Nashville has become one of the most popular bachelorette destinations in the country, and Lower Broadway is the center of it. If you are organizing a weekend for a bride and her friends, Broadway gives you live music, rooftop bars, and a walkable strip where the whole group can move together. Here is how to plan it so the weekend runs smoothly.
Pick your home base
Broadway is the anchor of the weekend, so staying within walking distance saves you money and hassle on rides. The blocks around 2nd Avenue and the lower end of Broadway put you closest to the action. A short walk back to where you are staying at the end of the night is worth a lot when the group is tired.
Daytime is your friend with a group
Large groups are much easier to manage on Broadway during the day. The bars are less crowded, you can usually find space together, and the rooftops are pleasant before the evening rush. A lot of groups spend the afternoon working down the strip, have a dinner reservation in the early evening, then go back out for the night. Trying to move ten people through packed Friday-night honky-tonks with no plan is how a group gets split up.
Rooftops and the bigger bars
The newer multi-level bars on Broadway, the ones tied to country artists, tend to have rooftop sections and restaurants. These work well for a bachelorette group because you can often book a table or a section ahead of time, which gives you a guaranteed spot to gather. The classic ground-floor honky-tonks do not take reservations, so use those for walking in, hearing a band, and moving on.
Getting the group around
A pedal tavern or a party bus is a popular way to keep the group together between stops, and plenty of companies in Nashville run them. If that is not your style, the strip itself is short enough to walk end to end. For getting to and from Broadway, book rides ahead for a big group, since fitting everyone into one car at a busy hour is rarely possible. Splitting into two cars and naming a meeting spot on Broadway works better than hoping one large vehicle turns up.
A few practical things
Wear comfortable shoes, because you will be on your feet and on pavement for hours. Set up a group chat and agree on a couple of meeting points on the strip for when people drift apart, which they will. Carry a little cash for tipping bands. And build in food. The afternoon-into-night plan goes much better with a real dinner somewhere in the middle of it.
Use the schedule
Before each part of the day, check the live schedule so you can steer the group toward a band everyone will enjoy. Knowing who is on at which bar means you spend less time standing on the sidewalk deciding and more time inside with a drink and a song going.