NASHVILLE: Known worldwide as Music City and a popular bachelorette destination, Nashville offers far more than the neon lights and live music of Broadway. Step beyond Honky Tonk Row and you’ll discover a vibrant, layered city with rich history, creative energy and welcoming neighborhoods that make it a rewarding destination for women travelers.
In 2020 the city’s appeal to women carries special resonance: it marks the 100th anniversary of the national ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920. Tennessee played a pivotal role—the state cast the deciding vote—and Nashville hosts a variety of events, exhibits and activities throughout the year to honor that milestone. These commemorations include free self-guided suffrage walking tours and a yearlong suffrage centennial exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum.
For visitors who want to immerse themselves in both history and hospitality, a stay at the Hermitage Hotel offers a particularly rich experience. The hotel served as a meeting place for both pro- and anti-suffrage campaigners in 1920, and its lobby now displays artifacts from that pivotal summer. Guests can also enjoy suffrage-themed craft cocktails at Oak Bar and participate in a suffrage tea series and other related programming.
Nashville’s support for women in leadership and business is not limited to that historical moment. The city’s current landscape is fertile ground for female entrepreneurs, with a noticeable growth in women-owned restaurants, boutiques and creative enterprises over the past decade. Marie Echols, general manager of Hotel Preston, points to the exciting surge of women-led restaurants across the city. Deana Ivey of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. credits Nashville’s collaborative creative culture—supportive communities of musicians, chefs and makers—for helping female-owned businesses thrive.
PHOTO: ©HOTELPRESTON
Many of these female entrepreneurs establish shops and restaurants in emerging neighborhoods where new storefronts are concentrated. The Gulch, for example, has become a hub of independent, mom-and-pop boutiques and upscale dining that contrasts with downtown’s tourist core. Lisa Bush, director of sales and marketing at Thompson Nashville, highlights the Gulch’s walkable mix of shopping and restaurants, which appeals to solo business travelers and visitors who like to explore on foot.
Popular Gulch and nearby neighborhoods offer a range of female-owned destinations, from designer boutiques to casual dining spots. Travelers who venture a bit farther will find 12South, a walkable district filled with local designers and makers, and the developing Nashville Yards, a new gateway to downtown featuring retail, green space, a concert venue and a Grand Hyatt property.
Safety and accessibility are consistent themes among local businesswomen. Echols emphasizes that Nashville is a safe city for women, where guests can feel comfortable walking alone or in groups. Bush echoes that sentiment for the Gulch specifically, noting that women can safely explore the area any time of day or night without relying on rideservices.
From boutique shopping and inventive dining to meaningful historical sites and well-appointed hotels, Nashville offers experiences that meet the needs and interests of women travelers of all ages and travel styles.
SCENIC DRIVES
Beyond the city’s neighborhoods and attractions, scenic drives from Nashville highlight nearby towns and historic roads. A short drive brings you to Franklin, a charming town with a walkable downtown full of boutique shops and local eateries. The Natchez Trace Parkway, which passes near Franklin on its route to Natchez, Mississippi, is a 444-mile National Park Service corridor that spans millennia of history and offers peaceful, scenic driving.
For a longer themed drive, consider The Jack Trail, a Tennessee Scenic Trail that runs from Nashville to Lynchburg, home of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. The route invites leisurely stops at historic and natural points of interest across central Tennessee. If you prefer drives that emphasize history, follow the Antebellum Trail out of Nashville to landmarks such as Belle Meade Plantation, which can fill a day with tours and exhibits. The full 80-mile loop of the Antebellum Trail includes numerous historic sites, including the James K. Polk home and Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, offering rich context for the region’s past.