... visit unique markets and festivals, indulge at your favorite patisserie, and enjoy nights at rooftop bars ...

Cowboy boots for sale in a Nashville store. Image credit: Shutterstock

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Spicy Nashville-style fried chicken sandwich. Image credit: Shutterstock

If you’re crunched for time – or want to create your own Nashville progressive food experience – Assembly Food Hall at the massive Fifth + Broadway complex boasts 30 eateries and bars across multiple levels, in addition to a trio of stages. Sample the taps at HomeGrown Brewing Company, get your bao on at Steam Boys, try a hand-smashed burger at The Pharmacy, and end your visit with a scoop of custard-based ice cream from Hattie Jane’s Creamery. A couple of blocks down, you can make your own souvenir at the Goo Goo Chocolate Co. shop, home of the city’s famed century-old candy brand.

Eat & Drink

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum boasts one of the largest music collections in the world. Image credit: Shutterstock

Since the start of the 21st century, Nashville’s professional sports scene has been growing, paving the way for it to play host to the NFL Draft and the Stanley Cup finals. Today, you’ll find the Nashville SC taking the pitch at Geodis Park; Nashville Predators passing the puck inside Bridgestone Arena; the Tennessee Titans going for a touchdown at Nissan Stadium; and the Triple-A baseball team, the Nashville Sounds, stepping up to the plate in First Horizon Park.

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Nashville is known for its banner events, such as the annual Music City Midnight New Year’s Eve celebration and the four-day CMA Fest celebrating country music each June. When the temperature is dialed down, locals head outdoors to fun nighttime happenings, including the annual Holiday LIGHTS event at Cheekwood, which runs from mid-November to early January, and a handful of winter-themed bars like the igloos on Bobby Hotel’s rooftop.

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NEIGHBORHOODS

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A little bit of everything

The makers’ mark

the gulch

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One of the most coveted tables in town is in the kitchen of Vivek Surti, the chef-owner of Tailor Nashville, which combines Southern flavors and Indian heritage for a multicourse tasting meal, complete with wine or cocktail pairings. For pho, Mexican street food, Thai, and more, take a trip through the colorful restaurants and bodegas of Nolensville Road. Nashville is also home to the largest Kurdish population in the United States, and Azadi International Food Market serves up halal meats and lamb pizza, fired up in the tandoori oven.

There’s no shortage of ways (or places) to sample Nashville’s two signature dishes: BBQ and Nashville hot chicken. At Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, you can enjoy meat that’s been smoked up to 24 hours in brisket, pulled pork, or Redneck Taco form. At Peg Leg Porker, full racks of dry-rubbed ribs are on the menu, while Edley’s Bar-B-Que favorites include pulled pork nachos and a sliced brisket sandwich. Though Prince’s is known for making the original Nashville hot chicken (order the milder variation if it’s your first time), 400 Degrees Hot Chicken and Bolton’s Famous Hot Chicken and Fish are equally worthy players in this heated game.

One of Nashville’s trendiest neighborhoods, The Gulch houses high-end boutiques and Instagrammable murals aplenty. This former railroad yard named after the natural geographic depression that arcs through its south side is now a shopping destination and includes Lucchese Bootmaker and Rustler Hat Co., which has its own hat bar where you can customize a lid with ribbons, embellishments, and more.

If anyone has their finger on the pulse of current trends, it’s Allison Holley, owner of Apple & Oak in the Shops at Porter East development. Her eclectic shop is full of vintage rugs, handmade items from artisans, and all things pop culture. Also in Shops at Porter East is women’s boutique Whiskey Water, and HiFi Cookies, which bakes up insane desserts, all themed after major musicians. After a tornado demolished its warehouse a year ago, former Shops at Porter East resident N.B. Goods returned to a new space in Five Points with the same bold designs and vintage-style apparel spanning trucker hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, and more. shopsatportereast.com

Freedom Riders, student protesters, and activists fought throughout the mid-1900s for racial equality in the South. The sites of many marches, sit-ins, and non-violent protests are scattered throughout downtown Nashville and depicted on the Witness Walls next to the Historic Metro Nashville Courthouse. Inside the main branch of the Nashville Public Library is the Civil Rights Room, featuring photography and a timeline of national and local events. You can study the Ten Rules of Conduct protesters abided by during sit-ins as you gaze out at the intersection that was the frequent site of non-violent protests against segregated lunch counters. Worth visiting is Nashville’s oldest university, founded in 1866 for the education of freedmen. Fisk University is the home of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who first earned Music City its moniker.

A giant piano on Demonbreun Street leads into the 350,000-square-foot Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the starting place for a musical master’s degree in Nashville history. The attached letterpress shop, Hatch Show Print, has been making concert posters since 1879 for such establishments as the Ryman Auditorium, which started as a church in 1892 and morphed into one of the most iconic music venues in the world. The Music City Walk of Fame pays tribute to artists such as Reba McEntire, Roy Orbison, Emmylou Harris, and Wynonna Judd; many of them recorded at the nearby Historic RCA Studio B, known as the birthplace of the “Nashville sound,” open daily for tours. On Broadway, the National Museum of African American Music shares the central role Black artists have played in shaping more than 50 genres of music, from blues and jazz to R&B and gospel. Cap off a whirlwind musical tour with a show at Grand Ole Opry, home to the longest-running radio broadcast in history.

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An evening cruise on the Cumberland River passes downtown Nashville. Image credit: Shutterstock

Image credit: Shutterstock. Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake are roughly ten miles from Aspen

The country music capital of the world offers a wealth of indulgent eateries, fascinating museums, and a calendar of truly unique events.

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On Broadway, the National Museum of African American Music shares the central role Black artists have played in shaping more than 50 genres of music

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