The city that feels like a living, breathing tribute to Dolly Parton

It’s been said that only three things in life are certain. Death, taxes and the fact that everyone loves Dolly Parton. If you’re reeling from the news of her passing, I can highly recommend a trip to Nashville, to help fill that Dolly shaped hole in your heart. 

After growing up in the Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee, Dolly moved to Nashville at the age of 16 when she signed a recording deal.

The official Nashville Tourism Instagram account posted after her death this week: “Dolly Parton came to Nashville with a dream and went on to share her music, her heart and her unmistakable spirit with the world. She helped shape the Music City we know today and her impact on Nashville is immeasurable.”  

I certainly felt Dolly’s presence in every corner of the Music City during my recent trip to Nashville. 

Not just because this was her long-time home, the launching pad for her career and the place where she recorded some of her biggest hits – but because she’s literally everywhere. 

Her gorgeous smiling face is on giant billboards, street murals and merch in almost every retail store I walked into. 

There’s a dedicated Dolly exhibition at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. There are beautiful Dolly tributes at the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Ole Opry, and RCA studios – the iconic local venues where she performed and recorded many of her most famous songs. And there’s even a Dolly Parton hotel – due to open next month! 

If you want to feel some Dolly spirit, here’s my list of Nashville must-dos.

The Grand Ole Opry

Dolly Parton was just 13 years old when she made her Grand Ole Opry debut on “Country Music’s biggest stage” in 1959. 

A performance on the Opry stage is considered a major achievement for any aspiring musician and its helped launch some of country music’s biggest names – including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, and Reba McEntire. I hear Keith Urban still makes occasional surprise appearances on the Opry stage today.  

What makes it extra special for both the performers and the audience is that this isn’t just another country music concert. It’s also a live radio broadcast and the longest running weekly radio program in American history.

General public can buy tickets to attend any performance at the Grand Ole Opry House – a 20-minute drive from Downtown Nashville. Each show features five or six artists performing two or three songs each.

The night I visited, I was blown away by the spectacular vocals of aspiring country singer Dillon Carmichael (who once worked as a security guard at the venue) and big band crooner Donny Most, who rose to fame playing Ralph Malph in Happy Days. Yes, totally random. 

Because you just never know who’ll be walking onto that stage at the Opry. If you’re lucky, you might just witness the debut of country music’s next big star.  

The Ryman Auditorium 

Whilst the Grand Ole Opry is country music’s biggest stage, the Ryman Auditorium is known as “The Mother Church of Country Music”. 

It’s another iconic performance venue and another stage Queen Dolly graced, for decades. Located in downtown Nashville, it’s also the former home of the Grand Ole Opry before it moved to its new, bigger location, in 1974. 

With its unique architecture and incredible acoustics (some artists claim it’s better than Carnegie Hall), it’s been called a spiritual place for music lovers, providing a “transcendent experience” for the audience.  

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More for the music lovers

I visited two other legendary music venues while I was in Nashville – the Bluebird Café and The Listening Room. There’s no official record of Dolly Parton performing at either venue, but if you’re a fan of live music, you absolutely must go.

These are both more intimate venues, featuring performances by ‘the heroes behind the hits’; the writers who penned the famous songs, rather than the stars who recorded them.  

At The Bluebird Café, three or four performers sit in the centre of the room, surrounded by an audience of around 100 people. At The Listening Room, performers sit on a stage in front of around 250 people.

At each venue, the artists take turns playing acoustic versions of their songs and sharing personal stories behind how and why they were written. 

I watched Jerry Flowers (who spent 25 years touring with Keith Urban) perform.  He told us about the day Keith called to fire him from the band, while he was right in the middle of writing a new song for the Aussie superstar.

The Bluebird Café was the highlight of my Nashville visit. It felt like I was sitting in on a private jamming session between mates and eavesdropping as they swapped secret stories about their careers and their craft.  

At The Listening Room it was “Song Suffragettes” night. Each Monday, they feature only female artists, to help shine a light on the gender gap in country music. Over the years, this showcase has helped many female artists secure recording deals – it definitely feels like something Dolly would have wholeheartedly supported.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Dolly’s face is front and centre on the giant billboard outside the museum and there’s a brilliant Dolly Parton exhibition inside, where you can learn about her music, movies and inspiring philanthropic work. 

I was captivated by the display of her unique costumes – and shocked to see how remarkably teeny tiny this powerhouse performer actually was (5 foot 2 with a 23-inch waistline)

I had to take a moment when I came across the original manuscript with Dolly’s handwritten lyrics for her hit song, Jolene. It was quite emotional to see those words on paper – words that have become a timeless anthem for so many women. 

The Dolly exhibition is just one of many in the Museum, dedicated to the history and origins of country music. Plus a section dedicated to the future of country music.

I’m so glad I didn’t skip the additional one-hour Studio B tour. It was a short bus ride from the Museum to Music Row, where we were told “Music Row is to music, what Hollywood is to film and what Wall Street is to finance”.  

The tour also took us to the office of RCA records and the legendary Studio B recording studio, where Dolly recorded two of her biggest hits – “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”.

Studio B is regarded as one of the most famous recording studios in the world, because of the incredible number of hits that came out of it. My guide was brilliant, sharing so many fascinating stories and anecdotes about the studio and the artists who recorded there. Apparently, Elvis recorded more songs here than at any other studio. The original Steinway piano used in many of Elvis’ hit songs is still in the room – and you can even sit at the piano for a photo.

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12 South

The neighbourhood of 12 South is home to Dolly Parton’s production studio and management office. Both are closed to the public, but the 12 South neighbourhood has become a popular tourist drawcard in recent years.

Only a 10-minute drive from downtown, the eight-block strip along 12th Avenue is lined with charming shops, trendy bars, restaurants and coffee shops. One local described 12 South to me as “a little bit of LA in Nashville”.

