Spent a week in Nashville using only public transit and it was a disaster

Everyone online raves about skipping rental cars to save money, so I tried it during a trip to Nashville last spring. Day one was fine getting from the airport to downtown on the bus, but then it took 90 minutes to get to a music venue 6 miles away because the routes kept changing. By day four I had spent $60 on rideshares anyway just to make it to show times, and I missed a killer BBQ spot because the bus stop was a 30-minute walk from the place. Has anyone actually had a good experience relying on city buses for a vacation, or is this just a myth that works in like three cities tops?

3 comments

3 Comments

karenw231mo ago

My friend Jenna tried the same thing in Portland last summer and she swore it would work great. She ended up waiting 45 minutes for a bus that just never showed up, then had to walk a mile in the rain to catch a different route. By the third day she caved and rented a car because she was missing half the stuff she wanted to do. Isn't that basically the same problem you had, just with different weather?

the_derek1mo ago

Yep, just traded rain for snow. Still ended up soaked and a mile from my hotel.

skylerg171mo ago

Thats rough man, sorry you got stuck like that @the_derek. I had a similar thing happen in Denver last winter where I thought I was being smart by taking a bus that would save me a few blocks of walking, but it dropped me off at least a mile and a half from my Airbnb in the middle of a sleet storm. Walked past like five different hotels trying to find the right street honestly felt like I was in a survival movie. Glad you made it to the hotel eventually though, even if you were soaked the whole way.