Day trips from Nashville · Beach
Seaside
455 miles from downtown Nashville · about 8 hours
Walton County, FL, on 30A about eleven miles east of the US-331 junction
Seaside is the original. Robert Davis founded it in 1981 on eighty acres his grandfather bought in 1946, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk planned it, and it became the founding project of New Urbanism. Narrow brick streets, white sand footpaths, pastel cottages with deep porches and picket fences, and a different architect-designed pavilion at the end of every street.
- Distance
- About 455 miles
- Time zone
- Central, same as Nashville
- Founded
- 1981, on 80 acres. Now 300 plus homes
- Changed in 2026
- The main beach lot became a paid lot on April 3
Permits, fees and access
The public access serving Seaside is the Van Ness Butler Jr. Regional Beach Access at 1931 East County Highway 30A, 100 spaces with restrooms across the street, sitting between Seaside and WaterColor. As of April 3, 2026 it is a paid lot: $15 a day March through October, $5 a day November through February, with license plate readers enforcing and overnight parking carrying a $500 to $750 fine. It is the only lot of real size for miles. Seaside’s own pavilions and dune walkovers serve the town, the street-end accesses are walk-up with effectively no free parking, and golf carts left at neighborhood accesses get towed. Seaside parcels were not among the ninety five covered by the October 2024 customary use ruling.
Things to do in Seaside
Addresses, hours and prices as published by each operator in August 18, 2026. Hours and prices move, so check before you go.
The Seaside Amphitheater
Central Square, and the whole social calendar happens here. Farmers market Tuesdays and Saturdays 9am to 1pm. Movies under the stars Sundays and Fridays 8 to 9:30. Live music Wednesdays 5 to 7. Kids music Tuesdays and Thursdays 5 to 5:45. Children’s theater Mondays and Wednesdays 6 to 7. Free.
Bud and Alley’s
2236 East County Road 30-A. Open since 1986, Gulf front, 8am to 9:30pm with the roof deck bar until 10. The same block also has their Taco Bar and their wood-fired Pizza Bar and Trattoria, both 11am to 9:30pm.
Great Southern Cafe
83 Central Square. Southern cooking and Gulf seafood on the square, with a daily happy hour.
Modica Market
109 Seaside Central Square. Grocery, deli and prepared food, and the practical answer to feeding a rental house.
Black Bear Bread Co.
2311 East County Highway 30A in The Court. Bakery and cafe with Stumptown coffee, 7am to 5pm daily.
Airstream Row
The line of Airstreams parked on Central Square: The Shrimp Shack, Daytrader Tiki Bar, The C-Bar, Pickle’s Burgers and Shakes, Wild Bill’s Beach Dogs, The Meltdown on 30A, Wild Nectar and Nigel’s Bananas. No street addresses, they are all on the square.
Sundog Books and Central Square Records
The bookstore and record store on Central Square, both landmarks in their own right, alongside Red Bird Gallery and Anne Hunter Galleries.
Beachside yoga
Vinyasa daily 8:30 to 9:30am at the beachside pavilion, March 1 through October 31.
One thing to know first
Arrive before 9am in summer or plan to park at a county Park and Ride and tram or bike in. The Timpoochee Trail runs right through town and in July it moves faster than 30A does. See Miramar Beach for the Walton County transitory zone rules, the flag system and the double red fine.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 18, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
The neighborhoods closest to it
If this is the kind of Saturday you want a short drive from your front door, these are the parts of Middle Tennessee that put you nearest to it.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.