Nashville, Charleston, and Savannah are all great. My son and his wife are headed to Charleston and Savannah later this week for a long weekend.
In Nashville, we especially enjoyed the Ryman Auditorium tour and the Johnny Cash Museum. And just roaming around and checking out the music that was everywhere.
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If they like Butcher & Bee they can go again in Charleston too !!
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I’ve lived in the Nashville area all my life. The Country Music Hall of Fame is a must see whether you enjoy country music or not. Hatch Show Print and Studio B are worth the price of admission. Take in a show at the Ryman Auditorium (the original home of the Grand Old Opry) if there is an act you would like to see. Lower Broad is touristy, much like the street scene from Blade Runner late at night but is an obligatory stop. There are dozens of great restaurants too.
Chattanooga is a nice town, definitely worth an overnight stop. It has a world class aquarium right on the Tennessee River and is very walkable. And a great CC stop five minutes off I-24 on the way to Chattanooga is a visit to the University of the South at Sewanee. It’s Hogwarts in the mountains with an 11,000-acre campus.
We like Bryson City, NC. It’s a small town in the mountains near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. When travelling from Chattanooga you’ll pass through the Ocoee and Nantahala River gorges. It’s a spectacular drive. Look at the Fryemont Inn, a rustic hotel built in the 1920’s with modest rates and great food. You can drive into the park from there through Cherokee. Skip Gatlinburg IMO.
You can drive to Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Cherokee. The Mount Pisgah Inn serves fresh trout and is worth a lunch stop.
Asheville is a foodie town. Curate, The Admiral, lots of amazing restaurants. Stay downtown so you can walk everywhere. Don’t miss Biltmore house.
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I’ve been coming to Nashville for years since both kids went to school here and D ended up settling here. I like it well enough that retirement has seen me move to Nashville as of 8/1. I’ve not done anything much beyond unpacking boxes and settling in since, but my favorite activities in visits through the years are the Country Music Hall of Fame (especially Studio B tour - it’s an add on, but my favorite part. Belmont University students give the tour there) and Cheekwood. The Ryman is a great experience as well.
I agree with the comments about Asheville. D & I did a fall break weekend there in 2013 and I’m ready to go back, especially in the fall when the leaves are changing. I loved the gardens at the Biltmore.
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While in Nashville I would go see the Parthenon. It’s a life sized recreation of the one in Athens as it would have looked BC. It’s free I believe so worth the trip. I agree with others Smoky Mountains, Asheville and the Biltmore Estate, Charleston, and Savannah. Hilton Head is a nice place to stay but not as interesting from a site seeing perspective imo. Charleston and Savannah while similar in era (Charleston is older) are very different in layout and experience. I love both cities.
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St Augustine is a great. There is a winery, a whiskey tour, many tours of the Fountain of Youth, the waterfront, even the blind school (Stevie Wonder attended). The Catholic church is beautiful and right on the square near the college. My favorite part, of course, is St Augustine Beach which is about 20 minutes away.
It is a good ways from the JAX airport, at least an hour’s drive. You could also fly out of Orlando with a lot more flight options; JAX is rather limited and usually you end up flying through Atlanta, but JAX is a very easy airport.
In Savannah, there are tours of the courtyards and graveyards, lots of places to eat.
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Nashville: Both daughters are Vanderbilt alums, so I visited frequently. I enjoyed the Johnny Cash museum. Nashville is becoming the new Charleston as far as foodie towns go. Husk moved from Charleston to Nashville if you like Southern.
Lunch at Vui’s Kitchen (I prefer Bransford Ave location) is great for pho and banh mi.
Other recommended restaurants depending upon your tastes: Butchertown Hall, Hawker Asian Stalls, Monell’s at the Manor or Germantown, Butcher & Bee, Steam Boys surprisingly good.
Five Daughters Bakery (I prefer 12 South location) is great for donuts. Lots of Nashville hot chicken restaurants and BBQ, but I have great chicken, BBQ and Southern food in Charleston, so I rarely get them on the road.
You can find some good neighborhood restaurants near Vanderbilt University “Hillsboro-Belmont” or “Music Row” neighborhoods. Other neighborhoods I like to stroll around are 12 South & Germantown. The Gulch and Downtown are a bit too touristy for me.
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Charleston: I live in Charleston. You can use a nice B&B downtown or rent a home on Kiawah Island as your headquarters. Rent a bike on Kiawah and ride through the forests and right on the beach for miles and miles. Also, Kiawah is known for tennis and golf. Boat ride to Fort Sumter National Monument, a mansion tour, the USS Yorktown tour, and one of the plantations for a historical perspective of country life are worthwhile. Aside from Kiawah Island our favorite thing to do is stroll the streets South of Broad or one of the other downtown neighborhoods, pop into art galleries, and once in awhile we’ll stroll down Shem’s Creek watching the porpoises, pelicans, and other wildlife or trek over to Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms. Southern food, chicken, American, and BBQ are fantastic in Charleston, but international food is better elsewhere.
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Savannah: We vacation in Savannah a lot. Beaufort is a cute town not too far away. Sea Island is a nice resort, but the ocean isn’t nearly as nice as the Charleston beaches. Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room is definitely worthwhile and great value. The Olde Pink House, Treylor Park, and The Grey are pretty cool places to eat. We like to rent a B&B and stroll around Savannah’s 22 squares and parks. A number of home tours, neighborhood tours, and museums available, which are a matter of personal preference.
