Nashville or Iceland? Why not visit both with an extended stopover ticket from Icelandair?
From music and hot dogs to having a foot-stompin good time, Nashville and Reykjavik are closer than you think
What do Nashville and Reykjavik have in common? A love of music and storytelling, a thriving food scene and locals who have a palpable love of their city and traditions. This happy discovery arrives when I took advantage of Icelandair’s option for a seven-day stopover in Iceland at no extra charge when flying trans-Atlantic with the airline.
Heading for Nashville, America’s ‘music city’, Reykjavik is a hop-off hop-on airport stop on the flight out. It’s a hub for travel connections that cuts time and hassle as there’s no need to go through security again after boarding in Scotland and our tickets take us right through, leaving the Icelandic capital a tantalising treat for our return.
Meanwhile Nashville welcomes us with open arms and captivated from the get-go, with its warm climate, music and moonshine, cavalcade of culinary delights from hot chicken to haute cuisine and locals who really do say ‘have a nice day y’all’ and mean it.
If you love music, you’re in heaven as there’s no end of high note highlights here. Museums are a must, from The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, full of artifacts like Taylor Swift’s Christian Louboutin embellished boots, Johnny Cash’s scratched guitar, Bob Dylan’s feathered hat and Elvis’s gold-plated cadillac, as it follows a country road right back to its origins. Our ticket includes a minibus jaunt to the nearby RCA Studio B where everyone from Elvis to Patsy Cline recorded. Authentic and unchanged, right down to the cupboard door kicked in by Elvis, it’s as if he’s just left the building to witness Dolly bending her fender into the wall outside in her haste to get inside.
Another unmissable is the National Museum of African American Music, with interactive exhibits bringing alive the genius and genre-spanning influence of African Americans, from blues, through gospel, disco, jazz and rock to rap, while the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum shines the light on unsung artists and musicians who played with the greats.
Guitar aficionados will find an aladdin’s cave of instruments at Carter Vintage Guitars/The North American Guitar, on sale and being expertly restored, where staffers Henry Conlon and Noah Pelty step off the shop floor with guitars from the racks to give us a songwriting experience showcasing their immense talents, proving that everyone in Nashville has a tune.
At the Ryman Auditorium, historic Downtown home of the Old Opry, the tour includes your moment in the spotlight at the microphone snapped for posterity, which set us up for that evening’s live Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast at purpose-built Grand Ole Opry House. A VIP backstage tour sees us mingling with the bands, from singing, yodelling cowboys Riders in the Sky to country greats Deana Carter, Vince Gill, Connie Smith and Marty Stuart, before watching them bring the house down to a reverential yet raucous audience, complete with four foot-stomping nuns in the row in front.
In Nashville, music isn’t just in museums or arenas, it’s on the streets, with a tune on every corner, and no visit is complete without experiencing the Honky Tonk Highway on Lower Broadway, a row of neon-blazing bars (including one owned by Jon Bon Jovi) where live bands play from 10am to 3am free for tips. A party atmosphere abounds among the hordes of singing, dancing good-timers, and luckily our bases for the trip - Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown and the Thompson Nashville by Hyatt - are close to the action.
All this music works up an appetite and Nashville doesn’t disappoint. There’s down home hot chicken, grits, fried green tomatoes, and a whole lot more since Michelin issued its first-ever Guide American South, awarding a Bib Gourmand to St Vito’s Focacceria, where chef owner Michael Hanna serves unique Sicilian-style pizza, and recommending Arnold’s Country Kitchen and Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. We have an excellent breakfast stop at hip Tennessee coffee chain Frothy Monkey in up and coming 12 South neighbourhood and happening Henrietta Red among the former warehouses of Germantown champions regional produce including oysters, while wine lovers will savour Sixty Vines in the heart of town.
Arnold’s wins for authenticity, a mom and pop Southern food joint now run by his son Khalil. We feast on the daily ‘meat and three’ (or four or five) for a few dollars, under photos of famous regulars, including Dolly Parton (her regular order: southern friend chicken, chicken livers and creamed corn), with Khalil still flustered from the time her boob was spattered with fat from the fryer when she filmed a cooking show there.
Portion control isn’t a thing in Nashville and at Hattie B’s the table groans with finger-lickin fried chicken and sides, which sets our flock up for another Nashville obsession, ice hockey and their team, the Predators. Non-participation isn’t an option at this assault on the senses. The game is end-to-end exciting and fans are next-level fanatical - by full time we’re hollering ‘Go Preds!’ like die-hards and heading out to celebrate a win on The Strip.
It would be rude to visit Nashville and not try Moonshine and Ole Smoky’s 6th & Peabody venue is the place to do it. For £10 try seven mini shots in different flavours from fruity to straight (which makes your toes curl). The bartender advises ‘don’t sniff or spit, just tip that bitch back over’ as he serves us a palate-cleansing beer to wash it down. With live music and food on hand, it’s a hotspot for good time groups. Whisky lovers will enjoy Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery with a fascinating tour and whiskey tasting to see how it’s done stateside.
