12 days in Louisiana, Tennessee etc, any suggestions for 2 Australians of where to go?
 

We are planning 12 days with a hire car next April, starting in New Orleans and probably finishing there too, but we could fly out of a different city if that makes more sense. We'd be keen on your suggestions of where to go, our interests include grand old buildings, beautiful countryside, picnics, walks, secondhand bookstores etc. Places on our list so far are the Natchez Trace, Memphis and Savannah. We're on a budget, the Aussie $ doesn't go far in the US these days, and our aim is to travel at a fairly leisurely pace.<BR>Thanks, Kay

Leave LOTS of time for Natchez. If returning near Mobile, see Bellengrath gardens.<BR><BR>http://www.natchezpilgrimage.com/house_tours.htm<BR><BR>

You would spend a lot of time driving to get to Savannah. New Orleans is a great start as is Natchez. You may want to also stop in Vicksburg &amp; take the Natchez Trace up towards Memphis. That should more than take up the majority of your 12 days. It is nearly 650km from New Orleans to Memphis. Check out natchezpilgrimage.com, that is the best way (&amp; only way in some cases) to see many of the old plantations. Make sure you stay in the French Quarter in New Orleans &amp; to cut costs you'll not really need a car while you're in New Orleans itself. Also check vicksburgcvb.org. I can't help w/Memphis but if you need suggestions/specifics for any of the places I have mentioned let me know.

topping

Dear Kay:<BR><BR>You can travel New Orleans, Natchez, Savannah, and Memphis in 12 days, but you cannot do this at &quot;a fairly leisurely pace&quot; because of the distances involved - you will spend most of your vacation on the Interstate<BR>highways! <BR><BR>A more relaxed itinerary might be a circular route starting in New Orleans, then driving through Baton Rouge - then on up to Natchez, and Vicksburg as suggested by other posters, then hustling back on I-55 through Mississippi to New Orleans to catch your flight back. (You could also depart from Jackson, Mississippi, but there might not be such a wide selection of flights there compared to New Orleans, and you may have to make more connections to whatever city your are departing the US from).<BR><BR>By the way, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is the old River Road along which several plantation homes are located, including possibly the most famous of them all - Oak Alley - which has been the setting for several movies and illustrated in countless tourist brochures. The house is not as well preserved as it might be, but the &quot;oak alley&quot; at Oak Alley has to be seen to be believed.<BR><BR>Another of my favorite Louisiana plantation homes is Rosedown, located in St. Francisville north of Baton Rouge. The house and extensive gardens are very well restored, and there is an oak alley there, too, though not quite in the same league as the one at Oak Alley.