Hi all,
My boyfriend and I are interested in taking 2 weeks to explore the Southern USA, grown from a long love of literature like Carson McCullers, Kathryn Stockett, Steinbeck et al - and the outdoors.
A few years ago I did a road trip from NY to LA that took in the midwest, Wyoming, Dakotas, Grand Tetons, Yosemite, Death Valley, Bodie etc and was spoiled for the variety of things.

We're still hoping on this trip, to be able to:
- camp/ log cabin in a gorgeous national park
- see sleepy towns and drink whiskey on the porch (!)
- see some cities
- a good beach

Can anyone recommend a route? We'll be flying in from London and thinking of starting or finishing in New Orleans, but open to suggestions. Thanks!

Where do you plan to fly into. I highly recommend the E coast including the Outber Banks in NC down to Pawley's Island, SC, spend a few nights in Charleston, SC and a couple of nights in Savannah, GA. You could then head to Asheville, NC for a night or two and visit the historic Biltmore Estate and drive W for a few nights near Gatlingburg, TN visiting the Great Smoky Mountain NP. Drive on to Nashville, TN for music and then to Memphis for blues and BBQ. Head S on # 61 the blues highway to Clarksdale, MS and on to NOLA.

VISIT THE DELTA..........

http://www.visitthedelta.com/

What time of year are you planning on traveling. this area can be incredibly hot in midsummer - but very pleasant in spring or fall.

Time of year will definitely affect recommendations. When are you planning to visit?

I'll help on one specialty of mine.

> camp/ log cabin in a gorgeous national park

After you've seen the Black Hills, the Tetons, Yellowstone (is that what you meant to write, or did you ALSO visit Yosemite?) and Death Valley; the national parks in the South may seem a bit less gorgeous. Places like the Everglades and the Great Smoky Mountains DO have their beauty, but it's not "knock your socks off at first sight" glorious views. If Virginia is deep enough in the South for you, then the drive from Shenandoah NP to Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smoky Mountains NP will give you as much mountain beauty as your likely to have. Although the views
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pr77x/5...57626493804109
aren't as good as those in the Tetons, your camping may include breakfast with wild deer.
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/6/50...ional_Park.jpg

Do try to visit the Mississippi Delta starting at Clarksdale and working south. In Clarksdale stop the the Delta Blues Museum (if the renovation work in done) and the Madidi restaurant. It was, at least when we there there in 2010, partly owned by actor Morgan Freeman.
Oxford is another interesting place the City Grocery restaurant on the square is very good. You can visit Falkner's home if that is of interest.
Also the plantation homes in and around Natchez are worthwhile stops.
If you do the Delta be sure to check out the "Tamale Trail" for some very different food.

Flexible on dates, sometime between June - Sept for 2 weeks. Airport not decided yet either but will have to be a main city that we can get to from london. This will be a big trip for us that we've been talking about vaguely for years. Will there be enough exciting/varied things to see? Should we think about something that starts farther away? Excuse my post-midnight ramblings!

You could actually choose from scads of options, all with various emphases (New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Richmond, Colonial Williamsburg, Charleston, Savannah, Atlanta, Montgomery, Asheville, Miami, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Sarasota, St. Augustine, Key West, Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Everglades National Park, North Carolina Outer Banks area, and numerous smaller communities come to mind -- have been to several but not all of these). Your best bet is probably to research the options, see what appeals most to you, and try to cobble together an itinerary that will give you some reasonable time in a few places. I'd then suggest putting up a suggested itinerary and ask for further advice.

Coming from the UK, I would come as early in the summer as possible. Southerners are used to the sometimes extreme heat and humidity, but the later in the summer you get, the hotter and more humid it will be, and there's a good chance you'd be miserable. In June, it stands a good chance of being hot, but the humidity usually isn't too bad yet.

Many of the South's major cities have, at minimum, a connecting flight to Atlanta or another airport, so getting here and back really isn't a problem unless you must have a nonstop flight. In addition to Atlanta, USAir flies direct to Charlotte (or at least they used to), which would be a decent starting point for the Smokies or to drive to the beach (less than four hours to Charleston).

Gorgeous national park: Someone up thread noted that the parks on the east side of the US don't have the "wow factor" that the Rockies or Yellowstone do, and they were absolutely right to do so. The Smokies are the most visited national park in the US, and they're beautiful, but in a much more understated way. It's easy to rent a cabin or camp and relax there, though. If you wanted to start there, you could fly into Asheville (for the North Carolina side) or Knoxville (for the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Tennessee side). For either one of those you'd have to connect somewhere. Gatlinburg is very touristy but once you get past it, the park is beautiful.

