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This past summer, we took our first ever trip to Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville is a place that has been on my Travel Wish List for a long time, and I was so happy to finally make it happen…on a road trip from Dallas, Texas with our two oldest kiddos. (9 and 8 yrs old)
Since we were visiting during the middle of basically the world shutting down, we had to get creative. A lot of places we wanted to visit were closed (like almost everything), but all the more reason to visit again! I’m thinking the next trip will be kid-free so the hubs and I can experience Honky Tonk row in all it’s live music glory. (If you have tips for your favorite adultish things in Nashville, let me know in the comments!)
I thought doing a self-guided tour of Nashville’s wall murals would be a fun way to see the city and get some fun family pictures from our trip!
What started as a fun-for-me only adventure quickly turned into a fun activity for the kids too. They were rolling their eyes when we started the day with lots of “how many more stops, mom?” and “this is so boring” and “we’re really just going to drive around and take pictures of walls, mom?!?!” comments. By the 4th or 5th mural, they were pointing out murals left and right. The kids were even sad when we got to stop number 18 and it was over.
How to prepare
I ended up doing a lot of research ahead of time to find out the locations of some of Nashville’s wall murals. There are so many more murals than what is included on the list below!
If you want more options than what is included in this post, check out #nashvillemurals on Instagram for more ideas. Another great place to look is Nashville’s visitor’s bureau page.
What you’ll need the day of
- Vehicle – it would take hours upon hours to walk to all of these murals. If you’re staying downtown and don’t have a car, you could walk to several of these. Many of the murals are located outside the downtown area though and a car would make things easier. Your feet will thank you.
- Snacks and water for the car – we packed healthy snacks and plenty of water for the day in our car. We also made a stop at Frothy Monkey since one of the murals is located behind their 12South location, and I got myself a coconut milk chai latte!
- A co-pilot to help point out murals so you can concentrate on driving – our co-pilots were the kids. You can totally do this mural tour alone, but if you’re like me…trying to drive in a new city while trying to look for a mural can be a little stressful! (Thanks, husband, for being our chauffeur!)
- A camera/your phone – you’ll want something to document all the beautiful art!
- Cute outfits – if you like looking cute in your pics. Bonus overachiever points if you pack multiple outfits and do outfit changes in between. The thought definitely crossed my mind, but quickly exhausted me thinking about trying to convince the hubs and kids to do outfit changes. I would have totally lost that battle.
- The list below of murals and addresses – or a compilation of all the murals you want to see, preferably in order so you don’t have to backtrack.
The murals
Here are the murals we visited on our self-guided Nashville mural tour! They are listed in the order we went as to not backtrack.
- Love y’all – 2020 Lindell Ave (on the side of Pencil and Paper Co)
This mural was easy to find and the parking was easy. The business wasn’t open when we visited, so this probably played a factor in the easy parking situation.
2. Nashville looks good on you – 2509 12th Ave S (in the parking lot behind Frothy Monkey)
If you’re a coffee or tea fan, make sure to grab one from Frothy Monkey before or after you head to this mural! We parked on 12th Avenue, but the mural is located in the parking lot behind Frothy Monkey. It would have been easier to park in the back! The parking lot is accessible through the alley off Beechwood Ave.
3. Legoman – 2709 12th Ave S (on the side of Imogene + Willie)
I surprised my son with this one! He loves LEGO, so I told him this mural was just for him. He loved it!
The Legoman mural is an easy 3 minute walk from mural #2 on this list.
4. I believe in Nashville – 2700 12th Ave S (in the alley next to Draper James)
This mural is pretty much catty-corner across the street from the Legoman mural. It’s in the alley next to Draper James.
I oh so wish that store would have been open when we were there. My husband was probably happy it was closed. I could have done some serious damage inside with all the cute things!
After this mural: If you have playground age kids with you, stop at Fannie Mae Dees Park for a play! It will give them an opportunity to run around and get some of their crazies out. After the park we stopped at The Parthenon for a walk around too.
5. It’s gonna be O.K. – 3020 Charlotte Ave
Charlotte Avenue has a long stretch of murals called Off the Wall. It’s a really busy road with no parking along the side where the murals are located. There is a doctor’s office directly across the street with a parking lot. Just be careful crossing the busy street!
The “It’s gonna be o.k.” mural was our favorite! I think it’s a great reminder for the crazy season we are in. No matter what happens in this crazy world, God is still on His throne and will have victory in the end. It’s all gonna be okay.
After this mural we stopped at Marathon Village. We shopped, read all of the cool facts about the cars that used to be made there, did a tasting at the Tennessee Legend distillery, and found a really cool old petrol/gas station!
6. Polka dots and stripes – 299 11th Ave S (across from Milk & Honey)
This mural was in The Gulch area (which felt like downtown, but not exactly sure what’s considered downtown Nashville). It’s in a parking lot, which made things easy.
