Almost exact centre of Tennessee, Nashville is the booming city of the upper South. Its population is rapidly expanding as it attracts citizens from the surrounding states (such as Kentucky and Alabama), and even from New York and Los Angeles, to work in the music and wider entertainment business.

The city's roots go back a long way. It was first home to bison and deer, which attracted the hunters who settled here - as archaeological finds have proven. In the late 18th century, the first non-Indians arrived, in the form of a few French fur trappers and traders, one of who was the famous Daniel Boone. Soon after, migrants from the Appalachians began to settle and provided the beginnings of a sizeable community until, in 1835, Nashville became the state capital.

Today, Downtown Nashville, where most of the best hotels and the nightlife are concentrated, is an area of only about eight blocks square. It is a mix of chic hotels, businesses and honky-tonks, where Nashvillians work and where tourists wander around looking for the authentic country experience.

Music Row, which is actually the business heart of the country industry, is in midtown Nashville, southwest of Downtown. Out of the city, to the northeast, is the vast Opryland complex, from where the Grand Ole Opry is now broadcast and where country music museums and the Opryland Hotel all cluster.

Nashville is a must for country-music lovers and line-dancers everywhere, with accommodation and food to suit all pockets. Its strong Southern tradition, historic buildings and involvement in the American Civil War will entice history buffs.

The accommodation here comes in all shapes and sizes, from a handful of historic hotels through modern luxury hotels to budget motels and motor inns around downtown and in the Opryland area.

Locality:

Nashville is in the east United States, in the upper part of the "American South", towards the centre of the state of Tennessee (209 mls NE of Memphis, 8 mls W of Nashville international airport). It is set in broad, fairly flat, verdant terrain astride the wide Cumberland River, and Bounded to the south east by the large J Percy Priest Lake and several parks.