It’s not all music and moonshine as Nashville has parks galore, from the bucolic beauty of the Cheekwood Estate and Gardens with its mansion’s art collection to the full-scale replica of Greece’s Parthenon in Centennial Park. The beautiful Frist Art Museum showcases local and international works in an art deco treasure (currently showing contemporary West African artists and Paul McCartney photographs) and vinyl lovers should head to hip East Nashville where Grimey’s record store will satisfy your lust. At the Five Points neighbourhood’s vintage and independent shops, the only thing stopping you owning multiple pairs of pre-loved cowboy boots is your luggage allowance.
Leaving Nashville is a wrench but Reykjavik will put your achy-breaky heart back together. After an overnight flight head straight into recovery at the Sky Lagoon and bob in balmy outdoor thermal waters like a chunk of cod in the local fish soup. The sea views are mesmerising and the Skjól ritual of steam, scrub, sauna followed by nordic treats sharing platters - smoked lamb, herring, reindeer, bilberry jam, white mould cheese - will having you raring to go again.
Where Iceland differs from Nashville is of course in its climate and landscape. Volcanoes, lava fields, glaciers and waterfalls, warm thermal pools and black beaches make it unique and sought after by film makers (Jodie Foster’s Emmy-winning True Detective Night Country and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey).
Whet your appetite to explore the island with the thrilling virtual Flyover Iceland experience, Perlan Museum (with indoor real ice cave) and don’t get too up close to the molten lava at the unique Lava Show. To top it all, the Northern Lights deliver and the heavenly dancers put on a display above the inky sea on our night-time boat trip as Reykjavik’s waterfront twinkles back in answer.
When hunger pangs hit, local advice is you can’t go wrong with lamb or fish and locally-foraged ingredients and Iceland’s food scene is expanding with Nordic and European influences. Fortified by an excellent breakfast at the supremely comfortable Iceland Parliament Hotel in the heart of Reykjavik, a Your Friends in Reykjavik Food Lovers Tour gives us a flavour of culinary hotspots, from popular bakeries to Seabaron/Sægreifinn, a former fisherman’s haven by the old harbour with bunks still intact upstairs, where we have delicious lobster soup and we visit Bæjarins Beztu Pylsurur, hot dog stand where President Clinton snacked in 2004 and the hot dog and chocolate milk combo see queues forming.
At Geiri Smart restaurant, grilled Arctic char and halibut crudo burrata are fresh from the sea, while at Matur og drykkur restaurant, a former fish factory where huge dried cod heads adorn the open kitchen, we are wowed by multiple stylish courses that blend Iceland’s culinary traditions with modern flavours and techniques.
Like Nashville, Reykjavik loves its music - the Iceland Airwaves annual October music festival showcases new Icelandic and international music - and among the brightly-painted clapperboard buildings lining its streets we discover Hús máls og menninga - a live music bar with walls lined with books up to rafters which are raised by revellers singing along to the resident band’s cover versions of everything from Primal Scream to ABBA.
As Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on A Prayer belts out, in a heartbeat I’m back on Nashville’s Strip in a moment that synthesises two cities a world apart but linked by a love of music and the good things in life.
Flights - From Glasgow to Nashville: Icelandair return lead fare in economy from £729. Flights from Edinburgh are also available. See Icelandair www.icelandair.com
Nashville information - visit musiccity.com
Accommodation: Standard rooms at Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown from $199/£148 per night. Standard rooms at the Thompson Nashville by Hyatt from $339/£253 per night.
Cheekwood Estate and Gardens: Gardens from $20/£15, Gardens + Mansion from $26/£20: The Parthenon, entry $15/£12 per adult: Predators NHL game at Bridgestone Arena, adults from $40/£30 for upper bowl, $85.75/£64 lower bowl: Grand Ole Opry adult tickets from $40.60/£31 upper level, $132/£99 lower: Nelson's Green Brier Distillery Whiskey tasting and tour, $25//£19 per adult: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum including tour of RCA Studio B, $55/£41 per adult: Ryman Auditorium from $37/£27.55 adult: National Museum of African American Music, $34/£26 adult: Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum $28/£21 adult: Frist Art Museum, $28/£21 adult (18 and under free)
Reykjavik information - visit visiticeland.com
Accommodation: Iceland Parliament Hotel, Reykjavik, rooms from £215.
Reykjavik City Card includes access to museums and pools around Reykjavik, unlimited bus travel in the city and activities discounts: Sky Lagoon, experiences from £85. Sér experience including Skjól ritual and private changing from £104: Your Friends In Reykjavik Reykjavik Food Lovers Tour from £110: Perlan/ from £38: Lava Show from £40: Flyover Iceland adults £34.
Restaurants & Bars: Geiri Smart Restaurant: Matur og drykkur restaurant: Hús máls og menningar.
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