll to see what is there you would enjoy.

Places to eat in Music Valley

Caney Fork River Valley Grille

I’ve eaten here several times. I always request to be seated by the live indoor Catfish pond. If you get lucky and arrive at the right time you may get to see the Catfish being fed. It’s kind of fun to watch them.

The restaurant decor is in a southern backwoods camp-style theme with lots of natural wood and mounted deer, elk, and other animals throughout. The menu has great offerings of Southern food such as Catfish, burgers, Chicken wings, and fried green tomatoes just to name a few. What makes Caney Fork so unique is the wild game menu, wild game such as Gator tail, crawfish cakes, Bison, Venison, Elk, and even frog legs.

I’ve eaten at several restaurants in the Music Valley Nashville district, I tend to migrate back to Caney Fork very often. I just really enjoy the vibe and the food is great. Just one little caveat, don’t order any slices of pie. I’ve tried it 3 times and each and every time the pie still had ice on it from being frozen. But everything else is GREAT!

John A’s

I’ve eaten at John A’s a couple of times. The food is very good. The catfish is very good and they even offer an “all you can eat” on select days. Now, they claim “Worlds best”, I think that may be a stretch. I’ve been to NOLA, that is where you want to get some cajun catfish done right!! YUM!!

John A’s has a very good down-home vibe with great live music, good beers, and great people. There is a patio where they throw a good party with live music. So definitely worth going to check it out.

Scoreboard Bar and Grill

As for restaurants in the Music Valley area, this is where the large variety of food and fun is! They got a huge menu to select from. Foods ranging from burgers, pizza, wings, sandwiches, salads, bbq, and unique to Scoreboard appetizers. Each of the food items I mentioned above is made in many unique ways so there is a flavor available for most anyone.

Now I mentioned fun at Scoreboard … oh yea! First of all, there is the stage for the band, but this is Nashville, there are lots of places with live bands. There is an outside patio .. I know .. lots of places have that as well. Now what I’m leading up there are several other places in Nashville that have this, but Scoreboard is the only one in the Music Valley area. They got yard games for everyone to enjoy such as life-size Jenga, Connect Four, Cornhole, and more. So, get your grub on and go play off the calories having a good time in the yard at Scoreboard Bar and Grill.

Lodging in Music Valley

Gaylord Opryland Hotel

I’m not going to go into detail here in this article about the Opryland hotel. Simply because the Music Valley area of Nashville is known to be the most reasonably priced as far as lodging and bars are concerned. The Opryland hotel is anything but reasonably priced so it really doesn’t fit into the “let’s find a cheaper place away from downtown to stay” theme. The only reason I mentioned it is because it is really fun to check out the atriums and there is some good food in there.

Fairfield Inn and Suites Nashville at Opryland

This is a great location to stay that is much less expensive than the hotels downtown near Broadway. Earned 2021 Travelers Choice from Tripadvisor and a Three Diamond AAA member so you can be assured you are staying in a nice place. One of the big perks is the shuttle to the airport and to Gaylord Opryland to walk around the awesome atriums.

Courtyard by Marriott at Opryland

Reading in the FB groups this is the most popular hotel to stay in the Music Valley area. They have a restaurant on-site, indoor pool, fitness center, dry cleaning service …. Oh … FREE parking!!

This location is about a mile away from the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland Hotel to tour the atriums, General Jackson Showboat, and the Oprymills shopping mall.

I can’t remember which hotel it is at this moment. But one of them offers a shuttle ride to downtown for something like $10 per person each way. When I find out which one it is and the details I’ll update this post.

Music Valley Drive Campgrounds

If you are pulling or driving a big camper, here are some options for you that are very close to all the great restaurants and shopping in the Music Valley area. These campgrounds are located less than three miles from the Grand Ole Opry and Oprymills shopping mall. This means it is a short trip to downtown where all the party action is. Or, just stay in the Music Valley area and still have a great time with all the food and music it has to offer. It is all up to you so have fun in Nashville!!

Two Rivers Campgrounds

They have a little grocery store on-site that has food and RV items that you may need. There is a game room with video games and a pool table. The front desk can assist you in making car rentals, booking tours, or any other Nashville event that may appeal to you. They even have shuttles available that can take you downtown where the party is. Click here for more info.

Nashville Resort and Cabins

This campground has lots of great amenities, including a dog park for your fur baby! There is mini-golf, mining, a playground, swimming pool, yard games, free WIFI, and even inflatables for the kids to jump on.

Their RV parking pads are paved pull-throughs that can accommodate rigs up to 80 feet long. They have a variety of different amenities levels depending on what you require.

You like cabins? Got ya covered! The Deluxe cabins have full linen, towels, and kitchen supplies. Get a cabin for two for a romantic getaway. Or, you can pitch a tent and rough it in the wild .. for cheap.

Nashville KOA campgrounds

This KOA location has about anything you may need for your camping stay. They offer swimming pools, hot tub, playgrounds, yard games, free WIFI, and much more. There are fully paved pull-through pads to back up rustic sites.

Not using a camper? No problem. They have cabins available with linens, towels, and kitchen supplies. Romantic Studios for the perfect getaway with your significant other. Or, if you just want to pitch a tent, they got you covered for that as well. Click here for more info.

Transportation to downtown Lower Broadway

The Taxi Triange – Nashville features a flat-fee service triangle between the airport, downtown, and the Gaylord Resort. So, any taxi ride between those points should be a flat rate of $25 per ride for up to 4 people per ride. If you are staying in any of the hotels mentioned on this page besides Gaylord Opryland, you might just get dropped off at the entrance to Gaylord and walk to your hotels location, about all of the hotels are within easy walking distance to the Entrance to the Opryland Hotel.

Summary of Music Valley Nashville

Welp, I said in the beginning 10 things … I kinda got carried away.

If a person wanted to visit Nashville but didn’t want to get into the hustle and chaos of Lower Broadway, Music Valley is the only place that could be a proper substitution. I say this because it still has that crazy energetic musical vibe no matter where you go in that area. Although, I do recommend The Nashville Palace to do it right.

The food in this area still rocks even though there is less variety than downtown. The people are typically more friendly and laid back in Music Valley because this is where the locals go to relax for a drink and enjoy some good music.

I’ll add more of the hotels and some pics later.

Other articles of interest for anyone visiting Nashville