Nashville is a treasure trove of history, music, and culture, making it the ideal city for a day-long scavenger hunt.
But with so much to do and see, planning the perfect itinerary for a scavenger hunt can feel overwhelming. Nashville has over 30 museums, countless live music venues, and hundreds of historic locations—where do you even start?
Well, leave it to us!
Here are the top 10 places to explore on a scavenger hunt in Nashville to keep you engaged, entertained, and immersed in the true spirit of Music City. By the end of the hunt, you’ll feel like a true local!
1. Ryman Auditorium
Ryman Auditorium, often dubbed the “Mother Church of Country Music,” is a historic live-performance venue located between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North.
The venue features a massive 2,300+ seat auditorium with pew-style seating, near-perfect acoustics, and jaw-dropping 19th-century architecture with stained-glass windows, wooden arches, and ornate furnishings.
Ryman Auditorium was originally built as a gospel tabernacle in 1892 so Nashville citizens could attend large-scale revivals indoors. Roughly 50 years later, it became home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974 due to its size and acoustics.
Countless artists have graced the auditorium throughout the years, including Bill Monroe, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and The Carter Family, to name a few.
Though it’s no longer home to the Grand Ole Opry, it continues to host brilliant musicians, comedians, and singers from across the world. You can find a full list of upcoming performances on Ryman’s official website, including ticket costs.
Other than attending a performance, visitors can take part in self-guided or backstage tours, explore interactive exhibits, and even record their own tracks. This is what makes the auditorium an excellent location for a scavenger hunt. You can ask your team to:
- Locate historic items like original posts, vintage microphones, or artist memorabilia in the exhibit hall (Johnny Cash’s iconic black stage outfit is a popular one)
- Answer trivia questions or identify performers from audio clips
- Take photos in designated spots
- Pretend to be a famous musician and sing a song on stage
After touring the inside of the building, you and your team can check out the Icon Walk right outside.
Icon Walk features bronze statues of well-known musicians who have greatly influenced the venue’s 130-year-old history. Notable figures include Charley Pride (the first Black superstar in country music), Loretta Lynn (the most awarded woman in country music history), and Bill Monroe (the Father of Bluegrass Music).
Feel free to take creative photos with each statue, perhaps mimicking the artist’s pose or style. You can also prepare a game of “Lyric Hunt” where you provide teams with lines from famous songs and have them match the lyrics to the correct statue.
2. Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge
Located at 422 Broadway, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge is a renowned honky-tonk bar that has served and featured thousands of country musicians, including Kris Kristofferson, Faron Young, Loretta Lynn, and Patsy Cline.
The Lounge was built in the early 1960s and continues to be one of the most iconic and beloved venues in Nashville’s music scene. It’s a two minute walk from the Ryman Auditorium, making it a good addition to a downtown scavenger hunt walking tour.
You’ll recognize the bar from miles away thanks to its signature orchid-purple exterior.
In the bar you’ll be met with walls covered with photos and memorabilia (lovingly called “Tootsie’s Wall of Fame”), three stages spread across different floors, and an open-air rooftop overlooking Broadway.
Drinks favourites include The Steve Drink (Stoli vodka, soda, tall with two lemons), Leah’s Key Lime Pie (whipped vodka, Sprite, and lime juice), and Just Peachin’ (Crown Royal peach, lemonade, and a splash of Sprite). You won’t be disappointed with the food selection either, with offerings like quesadillas, hot chicken sandwiches, burgers, and wraps.
Overall, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge is a great place to wind down with your team. While listening to live music and enjoying good food and drinks, you can participate in a scavenger hunt that takes advantage of the bar’s rich history.
Teams can explore all three floors in search of clues hidden amongst memorabilia-covered walls, iconic photos, and historic artifacts. You can also challenge teams to take photos at key spots like the back door used by Grand Ole Opry stars.
3. Legends Corner
Like Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, Legends Corner is just steps away from Ryman Auditorium. It’s another well-known honky-tonk bar in the area, established in 1997 after the closure of Opryland. It has featured some of the city’s finest country artists, including Luke Bryan, Justin Moore, Darius Rucker, and Toby Keith.
