Walking Tours
The City Walk is a marked trail of 3km (2 miles), which begins at Fort Nashborough and ends at the Hatch Show Print Shop on Broadway. Visitors should either follow the blue line or obtain a leaflet from the Visitor Information Centre, Gaylord Entertainment Centre, 501 Broadway, corner of Fifth Avenue (tel: (615) 259 4747; website: www.visitmusiccity.com). Explore Nashville's shadowy past on one of Music City's historical ghost tours. Lantern-bearing professional storytellers conduct 90-minute walking tours after dark to some of the city's well-known landmarks. Available through Nashville Ghost Tours (tel: (615) 884 3999 or 1 888 844 3999; website: www.nashvilleghosttours.com).

Bus Tours
Numerous companies offer bus tours of Nashville, invariably focusing on the country music scene and often including a drive past the homes of some of the stars, such as Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash. Grand Ole Opry Tours (tel: (615) 889 9490) offers a variety of tours, one of which includes an exclusive backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry building as well. Other companies include Gray Line Tours (tel: (615) 883 5555 or 1 800 251 1864; website: www.graylinenashville.com/tours.cfm), Johnny Walker Tours (tel: (615) 834 8585 or 1 800 722 1524; website: www.johnnywalkertours.com) and the very funny and very irreverent NashTrash Tours (tel: (615) 226 7300 or 1 800 342 2132; website: www.nashtrash.com).

Boat Tours
General Jackson Showboat (tel: (615) 458 3900; website: www.generaljackson.com) takes you back to a bygone era aboard the 91m (300ft), four-deck paddlewheel showboat. Named after the first steamboat to operate on the Cumberland River, and namesake of the Tennessean-born US President, the General Jackson offers a variety of cruise packages, which navigate the Cumberland River from Opry Mills to Riverfront Park in Downtown Nashville. Dance under the stars after dinner and a show in the Victorian Theatre, or enjoy the lunch buffet and music under a Southern blue sky.

Wanderin' Star Yacht Charters (tel: (615) 851 4274; website: www.wanderinstar.com) offers three-hour sailing cruises on Old Hickory Lake on a Catalina 25. Gourmet cocktail cruises or evening sunset cruises are the most romantic. Sailing lessons also available. Cruises and lessons run between April and October.