City & Homes-of-the-Stars Tours
Gray Line Nashville, 2416 Music Valley Dr. (tel. 800/251-1864 or 615/883-5555), offers more than a dozen tours ranging in length from 3 1/2 hours to a full day including themed tours focused exclusively on historical sites, honky-tonks, and nightlife. Adult tour prices range from $65 for the “Homes of the Country Stars” bus tour to $114 for a dinner cruise on the General Jackson Showboat to $285 for a day trip to Memphis complete with VIP tour of Graceland.
For a fun and campy 90-minute tour of Nashville aboard a gaudy pink bus, try Nash-Trash Tours (tel. 800/342-2132 or 615/226-7300; ages 12 and up), narrated by the spandex-clad “Jugg” sisters. Sheri Lynn and Brenda Kay dish dirt on all the country stars. Throw in a few risqué jokes, plenty of music, and a cooler of your favorite beverages (alcohol allowed), and it all makes for a trashy good time in Music City. For the more conservative set the company offers Pip’s Music Row Confidential, which focuses on history and sightseeing with guide Steve Pippin, a Nashville veteran who knows everything about being a singer/songwriter in Music City. There’s also a comedy offering with the hosts of The Ben & Morey Show, an untelevised talk show that takes place at Third Coast Comedy with two college kids. Note: The bus is not wheelchair-accessible. For groups who would like to learn more about the African-American history of Nashville, visit Nashville History on Tour for an experience tailored to meet your needs by local historian and lawyer David Ewing.
If you want to drive by some houses of the country stars, first: Please don’t. Most of today’s stars live in crazy-exclusive, gated communities or way out in the country, so you’re unlikely to see Blake Shelton grabbing his mail no matter what you do. The good news is lots of musicians—country and otherwise—live in Nashville, so it’s not uncommon to run into one out and about, especially at live music shows. If you want to blend in, act cool; Nashville is known as a place celebrities can grab a cup of coffee without having to take 3,000 selfies; help us keep that rep, won’t you? If you must see the homes of the stars, you can find options at Viator.com, VacationsMadeEasy.com, or Grayline.com.
Riverboat Tours
The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, 2800 Opryland Dr. (tel.615/883-2211; www.generaljackson.com), operates two paddle-wheelers—the General Jackson Showboat and Music City Queen (tel. 615/458-3900)—on the Cumberland River, which depart from Opryland. Locals do not do this, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time doing it, though the Opryland departure point should rule it out for anyone staying downtown.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