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Well…if you end up going to Asheville, and from there to Charleston, you have to drive through Winston Salem, I think. If I’m right…swing off in Winston Salem and tour Reynolda. It’s the “cottage” of the RJ Reynolds family and it’s fabulous. Take the docent led tour. I’ve done it three times and I would do it again. The grounds are beautiful. I’ve been there during every season, and it seems there is always something blooming. The walking paths and grounds surrounding the house are fabulous.
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I agree with some of the above Nashville recommendations. We recently went to the Museum of African American Music also, and it was wonderful. Highly recommend. Live music on Broadway can be fun during the day before it gets crazy at night. I love Milk and Honey for brunch, but too long of a wait on the weekends. Franklin is a charming town south of Nashville. Velvet taco and Vui’s kitchen are great and casual (in Nashville).
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Coastal Georgia – I love Jekyll Island (historic houses of the rich and at one time famous, bike trail around the flat island), St. Simons Island, and we recently stayed in St Mary’s and took a day trip and van tour of Cumberland Island (need reservations for the ferry and tour). If doing Savannah drive out to Tybee Island too. Also agree with recommendation of Asheville.
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Not unless you want to do a LOT of extra driving. I-26 straight from Asheville to Charleston.
Personally, I’d do Nashville - Knoxville - through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (avoid Gatlinburg though) - Asheville - Charleston and then down the coast to Hilton Head, Savannah, Georgia Sea Islands.
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We did Asheville last spring - great hiking. Prepare to be very chilly in the higher elevations! But Boone and Blowing Rock are also great, smaller areas off the Blue Ridge. We discovered Boone while visiting App State and loved it! Much, much smaller than Asheville, but same artsy kind of vibe with a cute little walkable town. Just make sure there isn’t a home football game!
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If you got to Boone, an earlier recommendation was Winston Salem which is out of the way from Asheville to Charleston - which you’d go down through Spartanburg and bypass cities like Winston and Charlotte enroute to Charleston. But if you went Northeast to Boone, than Winston could come back into play. You’d just be adding time is all - but you have 2 to 6 weeks so time is not an issue.
Not sure we know OPs desires as to activities they like - but don’t forget, the quickest way to Savannah or Charleston through Nashville will be through Atlanta. While Asheville is worth the additional time (maybe 30-45 mins), if you go through Atlanta, you’d go through Chattanooga - which depending on what you seek - you may enjoy more.
Chatt has the world class acquarium, Rock City, Ruby Falls.
That’s why I suggested the round trip. Or alternatively, you can go to Chatt, and then head North 90 minutes to Knoxville and be back on the path for Asheville. This would add an extra two hours or so to Charleston - if your trip had no traffic - but what’s two hours total - if you get to see two great towns.
But it’d help to know your interests - because while all these cities have lots of great activities/dining, etc. you may have certain things that you are interested in that don’t match up with the suggestions, etc.
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Haven’t been myself but how about the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville.
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Actually it’s awesome and fascinating. And I’m not even a space buff. And then you can cut across to Chattanooga for all it offers.
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Just did the Nashville to Asheville drive (we live in neither) and both are great, fun places with too much to see and do. I would not go through Atlanta to get to Charleston unless you wanted to go to Atlanta. It is longer and less direct. So many great suggestions here including other NC mountain areas (Boone, Brevard, Cashiers?) and the GA coast. Your weather in Charleston should be amazing. You can visit Kiawah Island without staying there unlike Sea Island in GA. Let us know what you decide and liked!
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Actually, that’s not correct. Mileage wise it’s shorter through Atlanta (if you use downtowns as a starting point - by a few miles)… Either route can be shorter depending on traffic.
Often times the I-40 has work being done - either between Nashville/Cookeville, Cookeville/Knoxville or once you pass into NC.
It also depends where you are coming from. One may be in Nashville or one may be in Franklin.
Distance wise it’s 6 and a half dozen one way or another. I’ve driven to Charleston four times in the past year and all four the Nav takes you via Atlanta.
I go to Knoxville for work - and sometimes it’s 2 hr 45. Sometimes it’s 4 hr 30. Sometimes I just go South to Chattanooga to avoid.
That’s where Waze comes in handy because exits are sparse and so are side roads.
But anyway - OP (if they’re still on) can go either way or both if do round trip - but really needs to understand what each city offers and if it meets their needs. We still don’t know what they enjoy - they may not enjoy hiking or museums…we just don’t know.
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OP here. Thank you for the suggestions everyone! I knew I’d get some great ideas here.
Our Nashville family has our time there all planned out, so we don’t have to worry about what to do there.
Generally, we do not like big cities. We would drive WAY out of our way to avoid Atlanta. Our interests are scenic drives, history, charming small towns, light to moderate hiking and some local food.
We have decided that since we have so much time we are going to try winging it as far as dates and lodging. This will be a big change for us and maybe challenging for me (I’ll probably be the one who needs to figure out where to stay in the next destination), but I do LOVE the idea that we can stay in one place until we’re ready to move on. I am hoping that since we’re starting out the last week of October, we won’t have too much trouble finding a place to stay. I may make reservations for a beach house on one of the GA or SC islands and then if we get there early we can find somewhere to stay in the interim.
Look forward to reading more suggestions. We’ve spent a lot of time in FL, but haven’t been anywhere else in the SE, so we’re surprisingly excited about the our “last minute” trip change.
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