I took the self-guided tour, and it's probably not worth it. If you're just going to check out everything on your own. It's probably best to just wait until you catch a show. It's a beautiful venue and super-historical. It is very self-congratulatory, and it clearly focuses way too much on stars since reopening. They loved pointing out that Widespread Panic performed there. I was also surprised that the staff member could not name any of the early preachers from it's early days. There was a timeline wall that answered my questions, but it was a relevant thing and I would have loved to have gotten an answer from the staff. It's a cool place, but if you're there for the tour, pay to get the guided backstage tour.

This was a trip you could make as long or short as you wished. We did the non guided tour and started with the history show in the little theatre. This was short but way way better than we expected. After this you can hang out in the aim theatre and look at the exhibits, which are interesting even if country is not completely your thing. I really enjoyed it and even the youngest managed to keep it together...

This was the first time I've gone to a show at the Ryman. Walking into a place so rich with history was such an amazing feeling. Just thinking of all the talent that has crossed that stage is awesome! The acoustic was very pleasing as well. If you haven't taken in a show at the Ryman, you are truly missing out.

Pay for better seats than I did, the balcony is lower than you think and it sucks ducking the whole show. But, every seat seems like it's a really great view of the stage. They're wooden church pews and I could see it getting crowded for more popular shows. If you're tall, don't bother with anything under the balcony, crouching and trying to keep your knees and backs of your calves off the pews is not comfortable. Not that the balcony is low enough to hit your head, it's that the front of the balcony is low enough to cut off the view of the performers shoulders and up. I can say that I've seen modest mouse. And also that I haven't "seen" modest mouse... The place is beautiful and sounds amazing. Man, wish I would have read my review before I went for the first time.....

Nice, small, intimate venue. Although the view from my seat was obstructed, it was still a pretty good view. I would not have bought the ticket though had ticketmaster informed of the obstructed view. I would definitely go to another concert here as there seemed to be no bad seats unless stuck behind one of the poles. I took one start away, as the seating is not very comfortable. It's old wooden church pews and I was sliding a little bit. It would be nice if they added some cushioning to them to help with the comfort and sliding.