Where to Go on a Date in Nashville This Winter
For everything from first impressions to anniversary celebrations, these dates are guaranteed to impress.
Just because the weather is getting colder doesn’t mean that your love life has to cool off. Hopefully, we’re now past the COVID cuffing phenomenon and back to letting love bloom by getting out of the house and really experiencing the best that Nashville has to offer. Here are some suggestions to help fan the flames of love and explore your hometown at the same time.
Germantown
The Hallmark Channel is only airing 40 new holiday movies this year, so what are you supposed to do when you’ve already seen every kiss in the last five minutes of each show? Why, take a trip to a Hallmark wonderland, of course. That’s the vibe at Enchant, an interactive experience being held through the holidays at the home of the Nashville Sounds, First Horizon Park. Travel through a story-themed maze of lights and pick up stamps on a passport for the chance to win a Hallmark trip sweepstakes or take a spin around the ice among a forest of twinkling Christmas trees. This might be a good opportunity to reconnect with your high school boyfriend who is now a kind and hunky veterinarian.
SoBro
Denim is the rooftop bar at the luxurious The Joseph Hotel in SoBro. More than 20 stories above street level, Denim offers sweeping views of downtown, and during the holiday season, they’re making the experience even more special. They’ve set up cozy cabanas on the roof, equipped with comfy couches and tabletop fire pits to keep you warm as you enjoy a crisp winter evening. They’re offering two special experiences that you can experience simply by making a reservation in advance. The Fireside Evening will accommodate two to six guests who will enjoy a customized charcuterie board in their cabana along with s’mores featuring house-made marshmallows, Valrhona artisan chocolates, and graham crackers, which you can toast over an adorable little campfire grill. Or choose the Denim at Dusk experience for a four-course al fresco dinner with available drink pairings.
East Nashville
In its first year since opening in the Five Points neighborhood of East Nashville, 5 Points Diner and Bar has become a favorite hang and late-night destination. They’ve recently added a weekly Drag Bingo party on Tuesdays featuring the fabulous Veronika Electronika calling the numbers and entertaining the crowd between games. It’s free to play, and they hand out prizes with each bingo.
SoBro
After a multi-million dollar renovation, the Goo Goo Shop on 3rd Avenue has reopened as a must-see (and eat) destination. The walls of the new shop are covered with switches and levers that give off a definite Wonka vibe, and displays tell the stories of the history of America’s first combination candy bar, still a cult favorite. Kiosks allow you to design your own custom Goo Goo Premium bars for the talented confectionists to whip up, and you can enjoy a boozy milkshake while you wait.
Have some fun on ice
Various
Even though we’re between Winter Olympics when people become temporarily obsessed with the odd sport of curling, which is sort of like shuffleboard on ice, the obscure sport is still worth checking out. Ignore your pickleball-obsessed friends that are worse than CrossFit and keto fans, because Nashville has its first official curling center with Tee Line in West Nashville. If you’re looking for a more traditional date night on ice, both of the Ford Ice Centers in Bellevue and Antioch offer public skating sessions, but you’ll need to register in advance.
Downtown and East Nashville
Whether you’re a newbie to town and want to discover a new favorite restaurant or know the name of every sous chef in East Nashville, there’s something to learn on one of Walk, Eat Nashville’s insider food tours. With well-connected guides leading different itineraries in downtown and East Nashville, you’ll feel like a VIP at every stop as chefs prepare special treats for you.
Explore some of Nashville’s lesser-known museums
Various locations
We’re big fans of the famous museums of Nashville like the Country Music Hall of Fame, the new National Museum of African American Music and the Frist Art Museum, but don’t miss out on some of Nashville’s more obscure collections. Make a day of visiting the huge collection of exotic vehicles at the Lane Motor Museum, discover the sidemen who made the legendary music at the Musicians Hall of Fame and more than you ever wanted to know about “The Dukes of Hazzard” at Cooter’s Place.
Go on an Art Crawl
Various
In addition to the city’s reputation as a center of music, Nashville is blessed with some pretty talented visual artists as well. Many of them showcase their works in galleries and studios as part of monthly art crawls in various neighborhoods around town. The First Saturday Art Crawl takes place downtown around the urban core the initial weekend of each month, the same day as the WeHo Art Crawl in the burgeoning Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. The second Saturday of the month is reserved for the East Side Stumble, a tour of East Nashville galleries, and Germantown galleries are featured on the third Saturdays. Grab a date and enjoy some of Nashville’s finest boxed wine while checking out the art on the walls.
Embrace your inner-Lebowski
Various locations
If your last bowling experience was in a dingy alley with questionable rental shoe hygiene practices, you definitely need to discover what modern bowling venues have to offer. At Brooklyn Bowl, you’ll find one of the best music venues in town along with first come/first served lanes that can be shared by up to eight bowlers. Popular new venue Eastside Bowl is a lot like Brooklyn Bowl, except in East Nashville, which come to think of it...
Various locations
If you tried to drive or ride share between all the great breweries in Nashville, you’d probably end up, arrested, broke or both. Fortunately, Music City Brew Hop has the answer, with an all-day hop on/hop off trolley service running every hour between many of the city’s best spots for craft drafts along two different routes. Just remember where you got on for your first stop or you might never find your way home.
East Nashville and West Nashville
With two locations, you’re never too far away from one of Climb Nashville’s rock-climbing gyms. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert climber, you’ll find all sorts of fun challenges as you scale the multiple routes up walls studded with grips and footholds. Safety is job one, so staff will be happy to help instruct you on how to safely belay your date in case of a slip-up.
East Nashville
Since TopGolf opened up across the river from downtown, it has been packed with golfers of all abilities trying to hit a round ball with a crooked stick into large illuminated targets spread out in front of them on a huge field. Whether you’re successful at that or not, you can always enjoy the energy of the crowd, some surprisingly good food and drink, and any playful teasing that comes with it. They’ve added a new Angry Birds-inspired game if you’d rather fight pigs than chase birdies.
Germantown
Even if you tell yourself that you have no art talents at all, you like to drink wine, don’t you? A couple of glasses and classes into it at Dabble Events, and you won’t care at all whether your “happy little trees” actually look like angry bushes. The supportive attitude of the instructors makes any class a treat, and you’ll get to go home with a new creation to hang on your wall. Or in the back of the coat closet. No judging here.
Blend your own bottle
The Nations
If you're both whiskey lovers, why not share your ardor by taking part in a really special experience at Pennington Distilling Co.? Every second Tuesday, small groups come together to actually blend their own custom bottles of their choice of bourbon, rye, or Tennessee whiskey. After tasting through samples from four barrels of each type of brown liquor, master distillers and blenders will take you through the process of creating your own blend of up to four whiskeys. While you enjoy a snack or take a distillery tour, the experts will take your choices and make a personally engraved bottle of your choice to take home. You can even purchase extra bottles if you want to show off your talents as a blender to your bourbon buddies. Nashville Barrel Company has also added a unique bottle pick program where spirits lovers can taste from four specially selected single barrels and pick their favorite to bottle and take home.
See the city's finest murals and Instagram the hell out of your relationship
Various locations
From the angel wings in the Gulch to the Welcome to Nashville sign on the side of Reese Witherspoon’s building in 12 South, Nashville is a selfie city, so set up your own personal scavenger hunt of some of the most iconic street art in town. You’ll also discover that most of them are within a block of a decent bar, so make a drinking game of it!