For the beach, excluding non-panhandle Florida you've got a few options. There's Myrtle Beach (tourist hotspot) and the Florida panhandle/Gulf Shores area of Alabama. Personally I'd pick Charleston/Savannah and their outlying islands. Those two cities are quintessentially Southern and have tons of history, great food, and things to do. They're also very close to the beach. Depending on your interests, you could rent a condo on Hilton Head or Kiawah Island for a week and make a day trip or two to Charleston, or you could stay in Charleston and spend a day or two at the beach. (The thing about renting houses or condos on the beach is that many of them do weeklong rentals, especially in the summer, so you'd either have to look hard to find a more flexible one or dedicate half your stay to the beach.)

"See some cities" - It's hard to give much advice without knowing what kind of cities you want to see. Interested in music? I'd say to definitely make Nashville and Memphis part of your itinerary in addition to New Orleans (and, given your interest in whiskey, a day trip to the Jack Daniels distillery). If you're more interested in the beach or lots of history, prioritize Charleston and Savannah. Do you want to include Florida? Geographically it's an outlier - it's a long state and can add a lot of transportation time if you want to visit places like Key West or the Everglades, so you'd need to incorporate that.

Sleepy towns can be had basically anywhere in the South. We are very good at sleepy towns. They're not all sleepy in a romantic sort of way, though. I'm guessing you're looking for a "shops gathered 'round the main square, everybody knows each other" kind of place?

There are lots of options for flying in/out. We did London last year and got a great rate out of Charlotte NC.
Out of Charlotte you could go to Black Mountain NC (really small town) for arts and crafts and hiking. Asheville NC-(great food, great smaller town, Biltmore Estate). Asheville has gotten lots of good write ups on this site. The Smokey Mountains are an easy drive from Asheville.
I would recommend Charleston SC and/or Savannah SC for beach areas and seeing the beautiful homes. Watch to book early as this is when schools start letting out and the rates go up dramatically.
I did the drive across Tennessee last summer to see Nashville (Ryman Theater, Country Music Hall of Fame, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, and lots of great music/bars). In Memphis we did all the "Rock and Roll" stuff, art museums, and the Peabody ducks. We had great food and heard great blues music. We stayed at Talbot heirs Guest house talbothouse.com/
You could then drive toward New Orleans and hit some of the Natchez Trace (I have never done this).
If I knew more specifically of what you are interested in I will be glad to look more things up for you.

ba.com LON ATL carrentals.com Great Smokies NP
Nashvelle for Grand Old Opry scenictrace.com
down to Natchezthen neworleansonline.com
over to Boloxi for some Hard Rock Casino on
to orangebeach.com villagetannin.com terrycove.com
for some beautiful beach then up to Montgomery
to Atlanta. priceline.com nice hotels around flights
but mostly just book on the fly for great deals.

classic.mapquest.com directions great map.

You will have a blast!

At 6,593' elevation, Mount LeConte is the third highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. LeConte Lodge is located near the summit at 6,360'.

www.leconte-lodge.com

Great place to goin the Smokies
if you can swing it on your way...

Gosh, I'm so touched at all the replies. Thank you! I will take a look at all of the suggestions in depth and come back with some example itinerary this weekend. I think we will probably fly out early Sept by the way.

Just FYI, the first weekend in September is Labor Day weekend, which is a major travel holiday in the US. If you can arrange your trip to start on 4th September or later, you'll avoid the biggest crowds. This is especially true in places like Gatlinburg in the Smokies.

Yes Charlotte seems best to fly into.
My faves would be Charleston and(shores)
Savannah and(shores)
Asheville
Smokies

VERY good replies BTW...excellent!

OK guys, I'm really in a dilemma: to go either West of the Blue Mountains or East. By West I mean to Nashville and Jack Daniels county, OR East to Savannah and Charleston. We will only have time for one, especially as we're travelling NE from NOLA.

I think you will find much more to actually stop and see and enjoy east of the Appalachians with shorter distances. You'll have lovely beaches, some historic sites, and if you want, some mountains.
There is a lot of distances between stuff west of the Smokies (Nashville, Kentucky, etc.down to NOLA). Charlotte has direct flights to London I believe, and you are 3 hours from Charleston, for example. You could head that way, and then make a loop up to Asheville (for the mountains) and back to Charlotte.
Leconte Lodge would be nice but it is booked a year in advance. Lots of other places to go however.
We don't have the distilleries, but you can sho' nuff buy it and sit on a porch rockin' it out!!! y'all come, now. LOL

I agree. We don't have a bourbon factory in Charleston but we DO have this:
http://fireflyvodka.com/splash/?redi...3F756E91EB0B8F

Yum. Yum.

Charlotte does have direct flights and customs there is SO much easier than at larger airports.

I agree as well! You can't miss Charleston and the coastal areas there. Charlotte is a great airport to go in and out of....even has a local wine bar for the wait.

Did anyone mention that you are visiting during the hottest and most humid quarter of the year? I'd visit as early in June or as late in September your schedule will allow. My choice would be September but the risk of hurricanes is higher.

Otherwise fabulous suggestions for your trip which sounds like a great adventure! I've flown Delta and USAir from Charlotte to Gatwick a few times with no issues. Good hub to other points south as others have said.