belica

Hello to you all, me and my husband intend to visit the southeast of USA, during September, October, we're coming from Portugal, Europe, and that will be our fourth visit to the USA, but we need your help according hotels, what to visit, where to eat, etc, everything you find interesting to our plans. So here are the details of our plans:
1st day: lisbon (Portugal) - Miami (there's is a non stop flight of 10 hours
2nd day: rent a car and drive in direction of New Orleans, sleep in Talahassee;
3rd day: arrivint in New Orleans
4th and 5th days: New Orleans - visit the city, Algiers, Mississipi paddle boat, and never forget live music
6th day: go th Memphis
7th day: Memphis
8 th day: go to Nashville
9th day: Nashville
10th day: go to the Smooky Mountains
11th and 12th days: stay in the Smooky
13th day: travel to Miami and stay for the night in Augusta?
14th day: visit the Everglades
15th day: visit the Keys
16th day: Miami - Lisbon
I'm not sure if we need to stay more days in Memphis, or Nashville, please help us. We like to visit Parks, first time we visit Grand Canyon, but first we stayed in Las Vegas, we visit Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell, and it was great. The second time we went to Coorado (Rocky Mountains), Wyoming - Grand tetons and Yellowstone, it was huge. And it was your tips that helped us to plan our trips.This time we want to feel the spirit of jazz and blues, but we don't want to give up on parks, that's why we're goint to the Smoky's.
By the way we're 50 years old.
Thanks for your help.
Belica

qwovadis

Way too crammed you will be on the road all the time
carrentals.com out of MIA
classic.mapquest.com directions
Florida turnpike to Kissimmee FL visit there
Pensacola Fl the next day nice beaches there
Pensacola to Boloxi for Casinos then neworleansonline.com
then up to Natchez for river scenictrace.com to Nashville then
greatsmokymountains.org ATL Orlando MIA

All you have time for really

belica

Dear qwovadis thanks for the information. I'd already checked the site neworleansonline.com, I have some difficulties in Mashville and in Memphis, as well as im Miami (Evergldes and Keys), what to visit, where to stay, where to eat. I can stay more 1 or 2 days in each city.

jent103

You will definitely be spending a lot of time in the car, but if you're okay with that, the amount of time in each place is okay (for me, at least, though I'm not much help with Florida). You could definitely add a day to both Memphis and Nashville if you have it, but since they're relatively close together, you can do some sightseeing on your travel days. As far as where to stay and where to eat, it would be really helpful to know what your budget is for hotels and what sort of restaurants you'd like. What interests you about each city and caused you to add it to your trip?

Just for reference when you're searching online: It's the "Smoky Mountains" or the "Smokies," rather than Smooky.

williamscb13

There's a Mississippi Blues trail. Don't know much about it, but you should at least google it and find out if there's anything you want to sees along the way from New Orleans to Memphis.

I second the idea of stopping in Natchez.

spirobulldog

My favorite thing in and around New Orleans are the Historic Plantation Homes-roughly about an hour outside the city.
Stay at Nottoway Plantation, if you can.

Nashville-
See Country Music Hall of Fame, Maybe Grand Ole Opry
See The Hermitage
Eat at The Loveless Cafe-just outside the city
Las Paletas--Popsicles in Nashville-yep they are that good

Memphis
Blues City Cafe
Rendevouz
Sunday Brunch at The Peabody
Gus's Famous Fried Chicken

See the ducks at the Peabody
See Beale Street
Spend the day at Graceland/Elvis

Gretchen

I don't think there is a chance you can do the last part of that trip. You might see Key Largo, but that is hardly the Keys. Everglades--are you just taking the drive across?
It might make a LOT more sense to fly in and out of Atlanta. Florida is the outlier here, I think.
I'm not getting much vibe of really "seeing" the country rather than just passing through it.
I "guess" you have an interest in music with Memphis and Nashville. If not, there are a lot of other really neat places in the southeast you could touch on--the Carolina/Georgia coast.

BigRuss

I'd try to avoid flying into and out of Miami. First, the airport is a complete dump and customs will be a nightmare. Miami is the busiest US portal for flights to and from Latin America and US Customs is extra vigilant about drug trafficking and immigration violations at MIA. For both foreigners entering the country and Americans returning from outside the US, Miami is the American equivalent of Charles De Gaulle in Paris - an inefficient, crowded, dingy nightmare of a portal.

Second, Miami is 480 miles from Tallahassee and you lose a whole day of your limited travel time just driving (and driving and driving) across Florida. I agree it may make more sense to come in and out of Atlanta or connect through another city (like Houston or DFW, each of which is closer to New Orleans, and Iberia flies to DFW through its American Airlines codeshare), then travel around eastward and then leave out of Miami or Atlanta. Does Iberia not offer open jaw flight plans?

