Vacation Ideas & Things To Do in Nashville With Kids
NASHVILLE WITH KIDS: AT A GLANCE
🗓️ Trip length: 3 days
🏨 Where we stayed: Gaylord Opryland Resort
💦 Best paid attraction: Adventure Science Center
👶 Toddler-friendly stop: Early Explorations at the Adventure Science Center (ages 5 & under)
🆓 FREE IN NASHVILLE
The Parthenon at Centennial Park
Mill Ridge Park
Shelby Bottoms Nature Center
Walking Down Broadway
💰 PAID IN NASHVILLE
Soundwaves Waterpark
Adventure Science Center
Goo Goo Chocolate Co.
Five Daughters Bakery
Puttshack
Pins Mechanical Co.
JUMP TO A SECTION:
Nashville is one of those special cities in America that have become a cultural icon. It’s full of rich history in regard to music, and most everyone knows that some of the most famous musicians chose Nashville as their home base, including Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift.
What I didn’t know is that Nashville is also full of family-friendly activities and fun things to do with kids! From beautiful parks to the science center, chocolate making, water parks, and exploring the coolest hotel we’ve ever stayed at–Nashville was full of fun and memory-making for our family.
In this blog, I’ll cover the places we visited, where we ate, played, and some of our favorite attractions and fun things we did during our three-day vacation in Nashville in 2026. Plus quick links if you just want the highlights: free activities, paid attractions, where we stayed, and our favorite places to eat.
Where We Stayed in Nashville With Kids: Gaylord Opryland Resort
Gaylord Opryland Resort Review — Largest Non-Casino Hotel in the United States
Oftentimes when we’re going on vacation, my kids want to see pictures and videos of where we’ll be staying. For this trip, I kept our hotel a secret because I wanted them to be surprised that we were staying in a hotel with a river inside. And–man--I wish I could have bottled their reactions when we first got there!
They couldn’t believe that we were staying in a hotel that had palm trees, 9 acres of indoor gardens, and its own shopping plaza. We had never stayed anywhere like the Opryland Hotel, but I’m so glad we did!
Later on in this blog, I’ll share about our last day when we took time to explore the hotel, and our time at the Soundwaves Water Park. But if you want to skip to those sections, click here.
Important Things To Know About The Gaylord Opryland Hotel
Check-in can take a while, so be sure to leave enough time
Six restaurants on-site plus quick dining options
Some convenience and retail shopping on-site
Soundwaves waterpark admission is not included with hotel stay
Self-parking is about $40 a day (seasonal pricing)
Hotel gym on-site
9 acres of indoor gardens
Day One in Nashville With Kids — Soundwaves Waterpark at Gaylord Opryland & Nashville’s Best BBQ
After arriving from the airport, we stopped at BoomBozz pizza for a quick slice (it had a playground, which was a huge draw for us!) and then made our way to the Gaylord Opryland Resort to get checked in. Check-in did take longer than I expected, but it wasn’t unbearable. After walking through the Opryland Hotel for a bit to give the kids a chance to take it all in, we made our way up to our room, did a quick unpack, and headed to Soundwaves Waterpark inside the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.
Soundwaves Waterpark at Gaylord Opryland Resort — What To Know Before You Go
The price of admission to Soundwaves is not included with your hotel stay, but the only way to get tickets is by staying at the hotel. The website was confusing to me on how to actually get tickets, so I just bought them at the front desk when we got there.
We spent about three hours in the waterpark. It was nice, but was smaller than I was expecting (I guess we’re a bit spoiled with Kalahari Resorts). Still, my kids had a great time. If we were to go back to Nashville, I would probably skip visiting Soundwaves as it felt a bit too expensive to me for what was there.
Edley's Bar-B-Que Nashville – The Best BBQ My Husband Has Ever Had!
For dinner our first night, we went to Edley’s Bar-B-Que, which was about ten minutes away from the hotel. My husband LOVES BBQ, so this was his pick, and he was so glad that we went. He said it was easily the best BBQ he’s ever had! He got the St. Louis Ribs Nashville style. The kids and I also really enjoyed the food. The banana pudding was unreal!
If you’re headed to Edley’s, be sure to get there early as they have a real dinner rush. We ended up arriving around 7:30 p.m., and the wait wasn’t too bad.
Day Two in Nashville With Kids — Science Center, Broadway, Chocolate & Free Parks
Adventure Science Center Nashville — Hands-On Exhibits for Kids (paid)
Our family really enjoys science centers, so when I saw there was an Adventure Science Center in Nashville, I knew we had to add it to our list of places to visit. Plus, we were able to use our reciprocal science center membership to get in for free, which was a huge bonus.
The Adventure Science Center is a smaller-sized science center that’s approximately 44,000 square feet with over 150+ hands-on exhibits and attractions. For context, COSI in Columbus has about 300+ exhibits, but COSI is quite large.
Some of my kids’ favorite exhibits were Body Quest, the Test Track, and the upper playground area. My son especially loved the Music Effects Lab and being able to record songs. My daughter loved the Maker Space that had 3d printers, LEGOs, and crafts.
There is a space for children 5 and under called Early Explorations on the first floor that looked pretty fun. If you're traveling with a toddler, the Early Explorations area on the first floor is designed just for them!
Although it’s a smaller science center, our kids still had lots of fun. We spent just over two and a half hours there, and I felt like we got our money’s worth out of the experience.
Lower Broadway (Honky Tonk Highway) With Kids — Is It Kid-Friendly?
After leaving the Adventure Science Center, we drove ten minutes over to Lower Broadway (sometimes called Honky Tonk Highway) to walk down the famous Broadway strip that has all of the honky tonk bars. It’s a very well-known destination in Nashville, and everyone says some of the best musicians in the world will be found playing at these bars.
