Nashville to Buffalo road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time
The distance from Nashville to Buffalo by car is 709 miles, with a 10h25m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Nashville to Buffalo drive are Louisville, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Planning a Nashville to Buffalo road trip itinerary
A road trip from Nashville to Buffalo takes you from Tennessee’s country music capital of the world to the north-west of New York State. It’s a long journey, best broken down into smaller sections. Best3Stops has guides to the individual legs, each with suggestions of where to stop and what to do, below.
- Nashville to Bowling Green KY drive.
- Bowling Green KY to Louisville drive.
- Louisville to Cincinnati drive.
- Cincinnati to Columbus OH drive.
- Columbus OH to Cleveland drive.
- Cleveland to Buffalo drive.
Nashville to Buffalo distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Nashville to Buffalo is 709 miles. You can expect a driving time of around ten hours and 25 minutes. The quickest route is via the I-65, I-71 and I-90.
The best stops to add to a Nashville to Buffalo road trip itinerary are Louisville, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Things to do in Nashville and Buffalo
Nashville is renowned for its country music, but the National Museum of African American Music is also in the Tennessee capital.
The best Nashville experiences include backstage tours of the Grand Ole Opry House, helicopter flights over the city and tasting tours at the Big Machine Distillery. You can also try line dancing classes, the Country Music Hall of Fame and haunted pub crawls. Or, for lavish old homes, visit Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, the Travellers Rest Historic House Museum and Belmont Mansion.
Excellent Nashville accommodation choices include the gloriously evocative Belle Air Mansion and Inn, plus downtown’s grand dame, the Hermitage.
How to see Nashville the smart way
You can save money in Nashville by combining a tour ticket with admission to two top attractions. These combo tickets give you a half day tour of the main sights, plus entrance to the Ryman Auditorium and Country Music Hall of Fame. Find out more here.
The waterside Buffalo Harbor State Park, meanwhile, offers paddleboard and kayak rentals plus a beach and playgrounds.
Good experiences in Buffalo include Best of Buffalo double decker bus tours, a history of chicken wings food tour and the Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration National Historic Site.
For excellent places to stay in Buffalo, try the historic landmark Richardson Hotel or the charming Hotel at the Lafayette.
Nashville to Buffalo drive: Louisville
Louisville is the biggest city in Kentucky, and has a strong range of attractions to enjoy. The Louisville Mega Cavern has underground zipline tours, the Churchill Downs race track hosts America’s most famous horse race – the Kentucky Derby – and the Louisville Slugger Factory makes the world’s most famous baseball bats. You can take factory tours and there’s a museum attached.
Good Louisville experiences include Old Louisville ghost tours, the Kentucky Derby Museum and a tasting tour of multiple bourbon distilleries. The food and history tours are also worth checking out.
Top Louisville accommodation choices include the history-drenched Brown Hotel and the art-packed 21C Museum Hotel.
Why you should visit the Kentucky Derby Museum
The Kentucky Derby Museum isn’t just about the nation’s top horse race – it’s about the phenomenon that surrounds it. Museum entry tickets include the chance to see the trophies, learn the backstories of famous winners and watch an immersive theater screening. Best of all, they also include a walking tour of the Churchill Downs Racetrack. Find out more here.
David Whitley, author of Best3Stops.
Best attractions between Nashville and Buffalo: Cincinnati
Cincinnati is the biggest city in southern Ohio, with a wealth of attractions. Among the more distinctive are the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the American Sign Museum.
Top Cincinnati activities include underground tours – some with beer tasting – and food tours by streetcar. You can also try baseball history tours, indoor skydiving and guided ghost walks.
Nashville to Buffalo road trip stops: Cleveland
There are many strong attractions in Cleveland, including the Cleveland History Center. But the big stand out is the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. It’s an extremely reverent trawl through rock ‘n roll history, looking at the origins and development of the genre. There’s a massive amount of memorabilia, with sections devoted to several Hall of Fame inductees.
The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is dense, detailed and capable of sucking up the best part of a day.
Alternatively, Cleveland tour options focus on neighbourhood food scenes, the city’s best craft breweries and Downtown’s public art.
More Nashville road trips
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Manchester TN to Nashville | Nashville to Memphis | Nashville to Milwaukee | Minneapolis to Nashville | Nashville to Mobile AL | Montgomery AL to Nashville | Nashville to Myrtle Beach | Nashville to New Orleans | New York City to Nashville | Omaha to Nashville | Nashville to Orlando | Nashville to Panama City | Nashville to Pensacola | Nashville to Pigeon Forge | Pittsburgh to Nashville | Raleigh to Nashville | Nashville to San Antonio | Nashville to Savannah | Sevierville to Nashville | Nashville to St Louis | Nashville to Tallahassee | Nashville to Tampa | Tulsa to Nashville | Nashville to Tuscaloosa | Nashville to Wilmington NC.
More Buffalo road trips
Albany NY to Buffalo | Buffalo to Atlanta | Boston to Buffalo | Chicago to Buffalo | Cincinnati to Buffalo | Cleveland to Buffalo | Columbus to Buffalo | Dallas to Buffalo | Detroit to Buffalo | Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale | Houston to Buffalo | Ithaca to Buffalo | Buffalo to Pittsburgh | Rochester to Buffalo | Syracuse to Buffalo | Buffalo to Tampa.