Gretchen

NOt to mention getting BACK down that long state. If you want to see Florida and somewhere else, fine. BUT not FL, New Orleans, Memphis and the Smokies. TOOOOO much
You gotta choose. It's a LONNNNNg way.

cferrb

Years ago we drove from Fort Lauderdale to New Orleans. It was two long days of driving, with an overnight in Tallahassee. I don't recommend it. If you can possibly just catch a connecting flight from Miami to New Orleans, you will save a bunch of time on the road. That way you can start in NO, do your trip up into Tennessee, and then, if you are committed to flying back out of Miami, drive back there via St. Augustine or somewhere interesting on the eastern coast of Florida.

belica

Thank you very much for all the information. We think it's easier and cheaper for us to travel directly from Lisbon to Miami, and then take a flight to New Orleans. As we come from Europe and it's not very usual for us to visit the States we have to profit the fact of being there and visit Miami as well, but we can stay more days. What do you think? Here is the new plan we made according to your informations:
1st day: Lisbon – Miami – New Orleans
we will arrive to NOLA about 6 p.m.: sunset in Woldenberg Park; have a drink or dinner in Napolean House Bar. Other options: Café Amélie or Port of Call

2nd day: breakfast in Café DuMonde, visit French Quarter, Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, the Presbytère, the French Market, Bourbon St., Royal St.
For lunch many options: a muffuletta at Central Grocery, Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, the Old Absinthe House or the Galatoire.
After lunch: take the Algiers Ferry to the west bank
Dinner: Deanie's or Oceana Grill, after dinner take a cab to Marigny in Frenchman Street and try the Snug Harbor or The Three Muses. Another option at French Quarter: Palm Court Jazz Café or a Hurricane at Pat O'Brien’s Bar, where we can have dinner as well.

3rd day: jazz brunch at Arnaud’s or at Commander’s Palace. Take a ride in the St. Charles Streetcar.
In the afternoon take the Steamboat Natchez in the Mississipi.
For dinner try a PO-BOY at Johny’s Po-Boy
But we would like to visit a cemetery, a plantation and Baton Rouge, what do you think about it?

4th day: travel to Memphis; Beale St. by night, dinner at B.B. King's Blues Club

5th day: Sunday Brunch at The Peabody, Ducks show at the Peabody, we don’ t have plans for the afternoon, perhaps Graceland, but everybody tells us that is better to spend a day over there.

6th day – Graceland

7th day: travel to Nashvillhe. Visit the Wildhorse Saloon, visit the bars in 2nd and Broadway; Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Grand Ole Opry; Country Music Hall of Fame,

8th day: Nashville

9th day: go to smoky mountains

10th, 11th – the smokies: Newfound Gap; Clingmans Dome; Cades Cove; Cataloochee; Roaring Fork; Cove Creek Road (Old Highway 284)

12th day – drive to Savanah

13th day – drive to Miami

14th day – visit the Everglades

15th day – visit the Keys

16th day – rest in Miami

17th day – Miami - Lisbon
About our budget hotels, do you think we can find double room under 120$/night? In New Orleans somebody told me not to stay at the French auarter, because is too noisy, but we prefer to stay in the center, because there are some places in NO that there are not safe.

jent103

If it interests you, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is very good. (Not being from the States, it may not interest you, but I thought I'd mention it.)

In Nashville - is the list for day 7 to cover over both days you're in town? The Opry is held at the Grand Ole Opry House, which is *not* downtown (where the rest of your list is). It would be tough to do that in one day, especially when your morning is spent driving from Memphis. Also, the Opry is only on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so you'll need to make sure you're in Nashville on one of those nights to see it. Touring the Ryman (downtown) or going to the Bluebird Cafe (in Green Hills) are also great tourist attractions.

As far as hotels - in Nashville I'd be surprised if you could find a decent hotel downtown for $120/night (though I live here, so maybe you can and I just don't know). Since you'll have a car, though, you can always stay in one of the suburbs and drive downtown if that's cheaper. Bellevue, Brentwood, Green Hills and by the airport would all be safe. (There's a Ramada Inn and one other hotel across the river from downtown - I would not stay there. They're awkward to get to and not in great areas.)

spirobulldog

Johnny's isn't open at night. It is a lunch spot as is most Poboy places. You can't visit the Keyes in a day really.

Arnauds only serves Brunch on Sundays. Otherwise, it is open only at night. Commanders Palace is open for lunch, but they only do Jazz Brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.