My husband has been to Broadway in the evenings, and he said it’s definitely not somewhere you’d want to walk around with kids. However, we visited during the day on a Tuesday, and while there were lots of crowds filling the sidewalks (and people drinking in bars) we never felt unsafe.
The coolest part is hearing the music acts as you walk by. We heard a musician playing harmonica, and it was absolutely incredible! My daughter didn’t love the crowds, though, so we didn’t make it too far down.
Goo Goo Chocolate Co. — Make Your Own Candy in Nashville (paid)
Right around the corner from Broadway is Goo Goo Chocolate Co.– Nashville’s Official Candy. Goo Goo Clusters claim to be America’s first combination candy bar dating all the way back to 1912.
We chose the Design Your Own option, which let us be the candy maker. At the Design Your Own Kiosk, we picked our chocolate base (milk chocolate) and then our sweet layers (chocolate chips, Oreos, peanut butter, and caramel). After that, the chocolatiers handmade our quarter-pound premium Goo Goo! A neat window lets you watch them make the Goo Goos. It took about 15 minutes, and our custom Goo Goo was delicious!
Quick Bites at Assembly Food Hall – Family-Friendly dining hall
We made our way back down Broadway to eat a late lunch at Assembly Food Hall. Our family likes eating at food halls because it lets everyone choose their own food, but waiting in separate lines can be a pain.
Assembly Food Hall reminded me a lot of Van Aken Marketplace back home, though Assembly is a bit larger. We all enjoyed our food, and if you like food halls, I’d recommend visiting Assembly.
The Parthenon at Centennial Park — Nashville's Free Replica Landmark (free to see, pay to go inside)
We left downtown and drove to The Parthenon at Centennial Park, a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Unfortunately, it was closed the day we visited, so we couldn’t go inside. But it was still really cool to see in person because the scale is just so impressive!
While it’s not free to go inside, it is free to go to the park where the Parthenon sits, and you can still walk the steps without paying admission.
Mill Ridge Park Nashville — Free Playground for Kids (free)
If you’ve been following us for a while, then you know I’m always on the lookout for awesome playgrounds. When I saw Mill Ridge Park on Instagram, I knew I had to add it to our list.
The climbing structure was super cool, and the big fifty-two-foot slide was a lot of fun. There are also supposed to be some great trails nearby, but we didn’t make it over to them.
Day Three in Nashville With Kids — Nature, Mini Golf & Bowling
Five Daughters Bakery — Nashville's Famous Donuts (paid)
We started our morning off by visiting the east location of Five Daughters Bakery. We ordered a half dozen donuts, and they sure were delicious!
Shelby Bottoms Nature Center — Free Trails & Wildlife Viewing (free)
Another family go-to attraction when visiting new cities is a nature center. The Shelby Bottoms Nature Center had a really cool nature play area outside with slacklines and plenty of opportunities for kids to get their hands dirty by building and digging.
Inside the nature center, there were also fun exhibits about the surrounding environment and its history.
Puttshack Nashville — Tech-Enhanced Mini Golf for Families (paid)
We first experienced Puttshack in Pittsburgh, and we’ve been dying to go back since. When I saw that Nashville had a Puttshack, I was so excited to take the kids. It really does take mini golf to the next level by infusing it with tech–think video game-style challenges that allow you to get additional points (which is a good thing in this version of mini golf).
Puttshack is 21+ in the evening, so check the hours before visiting with littles. We went during the day, and my kids had such a fun time. Highly recommend it, but be warned: games go pretty quickly.
Pins Mechanical Co. — Duckpin Bowling & Games for Kids (paid)
Another of our favorite places to visit is Pins Mechanical Co. when there’s one in a city we’re visiting. We love classic arcade-style games, and Pins always has them in abundance. I will say that this Pins felt a bit unkempt compared to other Pins locations we’ve visited in Cleveland/Columbus/Pittsburgh. Quite a few games were broken and/or sort of worked, but not really the way they should.
Pins is also 21+ in the evening, so check the hours before visiting with kids.
Exploring the Gaylord Opryland Hotel With Kids
9 Acres of Indoor Gardens & Delta River Cruise
We spent the last evening of our trip exploring the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. While we had done a bit of exploring when we first got there, we hadn’t really taken the time to visit every section to take in the gardens.
I was so impressed by how large the Opryland Hotel is, and by the care and detail they’ve put into maintaining the grounds. Some of my kids' favorite things in the Opryland Hotel were the jumping fountains in Cascades, the choreographed water light show that blasts water 90 feet into the air in the Deltas, and trying to find the boat that cruises the Delta River inside the hotel.
We did our exploring after the sun went down, and honestly, it’s even more beautiful at night when you can see the gardens lit up. I think one of my favorite moments on this trip was exploring with our family that night.
Nashville With Kids Was Full of Fun, Adventure & Sweet Treats!
That wraps up our three days exploring Nashville with kids! Between the jumping fountains at Gaylord Opryland, hands-on fun at the Adventure Science Center, hunting down the best playgrounds, and making our own Goo Goo candy, this trip was packed with memories and proof that Nashville is just as much a family-friendly destination as it is a music city.
If you're planning your own Nashville family vacation, our best advice is to build in downtime between attractions (there's a lot to see!) and don't skip the free stuff like Centennial Park, Mill Ridge Park, and Shelby Bottoms Nature Center, which were some of our favorites of the whole trip. And even if you’re not staying at the Opryland Hotel, you can still visit and walk the grounds, which is absolutely worth it.
Looking for more family travel inspiration? Check out our guides to Cincinnati with kids, Columbus with kids, and our Northeast Ohio city guide for more Midwest getaway ideas. Have a favorite Nashville spot we should check out next time? Send it our way. We'd love to hear about it!