The stand-out shop here is the flagship “Yellow Rose”, owned by celebrity jewellery designer Kendra Scott (who is also married to a country music star). And yes, there’s a Dolly link. Kendra and Dolly collaborated on various jewellery collections – including the “Coat of Many Colours” line.

12 South is also home to the flagship store of the Reese Witherspoon founded “Draper James” – where the racks are overflowing with gingham, checks and florals. Reese shared a close friendship with Dolly for many years, but I only noticed one Dolly themed clothing item in the store; a sloppy joe featuring the popular slogan “What Would Dolly Do”. 

I usually avoid slogan tees, but I couldn’t resist buying some Dolly merch when I was in Nashville.  There was a plethora of Dolly Parton merchandise on offer even before her passing this week. 

Clothing, coffee mugs, books, all featuring her famous lyrics and motivational quotes, like “Dolly is my hero”, “In Dolly we trust”, “Pour myself a cup of ambition”, “Leave the Judgin’ to Jesus”. 

I loved that they all speak to Dolly’s character and her reputation for being a kind, decent, generous person. So yes, I’m more than happy to buy the t-shirt and spread the word of Dolly. Even more so, now that she’s gone.

The SongTeller Hotel

For the most dedicated Dolly fans, there’s surely no better place to stay in Nashville than Dolly’s Songteller Hotel, which is due to open mid-September 2026. 

It’s a partnership between Dolly and the company that operates her Dollywood theme park (which is actually a four-hour drive from Nashville). The 245-room boutique property located in downtown Nashville will also feature two live music venues and a “Life of Many Colors Museum” – promising to house the largest collection of Dolly’s life story ever assembled. 

Interesting fact: Apparently Dolly named it the SongTeller hotel after she saw a copy of her memoir “Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics” sitting on a table while she was touring the building space, way before construction even began.

I wasn’t able to stay at the SongTeller on my recent trip to Nashville, but my hotel still had a lovely Dolly link. The Chloe Hotel has been redesigned from two 1920s cottages. 

One of the cottages used to be Asylum Records, where Dolly recorded an album in the 1990s. This hotel was oozing elevated southern charm – with cosy leather chairs, fireplaces and four-poster beds. 

The bougie outdoor pool gave it a touch of Palm Springs cool. And I loved the hotel’s Sunday Bluegrass brunch – turns out banjos, bloody marys and fried chicken are a perfect combo.

The Honky Tonk Highway

The SongTeller Hotel sits on the edge of the tourist heavy zone of Lower Broadway.  

This five-block strip, called The Honky Tonk Highway, is filled with almost 40 “honky tonks”: casual bars that features live country music from 10am ’til 3am, 7 days a week. Most of the bars don’t charge a cover fee to enter, but they do encourage you to tip the performers.

This is the area that gives The Music City its other nickname – “Nash-Vegas”.

I experienced Nash-Vegas in all its glory when I ventured into Lower Broadway on a Saturday night. The bright lights, loud music, heaving bars and hordes of scantily dressed drunken tourists make it an awesome night out (if you’re keen to party).  You’ll also quickly discover why Nashville is the Bachelorette Party capital of the world.

Many of the honky tonks are either owned by a celebrity or by a hospitality group that pays a celebrity to attach their name to the venue. There’s Luke Combs’ “Category 10”, Jon Bon Jovi’s “JBJ’s”, Morgan Wallen’s “This Bar”, Lainey Wilson’s “Bell Bottoms Up”, Luke Bryan’s “32 Bridge”, Blake Shelton’s “Ole Red”, Justin Timberlake’s “The Twelve Thirty Club” (which apparently has an awesome rooftop bar).

I’m told the celebs rarely make appearances at their own bars, but the best time to spot a celebrity anywhere in Nashville is during the four-day CMA Festival in early June.

If a Saturday night out in Nash-Vegas sounds like your worst nightmare, you’ll be relieved to know there’s another side of the Honky Tonk Highway that you really shouldn’t miss as a first-time visitor to Nashville. 

Locals say the best time to venture into Lower Broadway is during daylight hours, when you can sit at the bar and enjoy the wonderful live music, minus the rowdy revellers.

And if you want to experience Nashville’s truly authentic Lower Broadway, avoid the celebrity endorsed bars and head to a traditional honky-tonk – like Robert’s, Legends, or Tootsies – instead.

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Dolly’s Wine Bar

Dolly must be the most famous celebrity to NOT have her name attached to a bar on the Honky Tonk Highway. Although she does have a presence on Broadway, with a Wine Bar inside the Assembly Food Hall, where you can try her personally curated wine brand.  

As an aside: The Assembly Food Hall is also one of the best places in town to try Nashville’s famous fried chicken – at either Princes Hot chicken or Hattie B’s. Also note: There’s a Dolly Parton themed bar called the “White Limozeen” at the Graduate Hotel, but Dolly has no official affiliation with that venue.

When Dolly was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame in 2009, she spoke about what Nashville meant to her: “It strikes me in a pure place in my heart and in my soul to know that I am part of this wonderful city”.

I loved everything about my trip to Nashville – so much so, I’m already planning my next trip. 

And while music is the city’s main drawcard, you don’t need to be a country music fan to appreciate how great this city is. I was equally impressed by the history, the sightseeing, the shopping and the food scene. Nashville has really come into its own as a culinary hub, with an influx of new openings. 

And if you are a Dolly Parton fan, after spending time in Nashville, you’ll fall even more in love with the Queen of Country. May she rest in that beautiful bed of plush cotton she requested, and so richly deserves. 

Sami travelled as a guest of Nashville - Visit Music City. You can follow Sami on Instagram @samilukis.