Tennessee Spending Money

Imlay · 23 February 2019 at 2:40PM

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a wee bit of advice.

We are a family of 5 (3 adults and 2 children - 13 & 11) who are going on our first trip to Tennessee. We are treating my Mum (in her 70s) who is a big country music fan. We have 5 days and 6 nights booked for Nashville, 3 days and 3 nights at Pigeon Forge and 3 days and nights in Memphis. we are away for the first two weeks in July and will be in Nashville for the 4th July celebrations.

What I would like to know is how much spending money we should aim for as family? We would like to do lots of attractions although they don't need to all cost money. I would like to take my Mum to a Grand Ole Opry show as a birthday present for her and that money is already set aside for this.

Thank you in advance.

Imlay

cubegame · 23 February 2019 at 2:54PM

You should have chosen the start of June for CMA Fest!

Don't know about money but you should take a look at your itinerary.

Pigeon Forge is a horrible tourist hell hole full of Americans who can't afford to go anywhere that doesn't offer $30 hotel rooms and a whole strip of the lowest of the low all-you-can-eat buffets. We spent one night there and nearly left after a couple of hours.

Archergirl · 23 February 2019 at 3:13PM

Off topic, but have you remembered to get your ESTAs and holiday ins?

Duckyduck · 23 February 2019 at 3:50PM

Pigeon Forge is a bit like Blackpool in a tacky love it or hate it way, but your Mum and kids will both love Dollywood (the shows for Mum and rides for kids).

If you can change hotel Gatlinburg is about 5 miles away but feels much closer to the Smokey’s, and while still a tourist town is much nicer and you can walk around the town whereas pigeon forge could be anywhere and is just a highway with chain motels, restaurants, mini golf and go karting continuously. The smokey Mountains are lovely so I would recommend visiting the area. The smoky mountains national park is free to enter, for other things look up what you want to do, the websites will list prices.

In Nashville the listening room is really good, can’t remember the price but I think it was only $10 plus a min food/drink spend of about $15 each. You get to listen to a few local country music acts while they serve your food. Really good experience and the food was decent and affordable. It was the highlight of my trip to Nashville last year.

I’d recommend booking the big things like Grand Old Orphy, Dollywood and Graceland in advance, it’s probably cheaper and that way doesn’t matter if it sells out. Everywhere accept cards so you only really need enough cash for tips.

Imlay · 23 February 2019 at 4:12PM

cubegame - We would have loved to have gone in June but unfortunately we are unable due to school

. At the minute we have an ideas list where everyone is jotting places that they would like to go to.

Archergirl - we have ESTAs sorted but I'm not sure what holiday ins are? Can you elaborate please?

Duckyduck - My Mum and girls will love Pigeon Forge if it is like Blackpool!! We thought that Dollywood would be a one off lifetime experience!!! And we certainly intend to look about the Great Smoky Mountains - much more my thing.

I hadn't heard of the Listening Rooms but I've looked it up and looks great. Thanks for the recommendation. Is there anything else that you discovered that you would recommend?

I also hadn't thought of paying for things by credit card which makes sense now that you mention it. :rotfl:

Thanks everyone

Browntoa · 23 February 2019 at 4:18PM

Holiday ins = travel insurance

cubegame · 23 February 2019 at 5:43PM

Highlights when we did Nashville/Memphis were as follows:-

Nashville - We did do for CMA Fest so that was the majority of what we did. Don't miss the Country Music Hall of Fame or the Johnny Cash museum though. Make sure you stop by Mike's Ice Cream and have Hot Chicken at Hattie B's. I'd also recommend you check out the Pinewood Social which serves great food and also has a really cool bowling alley. Make sure that you take a tour of the Ryman Auditorium as well as a trip to the Grand Old Opry. If you're a fan of the TV show, Nashville, make sure you book to go to the Bluebird Cafe (worth it if you're not a fan also). Also, when you're near the Opry, talk a walk around the Opryland Resort. It's a mad crazy place to get lost in with nice gardens.

Memphis - Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum are highlights. The Zoo is also good too. Downtown Memphis is an acquired taste and is down and dirty compared to Nashville. It's not really safe to wander off the main drag.

Imlay · 2 March 2019 at 10:49AM

Browntoa - Thank you. Obvious when you know. Yes , holiday insurance is all sorted.

cubegame - Thank you for the recommendations. We have the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman and the Opry on the list and we are going to take in a show too (which is very exciting) on our list for Nashville. We have Nashville zoo on the list but hadn't thought of Memphis zoo so I'll look into that. We definitely want to go to Graceland, Beale Street, the Peabody hotel (for the ducks!), a river boat along the Mississippi and the National Civil Rights Museum. We hadn't thought about food yet so your recommendations are great.

cubegame · 2 March 2019 at 11:10AM

Memphis zoo looked a lot better than Nashville zoo to us so we went there.

You might like to consider the Jack Daniel distillery and a detour south to Huntsville, Alabama where you can visit the excellent Huntsville Botanical Garden and the US Space & Rocket Centre.

Top tip for Graceland, park at the strip mall next door where it's free to park.

Tennessee Spending Money

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free