Cheekwood Estate & Gardens Tours and Activities

While any trip to Nashville rightly focuses on the city’s enormous musical heritage, there are a number of other cultural offerings for visitors to appreciate. Chief among them is Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art, which offers a wonderful alternative to the busy, music-filled streets of the “Athens of the South”.The museum is set in a lovingly renovated neo-Georgian mansion on a 22-hectare estate housing 11 formal gardens and a wonderful woodland sculpture trail. The illustrious Cheek family built the 2,787m2 limestone mansion in 1932 and it was opened as a museum in 1960. Its cool interior contains an impressive collection which ranges from classic to contemporary, and includes sculpture, paintings, prints and photographs.World-famous American artists such as Andy Warhol and Larry Rivers are represented in the 600-piece permanent collection, while fans of William Edmondson travel from far and wide to see the world’s largest display of his sculptures.After you’ve had your fill of artistic offerings, step out into Cheekwood’s beautifully cultivated botanical gardens. There are 11 separate speciality gardens, each one designed to create a unique ambience and activate different senses. These include the serene Japanese garden, the fragrant herb garden and the award-winning wildflower garden.With snow-laden pine trees in winter and brightly coloured tulips in spring, the plants, trees and flowers of Cheekwood serve as a superb retreat from the hectic life and late nights of “Music City, USA” no matter what time of the year you visit. And, after you’ve toured the gardens and browsed the art, pop into the Pineapple Room restaurant for lunch, where the helpful staff will even pack you a picnic if you fancy dining al fresco.Cheekwood museum and gardens are closed most Mondays as well as on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. There is an admission charge and paid parking is available on site.