I’ve always loved country music, especially as a teenager during its ‘country is cool’ revival during the 1990s. Even so, before doing this tour, I knew basically nothing about the Grand Ole Opry, other than its a live music venue where country music artists perform. During my visit to Nashville, unfortunately, my timing in Nashville didn’t line up with any Opry performances so we had to do the next best thing – take a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry. Here is my review of the Grand Ole Opry backstage tour.

Grand Ole Opry Location:

The Grand Ole Opry is not in its original location – today, the opry is located in what is known as Opryland, an area on the outskirts of Nashville located near the river, and includes the sprawling Gaylord Hotel resort and the Opry Mills outlet mall. The Grand Ole Opry itself is directly across the street from the Dave and Busters at the outlet mall. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting that and thought it was odd, to say the least, and it takes away from the vibe I was expecting at the Opry.

When I think Grand Ole Opry, the first thing that comes to mind is, “Is there a Dave and Busters nearby?”

If you’re staying in downtown Nashville, you’ll either need to drive, uber/taxi, or take a tour bus out here as it is about a 20 minute drive. We were staying at the Springhill Suites downtown and drove our car out here.

Grand Ole Opry Backstage Tour General Information:

Guided tours are offered nearly every day, during the daytime hours. Backstage tours do not run during live shows. Tours are offered every 30 minutes and cost $39 per person as of 2022.

You can purchase your tickets online or in person at the box office. We purchased our tickets when we arrived and had no issues joining a tour. We only had to wait 15 minutes to join up with the next tour. However – we visited in January, which is probably the slowest time of the year. If you are visiting in summer, I recommend buying the tickets online so that you get the time slot you want.

Parking:

We parked for free at the Opry Mills outlet mall and walked across the street to the Grand Ole Opry (don’t worry – it’s not a busy street at all – more like crossing a parking lot!) The Grand Ole Opry has pay lots but they appeared to be closed during our visit – I believe these only operate during live shows.

How long is the Grand Ole Opry Tour?

This is about an hour long tour.

The Backstage Tour of the Grand Ole Opry

Your tour begins just outside of the Grand Ole Opry entrance. From here, your guide leads you inside. If you look up at the ceiling, you’ll see an interesting chandelier made up of guitars. The tour then begins with a short video about the history and significance of the Grand Ole Opry – our video featured Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood – I thought it was well done.

Your tour guide will give you information on how and when the entertainers enter the Grand Ole Opry when they are performing that night. You’ll be taken through the a backstage area that looks like a warehouse, with musical equipment and gear, and a sound lot where shows can be filmed, including the set of the old show Howdy-Dowdy. Then you’ll see the performer’s entrance and then the Grand Ole Opry post office and membership plaques. Our tour guide pointed out Dolly Pardon’s overflowing mailbox – she needs to stop by and pick up her mail!

After this, you’ll head into the dressing room area, where you can look into each of the various themed dressing rooms. Our tour guide pointed out which dressing rooms some performers prefer – like Carrie Underwood’s favorite room.

From there, you’ll enter the green room. This is where performers can sit and relax, enjoy snacks or a beverage before going on stage. Back in 2010, Nashville had a significant rainstorm, where 13 inches of rain fell in a short time and damaged part of the Grand Ole Opry. You can still see the line where the water was in the green room – it was shocking to see how high the water was.

The tour wraps up on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Here, you get to walk on stage and stand in the famous wooden circle where all the musicians, to this day, perform live. They have a photographer who will take your picture here a$ you $tand with the microphone – you are not allowed to take your own picture$ here with the microphone – they co$t $25. (We did not do this. I hate this shit).

After your group finishes posing for photos, your tour is pretty much over. You can snap more photos of the auditorium and when you’re done, you’re dumped off in the gift shop. (And the gift shop is great, by the way!)

Honestly, I still don’t quite understand the process of how the artists get membership but you can read more here. Once a musician becomes a member, he or she must commit to completing a certain amount of appearances at the Opry to keep their membership in good standing.

Final Thoughts – Is the Grand Ole Opry Backstage Tour Worth it?

In general, I’d say yes. I thought the tour was great, it was just the right amount of time, and I really felt that I learned a lot, having knowing nothing about the Orpy, I walked away with much more appreciation and insight on this historical venue that’s so important to country music. At $39 per person, I thought the tour was a little overpriced, but it’s one of those things that you only need to do once. The setting of the Grand Ole Opry just isn’t anything like I expected – it’s a bit jarring to have this historical venue right across the parking lot from an AMC movie theater and a Dave and Busters.

I really wish I would’ve been able to see a show here, but there’s always next time!

Have you visited the Grand Ole Opry and done the backstage tour? What did you think?