Getting your bearings in a new city is often the hardest part of taking a trip, but in the following pages you'll find everything you need to know to get settled in after you arrive in town. This is the sort of nuts-and-bolts information that will help you familiarize yourself with Nashville.
Visitor Information
On the baggage-claim level of Nashville International Airport, you'll find the Airport Welcome Center (tel. 615/275-1675), where you can pick up brochures, maps, and bus information, and get answers to any questions you may have about touring the city. This center is open daily from 6:30am to midnight. In downtown Nashville, you'll find the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau Visitors Center, Fifth Avenue and Broadway (tel. 800/657-6910 or 615/259-4700), the main source of information on the city and surrounding areas. The information center is located at the base of the radio tower of the Sommet Center and is open daily during daylight hours. Signs on interstate highways around the downtown area will direct you to the arena. Information is also available from the main office of the Chamber of Commerce/Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau, in the lower level of the US Bank building at the corner of Fourth Avenue North and Commerce (tel. 615/259-4700). The office is open Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm.
For information on the state of Tennessee, contact the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development, P.O. Box 23170, Nashville, TN 37202 (tel. 615/741-2158).
Nashville Notables -- Music stars such as Amy Grant and Vince Gill aren't the only celebrities who hang their hats in Nashville. Other superstar locals include Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Reese Witherspoon, Sheryl Crow, Ashley Judd, Jack White, Michael McDonald, Kirk Whalum, and Donna Summer. Among the city's best-known former residents are Oprah Winfrey, Al Gore, and Fred Thompson, former senator turned actor (Law and Order) and 2008 presidential candidate.
