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There are many reasons I love living in Donelson, one of which is our proximity to Donelson Station. It gives us quick, easy access to downtown without having to pay surge pricing for a rideshare or deal with parking. While the following itinerary is from a specific day we

How to Do Downtown Nashville with Kids by Transit (From Donelson!)

For fall break 2024, we opted for a staycation. There were a few reasons we chose to vacation at home instead of jetting off somewhere new for the week:

• It let us save money and spend less than we would vacationing out of town
• We didn’t have to worry about pet care
• The weather in Nashville is beautiful in October
• We wanted to enjoy our home without feeling rushed or dealing with the ‘shoulds’
• We’d never done it before! 

The first half of the week was child-free; our kid hung out at Camp Gramps, getting lots of 1:1 time with my parents and their cats while Mom and Dad enjoyed some peace and quiet. One of the best days of the week occurred after Skyler had come home: our day downtown! 

Skyler had been asking to ride the train for ages. We live a short 10-minute walk from the Donelson train station so it would be super easy for us to ride the train. However, the Music City Star commuter train only runs a few times in the pre-work hours of the morning and the post-work hours of the evening; it also does not usually run on weekends. So finding a good time for us to take the train downtown just hadn’t worked out. 

Until October 2024! We took the whole week off work so we could work around the wonky train schedule. We could take the bus downtown and ride the train home. 

So I planned a whole afternoon adventure from Donelson to downtown Nashville and back, via bus and train. We had a blast, got in 10,000 steps, and spent lots of time outside. It was a great day!!!!

2024 Downtown Nashville Adventure

DIY Scavenger Hunt Map: Keeping Kids Engaged on a Walking Tour

I created a scavenger hunt map for Skyler to carry as we walked around. I used Canva to make a basic map of downtown with certain spots marked by stars; these stops included places to get sugar and places to take photos. I knew he wouldnt care about the latter but he definitely cared about the former. After I printed it at the library (because every library card holder gets $10 free of printing every month), I laminated with my little laminator. This way, Skyler could use a dry erase marker to draw different routes and mark off the stops we’d been to. 

When I gave it to him, he was SO excited and immediately got to work plotting routes. 

Donelson to Downtown Transit Itinerary & Timeline

Catching the WeGo Bus at Donelson Station 

We caught the 1:15 bus, which runs ~every 30 minutes or less. This was super easy. The bus runs a lot more frequently than the train and it only costs $2 for a 2 hour pass!

Get off the bus downtown. 

Thirty minutes later, we are there. We actually got off the bus sooner than planned; I hadn’t been sure exactly where the stop was and underestimated how many stops were available. So we got off on the south side of the Music City Convention Center when we hadn’t planned to get off until we got to Rosa Parks. 

Follow Skyler’s route on the scavenger hunt map. 

I think the scavenger hunt really helped keep Skyler focused and engaged. He likes having a job to do. As navigator, we tried to empower him to take the lead and tell us which way to go. I also think that after a long bus ride, making ice cream the first stop was a wise choice.

Best Kid-Friendly Stops in Downtown Nashville (Sweets, Music & History): Here is a list of everywhere we went during our downtown Nashville scavenger hunt adventure with Skyler.

• Music City Center (just passed through after we got off the bus)
• Fifth and Broadway for ice cream at Jeni’s
• Passed through the Arcade, an old passageway mall
• Printer’s Alley
• Fort Nashborough (re-creation)
• Savannah Candy Kitchen
• Friends in Low Places honky tonk
• GooGoo store
• Riverfront Train Station

The stars on the map we skipped? The statues outside the Ryman and the Elvis statue. The child declared statues as “boring”. 

Here is the link to the Google Map I made for us.

Riding the Music City Star Train Back

The Music City Star offers 3 trains from downtown beginning with the 4:20. There’s a reduced fare for going to Donelson; it’s only $2! 

Photos from our 2024 adventure downtown

First stop, Donelson Station!

This was our first time ever riding the bus in Nashville! I want to find more opportunities for us to use our transit system!

When we got to Broadway and saw one of the countless bachelorette parties, Skyler saw this party bus and said, “Look how happy those girls are!” 

Skyler chose vanilla and some weird-tasting rainbow flavor. 

Time to go explore!! 

The historic Woolworth Diner is now the Woolworth Theatre… and very soon will house a residency of the Thunder from Down Under LOL

Printer’s Alley is weird now. It’s clean and corporatized; there are condos and AirBNBs. Not to sound ancient, but ten+ years ago, it was shady and smelled like pee. There used to be naked karaoke. Now, it feels like a costume version of its former self.

We had to stop many times so he could update the map. 

Seen on the walk to the river.

The Founding Of Nashville Monument

Fort Nashborough: 1780 log-cabin outpost, the foundation of Nashville, built by pioneers led by James Robertson.

According to Nashville.gov: “On January 1, 1780, James Robertson founded Nashville when he led his group of pioneers across the frozen Cumberland river to a place called The Cedar Bluffs. These men built a fort here called Nashborough, which would shelter the first families until Indian* attacks ended in 1792.”

*Their word, not mine. It’s also on the plaque.

Savannah Candy Kitchen: a well-stocked (if pricey) candy shop on Broadway. They always give away praline samples, too! We gave Skyler $20 to spend and let him choose whatever he wanted. That kid’s got weird taste; he ended up with a giant rainbow sucker, a few smaller suckers, and a Thor fan that lights up and had candy inside lol. 

Can’t go downtown and not stop in at least ONE Honky Tonk. Plus we wanted to check out one of the newer ones; we went with Garth Brooks’ Friends in Low Places. It was exactly what we expected, what all of the other new ones are like: multi-level and loud. Mom and Dad enjoyed a drink, we all ate some of our candy, and Skyler fell in love with Golden Tee. 

Goo Goo Candy Store, home of the original Goo Goo Cluster. Did you know that Tennessee is home to America’s first combination candy bar? We didn’t buy anything and only spent a few minutes here, but Skyler did like watching them make candy.

Then it was time to head back to the train station. This lovely Dolly mural is on the 1st Avenue wall of ACME Feed and Seed.

Skyler was so excited to FINALLY GET TO RIDE THE TRAIN. “Hurry up! You don’t want to miss it!” 

Of course, on the ride home he declared the day “boring”, but I know the truth. That kid had a GREAT DAY! 

The Tradition Continues: Our 2025 & 2026 Transit Updates

2025 Downtown Adventure Day

During Fall Break, we took Skyler and our exchange student Pau downtown, riding the bus and train! Use the map below to explore our route (pull up the ‘drawer’ at the bottom of the map to see the itinerary and photos).

2026 Downtown Adventure Day

It seems that we do some sort of public-transit-downtown-adventure with Skyler 1-2x a year. Checkout our Adventure from Spring Break 2026!