Many of our guests are in town this weekend for the NFL Draft or Rock N Roll marathon. However, there are many unsuspecting tourists who are arriving on Nashville busiest weekend without knowing ANY of these things are going on. Regardless of how you’ve ended up here this weekend, we thought it would be helpful to compile a few links that will make your experience more enjoyable and less chaotic.
NFL DRAFT Activities: April 25-27
- Location: Downtown (Broadway) and Nissan Stadium
- FREE event, no tickets required!
- Live music (of course)including CeCe Winans, Moon Taxi, Tim McGraw, and Dierks Bentley
- NFL Teams, Legends and Players sightings
- Family Festivities
- Fireworks!
Full details here.
Rock N Roll Marathon: April 27-28
- Marathon
- 1/2 Marathon
- 5k
- Even a doggie dash!
- Live music along race course
Full details here.
Helpful Tips for the weekend:
- Be aware of road closures
- Nashville Public Radio shares road closures related to the Draft.
- Rock n Roll series shares road closures related to the the Marathon.
- Plan longer than normal commute times
- Rideshare services like Lyft and Uber are great during large events. However, with a lot of extra people in town, be sure to leave earlier than normal for your destination. When leaving events, take note of designated rideshare drop off/ pickup areas.
- Walk when possible. Try getting dropped off in nearby or a bit less congested areas if you’re headed Downtown (beware of road closures, though). For instance, make your way to the Gulch and then head up the stairs via the Gulch Crossing to Demonbreun. From Demonbreun you can walk to Downtown Nashville in about 10-15 minutes.
- Try alternative transportation like renting a scooter ( Lime scooters) or bike share (Nashville B-cycle) and even a golf cart (Joy Ride).
- Normally the Nashville airport can be a breeze to get through. However, over the next few days there are an expected 30,000 people each day coming and going. Plan to arrive 2-3 hours ahead of your flight. Check out BNA’s security checkpoint times on the home page of their website.
- If you’re not wanting to partake in the NFL Draft or Marathon activities, this is a GREAT weekend to check out other amazing neighborhoods in Nashville. Of course, our favorites are East Nashville (see our East Nashville Things to Do guide) and Melrose/ 12 South (see our Melrose/ 12 South Things to Do guide). Some other neighborhood favorites are Germantown, The Gulch, Hillsboro Village and The Nations. Check out the pic for other amazing things to get into this weekend, too!
- Make reservations or aim for off times. For instance, if you’re planning brunch one day try to get there right when they open OR wait until after 1:30/2:00pm. If it’s not too late, check to see if that restaurant you want to try has availability for reservations. We use OpenTable and the NoWait app to do this easily online.
- Don’t let any clouds or rain fool you. It’s going to be hot in Nashville and those sun rays will get you! Lather up with your favorite SPF (if you’re staying with us, check the “forgot it basket” because we always keep extra for our guests in case you need it)! Keep that bottle of water on you to stay hydrated, too!
- Post your Nashville pics so you can remember this once in a lifetime weekend – and for a chance to win some Nashville swag! Here’s how:
- Follow us on Instagram or Facebook
- Post your Nashville pic & tag @NashvilleVacationHomes
- Use the #NashvilleVacationHomes and #NashvilleVacation hashtags
- That’s it!!!
- On May 1, we’ll randomly select a winner from those who tagged us and send some FREE Nashville swag your way!
- Ps- You don’t even have to be staying in one of our homes to enter!
- Follow us on Instagram or Facebook where we’ll be posting all weekend (unlike many locals, we’ve opted to stay in town and partake in the action).
We hope these tips help everyone have an enjoyable time in Music City this weekend!