The bar’s interior is covered in country music memorabilia, including five original 78 RPM Elvis Presley Sun Records, a 12-string guitar signed by Johnny Cash, and a set of KISS Dolls. It also has several lesser-known instruments on display, like a didgeridoo from Australia and a balalaika from Russia.
The bar opens its doors at 10:00 am and closes at 3:00 am, giving you plenty of time to host scavenger-hunt related activities like finding specific memorabilia, identifying photos of country music legends, or naming a song being performed live.
Before you leave, don’t forget to take a group photo at the Legends Corner mural!
4. Honky Tonk Central
As the largest honky-tonk bar on Nashville’s Lower Broadway, it would be a crime to not visit Honky Tonk Central at least once for a scavenger hunt. It’s located at the corner of 4th Avenue and Broadway, a mere three-minute walk from Ryman Auditorium.
Honky Tonk Central has three stories, each featuring its own bar and stage. In total, the bar has a capacity of 840 guests. A new performance is hosted every day, so each visit is as unique as the last. The bar is open from 10:00 am or 11:00 am until 3:00 am, depending on the day, with offerings like burgers, sandwiches, wings, tacos, and all the drinks you can imagine.
Since it’s a well-known bar, Honky Tonk Central can get busy during evenings, weekends, and special events. If you’re planning to host a corporate event, consider booking one of their VIP areas. That way, you can host a scavenger hunt to your heart’s content!
5. Bridgestone Arena
Bridgestone Arena is the largest indoor arena in Nashville, with a seating capacity of up to 20,000. It’s the home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and serves as a premier venue for a wide range of events, including concerts, basketball games, and family shows.
Since you can find event schedules and ticket information on Bridgestone Arena’s official website, use it as an opportunity to ask your team members what kinds of shows/events they’re interested in and plan team-building activities surrounding them.
On days when there aren’t any events, you can take your team on a guided tour within the arena.
Guided tours let you learn about the arena’s history, architecture, and notable moments that make it a prime location in Nashville’s entertainment scene. Tours also let you access off-limit areas such as locker rooms, VIP suites, and even production spaces, so you can see what happens behind the scenes.
6. Tennessee State Museum
The Tennessee State Museum is about a six-minute drive from the Ryman Auditorium, located at the corner of Rosa L. Parks Boulevard and Jefferson Street.
The Tennessee State Museum is one of the largest museums in the United States and the largest in all of Tennessee. Without a guide, it can take around 2.5 hours to explore everything it has to offer—more, if you’re really interested in Tennessee history.
The museum covers everything from prehistoric times through the 20th century, with detailed exhibits on Indigenous cultures, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the civil rights movement. It features furniture styles from different eras, photographs, and life-sized portraits of various well-known figures that shaped Tennessee. You’ll also find rotating exhibits with various themes such as Black history, military history, and the suffrage movement.
And, as expected of the music state, the museum has an extensive exhibit called The Tennessee Playlist: The People, Places, and Roots of Our Music. You’ll find items like vintage jukeboxes, WSM radio microphones, and performance clothing worn by legends like Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, and Isaac Hayes on display.
The Tennessee State Museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm from Tuesday to Saturday, so you can spend the entire day scavenger hunting within the museum.
The scavenger hunt can include riddles that point to specific exhibits or artifacts, photo challenges (e.g., snap a selfie with a statue or find a painting with a specific item on it), create a quiz with answers found at the museum (make sure to ban Google search to keep things fair!).
You can even dare team members to find the most random or interesting fact in the museum, either by interviewing a museum guide or reading exhibit descriptions. The team that has the most interesting fact wins!
The Tennessee State Museum is free and open to the public. Parking is also free. The museum doesn’t have an in-house café, but it’s close to dozens of restaurants and bars. It’s also super close to the Nashville Farmers’ Market—right across the road, in fact. So if you’re looking for budget-friendly but delicious local delicacies after a day of exploring, this is the place to be.
