Travel Ideas for Nashville

Nashville Superspeedway

A 40 minute drive from the Grand Ole Opry will place you at one of Nashville's other major tourist attractions: Nashville Superspeedway. Located in the suburb of Lebanon, Tennessee, this racetrack hosts every type of NASCAR event on the schedule. Tourists arriving in Nashville in their RV will find both general and reserved parking areas near the track. Plenty of parking spaces are on hand for all other vehicles. The sound and fury of NASCAR racing offers thrills for racecar fans and the opportunity to observe a growing American subculture for those who are not fans.

Whether or not you catch performances at the Opry, music fans should definitely include time to put the Country Music Hall of Fame on their list of places to visit in Nashville. The museum acts as an acceptable substitute for Elvis fans who can't make it to Graceland in Memphis as it houses a 1960 solid gold Cadillac once owned by Presley. Exhibits offer a time travel tour through the evolution of country music from bluegrass and honky-tonk to today's country music superstars. The museum is a showcase for country music artifacts, records, posters, musical instruments and filmed performances.

Greece is not the only country that hosts the Parthenon. Nashville visitors who stumble upon the marble columns of the Parthenon may think they've walked through a portal of space and time. The Grecian structure is the main attraction of Nashville's Centennial Park and is guarded by a statue of the goddess Athena, just as the original Parthenon once featured. Inside the Parthenon is an art museum that contains an extensive collection of original American artworks. Younger tourists may recognize the structure from its use as a major plot point in the film "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief."

Get a lesson in history just 20 miles from downtown Nashville at the famed home of President Andrew Jackson. The Hermitage was designed by Jackson and his wife Rachel in the style of a classic southern plantation ringed by an English garden. In addition to Jackson's home, this Nashville tourist attraction features a museum devoted to the nation's seventh President. One of the joys of visiting the Hermitage is the possibility that you may discover some archaeological artifact that will provide more knowledge about the history of this home that is said to have once housed more than a hundred different structures.