Nashville to Cincinnati drive: Distance, time & best stops
The distance from Nashville to Cincinnati by car is 273 miles, with a 4h19m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Nashville to Cincinnati drive are Bowling Green, Mammoth Cave National Park and Louisville.
Planning a Nashville to Cincinnati road trip
A Nashville to Cincinnati road trip takes you from America’s country music capital in Tennessee to the biggest city in southern Ohio.
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.
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 Cincinnati distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Nashville to Cincinnati is 273 miles. That makes for a driving time of around four hours and 19 minutes. The quickest route from Nashville to Cincinnati heads up the I-65, then the I-71.
For more things to do, check out the guides to the individual sections of the Nashville to Cincinnati road trip.
Best stops between Louisville and Nashville: Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green, Kentucky, is worth a stop for car fans, as it is home to the National Corvette Museum. The American sports cars have long been made in Bowling Green, and there’s a wide range on display in the museum.
If you prefer rail to road, the Historic RailPark and Train Museum offers the chance to go inside vintage railcars. The museum tackles the history of the railroads and the people who worked on them.
Other things to do in Bowling Green include historic trolley tours.
Nashville to Cincinnati road trip attractions: Mammoth Cave National Park
You can go to Mammoth Cave National Park for horse riding, hiking, camping and canoeing, but the caves are the key attraction.
The cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park is billed as the longest in the world. A bewildering range of cave tours is available, some of which are wheelchair friendly, with others more physical and aimed at cavers.
The classic Mammoth Cave tour is the two hour historic tour, which heads through underground tunnels that humans have used for thousands of years. Be warned, however – there are hundreds of steps.
Nashville to Cincinnati 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.
More Nashville road trips
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More Cincinnati road trips
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