24 Day Southern USA Road Trip
 

Hi Fodors Forumites!

My partner and I have recently purchased a 17ft campervan and are planning a 24 day trip around the South. We live in Montreal, Canada and we're in our early 30's. We like good food, music, culture and hiking/visiting National Parks.

Here is our itinerary so far. We still have a few days to play with and are looking for suggestions. We know there is a lot of driving and we're OK with that!

Charleston and Savannah are not on this list - we'll be doing that trip later on in the year.

Day 1: Montreal - Louisville

Day 2: Louisville - Nashville (taking in some towns along the Bourbon trail)

Day 3 - 4: Nashville

Day 5: Nashville - Memphis

Day 6 - 7: Memphis

Day 8: Memphis - Clarksdale

Day 9: Clarksdale - Natchez

Day 10: Natchez - New Orleans

Day 11 - 14: New Orleans

Day 15: New Orleans - Great Smoky National Park

Day 16 - 17: GSNP

Day 18: GSNP - Asheville

Day 19 - 20: Asheville

And we still have 4 days to play with.

We know we will miss the Kentucky Derby and the NO Jazz Fest but we have to be at work in May.

Where would you add extra days? Is there anything else we must see along the route?

Thanks for your help!

It's over 900 miles from Montreal to Louisville KY. Could you stop and see Niagara /Horseshoe Falls and spend a night near Buffalo or Presque Isle State Park near Erie PA?
On the way back from Asheville, spend a night near Gettysburg PA. Driving a campervan is not equal to driving a car.Anything more than 450 miles is a very long day depending on the size of camper.

I would add another day from Montreal to Louisville, another day actually in Louisville or Kentucky in general (Mammoth Cave?), and another day to get from NO to GSMNP.

It seems you have a lot of city visits planned with an RV? Or maybe I not understanding what a campervan is. My only thought is to plan for where you are going to park the vehicle in all the cities you will be visiting.

I agree with Betsy. Louisville has lots of attractions, museums, and good restaurants, including two historic homes. Locust Grove is the last home of Gen. George Rogers Clark of Revolutionary War fame and founder of the city. Farmington is based on a design by Thomas Jefferson and was visited by a young Abraham Lincoln.

Mammoth Cave National Park is located off I-65 between Louisville and Bowling Green on the way to Nashville.

Sorry i should of been clear with what we are driving.

It is a 17ft van. No bigger then what we see most of the tradies driving here in Montreal. If you have ever driven a panel van its akin to that but with a giant roof. Maybe a tad more stressful in the cities due to parking but on the highway its no problems.

We have places to stay/park near the centre of town in all of the cities but Louiseville (e.g Vanderbuilt Uni in Nash and 2 miles from French quarter in Midtown NOLA) so we will only use the van to reach places that are inconveniant for public transport.