Nashville Old Town Trolley Tour
Planning a trip to Nashville? Hop on the Old Town Trolley Tour to see some of Nashville’s biggest attractions & learn about Music City!
In March, my parents usually come to Nashville for a weekend visit around my mom’s birthday and this year was no exception. Although they’ve been to Nashville countless times since I’ve lived here, we always find something new and fun to do. And of course, we eat lots of food! It’s the perfect opportunity to squeeze in some of the places I’ve had on my list to try (Hugh Baby’s, I’m talking about you!). Before my parents came to town, the folks at Old Town Trolley Tours reached out to see if I’d like a couple passes to check out the sightseeing tour.
Ummm…yeah!
I’ve lived in Nashville for almost a decade now (can’t believe it’s been that long!) but I was really looking forward to riding the Old Town Trolley around the city to learn more about the city I call home. While almost all of the stops on the trolley route are very familiar to me, I knew that taking this tour would give me a different perspective on Nashville. Plus, I was looking forward to hearing the history and stories that have helped make Nashville what it is today. You can hop on & off the trolley as much as you want during the tour and stay as long as you’d like at each stop. Couldn’t resist taking this shot of an Old Town Trolley shuttle bus next to one the horse & carriages that are always around downtown.
We really couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to take the tour. Sunny and 60 degrees! At times, it was a little chilly on the trolley since the side panels were up for photo opps, but if I had been wearing a light jacket, it would have been fine.
No matter where you go in Nashville nowadays, you will see a crane (or two, or three, or four) in the sky. There’s construction everywhere! The brick building that looks like a church is Ryman Auditorium, one of the best places to see a show in town. And then there’s the iconic ‘Batman’ building in the background.
Soooo, this is what Broadway looks like on a Sunday afternoon. People EVERYWHERE. If you’ve never visited Nashville, Broadway is generally where most people visit at least once during their stay. It’s home to the honky tonks and you can hear music any time of day, both inside and on the street corners. Apparently, Keith Urban has been known to dress up in a disguise and stand outside of the honky tonks playing music.
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This sculpture sits along the Cumberland River downtown and I’ve never know what it was supposed to represent. The trolley driver told us it’s an outline of how the Cumberland River flows through the greater Nashville area! If you take a look at a map, you can definitely see it. Now I can stop referring to it as the ‘squiggle’. Or maybe I’ll just call it the Cumberland squiggle 🙂
After this, the trolley stopped at the corner of 2nd & Broadway, where the main ticket booth is, for about 15 minutes since this is where most riders typically join the tour. Knowing that the Goo Goo store was around the corner and that we could hop back on the trolley just outside of the store, we decided to walk over and shop in the meantime. I mean, how can you pass up a Goo Goo sample?
There’s now a Goo Goo wall inside the store so had to get a quick picture 🙂
After buying all the Goo Goo’s, it was time to hop back on the trolley. Unfortunately, it wasn’t communicated to us that the pick-up spot for the Goo Goo store was not operating that day so after waiting for about 15 minutes, we gave up and walked back to the stop we just came from on 2nd & Broadway to get back on. My suggestion if you take the Old Town Trolley Tour—make sure all stops along the route are operational and picking up as marked on the map.
We rode the trolley through downtown and over to the Bicentennial Mall, a beautiful park just north of downtown. You can’t see it in this photo but the Nashville Farmers Market is to the right and is one of the 15 stops along the trolley route.
The other stops along the route included Marathon Music Works, Centennial Park, Vanderbilt University, Midtown for Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, and the Belmont Mansion, which is where we started the tour.
I thought the Old Town Trolley Tour was a great way to see and get around in Nashville! Being able to visit some of the top attractions in the city without having to pay for parking or struggle to find parking is a bonus. All of the drivers were very friendly and a couple were quite entertaining! I’d love to know if you’ve been on one of the Old Town Trolley Tours or if you’re planning to do this when you visit Nashville—leave me a comment below 🙂
Also, be sure to read through these past posts on Nashville before your visit!
The trolley drivers talk while they drive and are full of great information and bad jokes and really make the tour a fun ride!