Germantown Nashville — restored 19th-century brick townhouses on a tree-lined street in Nashville's oldest neighbourhood

Nashville

Germantown

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Trade-off

Nashville's oldest neighbourhood — restored Victorian homes, the finest restaurants in the city, and 20 minutes' walk from Broadway.

Nashville's oldest neighbourhood, just north of downtown — restored Victorian homes, acclaimed restaurants (Rolf & Daughters, Butchertown Hall), craft cocktail bars and the Bicentennial Capitol Mall nearby. Less commercial than the Gulch, more historic than East Nashville. A walkable 20-minute stroll or 5-minute Uber from Broadway.

Scores

7/10

Walkability

6/10

Transit

5/10

Price

8/10

Local feel

6/10

Nightlife

7/10

Family-friendly

7/10

Centrality

What you gain

  • ↑Germantown has the highest concentration of serious restaurants in Nashville: from Rolf and Daughters (James Beard-nominated pasta and local produce) to Butcher & Bee (Eastern Mediterranean) — the food quality per block is unmatched anywhere else in the city
  • ↑The Nashville Farmers Market (open daily) is the city's finest local produce hub: the morning greenhouse section and the enclosed market hall create a genuine community food market that is the best place in Nashville to eat a local breakfast before 10am
  • ↑The Tennessee State Museum (free) is the finest Southern history museum outside Atlanta: the Civil War exhibition, Native American artefacts, and the Andrew Jackson era are presented in a new facility (2018) with genuine educational depth

What you sacrifice

  • ↓Germantown's restaurant quality comes with premium pricing: a dinner at a serious restaurant here costs considerably more than equivalent meals on Broadway or in East Nashville
  • ↓Weekend evenings bring significant crowds to the bar and restaurant strip — the neighbourhood's transformation from working-class to high-end has happened rapidly and the infrastructure sometimes lags the demand

Best for

food enthusiasts who want Nashville's best restaurant concentrationthose wanting a more refined neighbourhood base away from Broadway's noisehistory visitors combining the Tennessee State Museum with a Germantown dinner

Avoid if

budget travellers — Germantown's prices reflect its premium positioningthose whose priority is honky-tonk live music within walking distance

Other Nashville neighbourhoods

Downtown / Lower Broadway

The honky-tonk epicentre — neon bars, live music seven nights a week, the Ryman, and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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The Gulch

Nashville's upscale new neighbourhood — boutique hotels, rooftop bars, the What Lifts You mural, and 10 minutes from Broadway.

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East Nashville

Nashville's most genuinely local neighbourhood — Five Points, indie music venues, craft beer, and a world apart from Broadway.

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