From Nashville to New Orleans: 6-Day Tennessee Music Trail – Nashville, Tennessee

EXPERIENCE:

• Day 1: Nashville
Welcome to Nashville, Tennessee! Your adventure kicks off with a welcome meeting at 10am, where you’ll meet up with your local leader and the other travellers joining you on your journey. Then dive straight into the city’s history with a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Then cruise across town to Studio B where Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison and “The King” Elvis Presley have all laid tracks, and today you’ll be joining this prestigious list. Meet with a professional sound engineer for your own recording session and find out what it takes to create the Nashville sound. Enjoy a free afternoon to explore the city. Get back together in the evening for an optional dinner (at your own expense) with your group and leader at a local restaurant.

• Day 2: Memphis
Hit the road this morning and make tracks for Memphis, Tennessee, a city overflowing with musical history and legends. Your first stop on arrival will be Sun Studio. This studio may be tiny, but its impact on the world of music is immeasurable. BB King, Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf and Elvis Presley have all recorded here, and the studio claims to be the ‘Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (and they may just be right!). The rest of the day is yours to discover the sights and sounds of Memphis.

• Day 3: Memphis
After breakfast this morning, head to Memphis’s most iconic site – Graceland! Elvis’s former home and his final resting place, a visit to Graceland is like stepping back into the 1970s, with a glamourous and kitschy twist. Then it’s time for a change of pace as you leave Graceland and visit the National Civil Rights Museum at the former Lorraine Motel – where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated – for a dose of history that is both confronting and inspirational. The rest of the afternoon is free for your own discoveries.

• Day 4: New Orleans
Today you’ll be road-tripping from Memphis to New Orleans, arriving in the afternoon. Jazz is not just a part of the city’s history – it’s alive and kicking today. Your local guide will show you some of their favourite venues, with time to grab a beer along the way. The evening is yours to further explore this fascinating city – your leader will have some great recommendations on where to grab a bite to eat and listen to more live music.

• Day 5: New Orleans
This morning, pay a visit to the Whitney Plantation where you’ll learn about what life was like for those enslaved on a Louisiana sugarcane plantation. Then you’re in for a real treat – not only famed for its music scene, the food in New Orleans is some of the best in the country. Today you’ll learn about Creole and Cajun cuisine at a local cooking school and find out how to create one of the region’s most beloved dishes, then tuck into the finished product for dinner.

• Day 6: New Orleans
Just like a good song, your adventure must come to an end, with things wrapping up this morning.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:

Walk in famous footsteps at the ‘Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll’
Discover a kitschy world of Southern glitz and glamour at Graceland
Get to know the real New Orleans during a Jazz tour
Learn to cook a classic New Orleans Cajun feast for a true taste of Louisiana
Visit the Whitney Plantation

Discover top places to stay, exciting tours, and unforgettable events in Tennessee, and popular cities like Memphis, and Nashville.