7. What Lifts You Wings mural – 302 11th Ave S (on the side of Tazikis)
This mural is likely Nashville’s most famous. It’s directly across the street from mural #6. Usually there’s a long ling (especially on weekends), but since we visited when we did, there wasn’t a line! I’ll take all the positives I can get. 🙂 You can see in one of the pictures below the instructions for the line.
There’s even a little mini me wings mural to the right of the larger version! My mini me loved it.
8. Acoustic skyline – 911 Division St (on the side of A+ Storage)
This one was another mural that my son loved. He started guitar lessons this year and was excited to “show me how to play” one of the songs he’s learning in lessons.
Parking is super easy for this mural! There’s a big lot next to the building.
9. Country music icons – 608 Ash Street (in front of Industrial Fire & Safety)
This one packs a punch! There are so many legends of country painted in one spot. Leo, Dolly, Loretta, Pasty, The Highwaymen – Waylon, Johnny, Willie, and Kris. (and remnants of what used to be Bob Dylan) So many memories of my childhood involve music from these artists. I was raised on country – were you?!
This one felt like we weren’t headed to the right place, but once we spotted Dolly’s face, all was well.
After this mural, we drove by the Country Music Hall of Fame. I’m hoping to visit when everything in Nashville is back open again! While we couldn’t take a tour through the Hall of Fame, we were able to park and walk through the Walk of Fame Park. We were able to see the dedicated plaques of famous musicians and songwriters. After that we drove down the Honkey Tonk Highway.
10. Greetings from Nashville Tennessee post card – 111 4th Ave S (on the side of Losers Bar & Grill)
This mural was near the Walk of Fame. We were able to get street parking, which is probably more difficult to do when Nashville is operating as usual.
11. Hey there Nashville flower wall – 201 1st Ave S (inside the entrance to The Hampton Social)
I definitely want to visit this place when we go back to Nashville! The hubs let my daughter and I out of the car to quickly snap a couple of pics, so we didn’t have enough time to get to enjoy the food or drinks. The decor in this restaurant is sooooo cute. It’s a three-story restaurant with a rosé lounge and rooftop area. Plan to stay for a meal or a drink!
Also – this place has 5 Illinois locations and 1 Florida location (with another FL location coming soon).
12. Rosé all day – 201 1st Ave S (in the bar/rosé lounge area of The Hampton Social)
This wall is on the other side of the flower wall. It definitely felt a little weird to walk in, snap a picture, and leave but the hostess assured us it was fine. I promise we (at least the hubs and I) will be back for a date night, Hampton Social! 😉
13. Kindness is… – 1120 4th Avenue N #101 (on the side of Juice Bar)
What is kindness to you?! I love love love this mural. The colors, the flowers, the message.
We were able to hop out and snap a quick picture. There is a paid parking lot across the street from Juice Bar on Madison & 4th. The lot is monitored! There was a guy there writing tickets when we were there.
14. Instagram like – 1230 4th Ave N (on the side of Barista Parlor)
This is another one we hopped out of the car for a quick pic. This one is easily walkable from mural #13.
15. You do you – 1401 3rd Ave N (on the side of Payton Steaks)
This one we almost gave up on! It was a little challenging, for us anyway, to find. You have to pull through the parking garage of an apartment complex to find it. I definitely felt the most awkward taking this selfie because cars kept pulling through the garage. 🙂 I’m just talking a selfie for the blog…don’t mind me!
After this mural we had a picnic lunch in our car next to the Tennessee Titans stadium. I’d planned on sitting outside at Cumberland Park with a pretty river view, but it was HOT. The aircon in the car felt like the better option. After lunch, we drove to the Gaylord Opryland Resort and then by The Grand Ole Opry (another place I want to visit when it’s open!).
16. Walden Bar Flowerbalm – 2909 Gallatin Pike ( at Walden Bar)
This one was super simple; easy parking and easy to find!
17. What lifts you up – 1034 Eastland Ave (at The Cleo Apartments)
The parking was tricky for this mural. We decided to park across the street at Rite Aid (after buying something because “customer parking” haha). I’m so glad we all got out for this mural. It had a hot air balloon basket that you could stand in! This one was the kid’s favorite because the “real life” basket made it different to the other murals.
18. Stay tuned – 625 Main St (on the side of Brics)
For this mural, I would recommend visiting early in the morning (or a weekend?) if you can! It’s on the side of a business and all the parking spots were taken, which made it pretty difficult to get a good shot.
After all the driving around, in and out of the car, and taking of photos we were too tired to make dinner in our awesome apartment, so we grabbed takeaway from Graze! Dinner was SO so good and plant-based. WOOP WOOP!
I hope you enjoyed this list of some of Nashville’s most fun and colorful wall murals. Make sure to save this post for your next trip to Nashville and share it with friends who are going!
Which mural from above would be a must-see for you?! Let me know in the comments. 🙂
Related posts:
Where we stayed in Nashville – BentoLiving Chestnut Hills
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