7. The Parthenon
The Parthenon is another famous museum in Nashville, located in Centennial Park (more on that later!). It’s the world’s first and only full-sized replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, and to say that it’s glorious would be an understatement!
The Parthenon is first and foremost an art museum, featuring over 60 paintings by 19th and 20th-century American artists. It also features a massive 42-foot statue of Athena, surrounded by dozens of columns. It’s the tallest indoor sculpture in the United States and is gilded with 24-karat gold leaf.
If you’re lucky, you might catch a local theater group performing Greek plays like Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Medea right outside the Pantheon free of charge.
The Musicians’ Corner also performs free outdoor concerts throughout the year. Check out the official website for more details!
8. Centennial Park
Located on West End and 25th Avenue North, Centennial Park is a 132-acre public park that features dozens of iconic locations, statues, and events.
Other than the Parthenon, you’ll encounter the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument, built in honor of the women’s suffrage movement, Lake Watauga, a beautiful sunken garden, and an arts activity center.
The park is well-maintained and free to the public, making it a suitable location for a nature-themed scavenger hunt.
And after a long day of activities, spread a blanket on the lawn and enjoy a picnic while listening to live music or watching outdoor theater performances.
9. Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Natural Area
There’s no better place to spend time in the great outdoors than in the Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Natural Area, a sprawling 960-acre parkland located in East Nashville along the Cumberland River.
Featuring a mix of paved and unpaved trails, the Greenway is the perfect location for jogging, biking, hiking, or birdwatching. The park is also home to the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center, where visitors can enjoy educational visits, nature programs, and guided hikes.
The park is home to at least 195 animal species, including deer, red foxes, minks, flying squirrels, wild turkeys, and more.
If your team is up for the challenge, you can ask members to find and take a photo of a certain species or animal. Use the Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Nature Park Check List as a reference, where hundreds of animals are categorized by species type.
You can also ask the team to take a picture of a flower, a uniquely-shaped rock, and other items you’d typically find on a trail.
To end the day, you and your team can rent a bike from one of the two Nashville B-Cycle stations, easily accessible from the park. Taking in the gorgeous views of the river, wildlife, and wooded trails is a wonderful way to appreciate nature and reflect on the beauty of the world.
10. Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery
The Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery is a Greek revival-style plantation dating back to the early 1800s.
The 5,400-acre plantation offers a variety of educational tours, including Journey to Jubilee, which touches upon the experiences of African Americans before and after emancipation, a mansion tour, and a visit to the thoroughbred stud farm, one of the largest in the United States. After the tour, guests can enjoy a complimentary wine tasting event.
The winery also allows guests to discover 30+ acres on their own. Along the trail, you’ll find walking trails, outdoor game courts, and on-site restaurants.
You can use this opportunity to host scavenger hunts, like taking a picture of unique locations, animals, or statues.
The winery is open every day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and tickets range from $20 to $75 per person.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are scavenger hunts allowed inside museums and historic sites?
Yes, most places allow self-guided scavenger hunts as long as they’re respectful and non-disruptive. If the scavenger hunt has more than 10 people participating, however, it’s best to contact the site in advance for permission to be safe.
Are these scavenger hunt locations accessible for people with disabilities?
Yes, all the locations listed above are disability-friendly! Ryman Auditorium, for instance, offers wheelchair accessible seating on both the main floor and balcony.
The same is said with Bridgestone Arena, featuring accessible seating, ramps, elevators, and services for guests with disabilities. It even has sensory rooms and ASL interpreters at selected events.
The Tennessee State Museum is also disability-friendly, featuring barrier-free entries, wheelchairs, canes, and rolling walkers available free of charge.
What’s the best time of year to do a scavenger hunt in Nashville?
With the right itinerary, you can enjoy a scavenger hunt in Nashville all year long!
If we’re talking ideal conditions, spring (March to May) and fall (September to early November) are the best times to go on a scavenger hunt. The weather is comfortably mild, flowers are blooming, and there are festivals and live music everywhere.
