The music arrives before the city. Long before the mooring lines are secured, snatches of guitar and fiddle are already drifting over the Cumberland River, escaping from the honky-tonks that play from morning until night. River boats dock at Riverfront Park, at the very foot of Broadway: you just cross a street to dive into the country music capital of the world, which makes Nashville one of the most direct landings on any American inland waterway.

Broadway, the street that plays

Over a few blocks between the Cumberland and Fifth Avenue, Lower Broadway lines up its neon-lit bars where musicians, often of astonishing calibre, play set after set with no cover charge; you push open a door, listen to two songs and move on to the next, dropping a tip in the jar that makes the rounds. Embroidered leather boots, hats and guitar-filled shop windows complete the scene, and instrument shops gladly let customers try out a six-string under the eye of employees who, like half the city, are waiting for their own musical breakthrough. The place is loud, unapologetic and joyful, and is an attraction in itself that many cities envy without ever managing to copy.

The temples of country

Just around the corner, the Ryman Auditorium deserves its reputation as the Carnegie Hall of the South: this former church turned legendary home of the Grand Ole Opry has seen every legend pass through, from Hank Williams to Johnny Cash, and its guided tours even let you pose for a photo on the hallowed stage. Nearby, the Country Music Hall of Fame displays sequined costumes, gold-plated cars and historic recordings in a building evoking a piano keyboard; you can add a visit to Studio B, where Elvis Presley recorded dozens of songs. Die-hard fans will carry on to the Johnny Cash Museum, compact and moving.

Beyond the neon

Nashville is not just about guitars. Heading north, the Tennessee State Capitol crowns its hill with Greek columns, and Bicentennial Park unrolls a history lesson of the state engraved in granite. Architecture lovers will venture to the full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Centennial Park, a legacy of an 1897 exposition, a few minutes away by taxi. And to taste the city, a hot chicken spot is a must: this fiery fried chicken, a specialty born in local African American kitchens, ranges from mild to dangerous, with pickles and white bread as the regulation garnish.

Planning your hours

The entire tourist core can be explored on foot from the pier, a rare thing for an American city of this size. For an overview, take the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, which spans the Cumberland right next to the docking point: the panorama of the skyscrapers and the Titans' stadium explains in a single image why the city is growing so fast. A morning is enough for the Ryman and the Hall of Fame, the afternoon lends itself to museums or the Capitol, and the hour before all-aboard is inevitably spent in a honky-tonk, regretting not staying for the evening. Cruise line shuttles sometimes serve the more outlying Grand Ole Opry House, where the famous radio show is still performed, a century after its debut on the airwaves.

You leave Nashville with a refrain lodged somewhere between your ribs, and the certainty of having seen a city that truly lives by what it sings. The Cumberland resumes its tranquil course between the hills of Tennessee, but on the aft deck, there is always someone still humming.