Drive Chicago to New Orleans via Memphis
 

Hi There, I am from Ireland and I hope to vacation in Chicago for a few days before driving to New Orleans, possibly via Memphis. Does anyone have recommendations for the route to take, places to stay along the way, places to eat in any of the cities we visit etc? I would really appreciate some local knowledge on this one! thank you

If you didn't want the hassle of dropping off a rental car in a city where you did not rent it, consider riding the "City of New Orleans" Amtrak train to Memphis from Chicago.
The Peabody Hotel looks good for a once in a lifetime stay.
http://www.peabodymemphis.com/
Either rent a car in Memphis to drive to New Orleans or continue a day or two later on the train.
Coming from the EU you may or may not have to pay a drop off fee if you return a car where you did not rent it.
You do not really need a rental car to see most of New Orleans. This sounds like a great trip to several great cities.If you do rent a car plan on driving the Natchez Trace

Some good advice there thank you so much. I will check out the train option as the one way fee unfortunately does apply and it's very expensive! I'm not familiar with the Natchez Trace but I will investigate.

Although I'm familiar with this area (born Chicago, lived Illinois) haven't taken Amtrak but think it is a good idea for you. Yes, Memphis is a good place to visit as well as Clarksdale (blues museum), Vicksburg (Civil War history) Natchez, etc. Depending on route. And of course NO itself.

BTW, do you know "The City of New Orleans" song?
P.S. Would rather be in Ireland.
Bill in Boston

The City of New Orleans leaves Chicago Union Station every night at 8:00PM and arrives in Memphis about 6:30 the next morning. The fare for 2 in coach is $194. Adding a roomette is $106 for a total of $300. There are generally about 3 times as many people in coach as there are in sleepers.
Renting the car in Memphis and returning there after seeing the country between there and New Orleans is probably your best option.
Make a list of what you want to see in each city.

Spend a few nights in Memphis. Stay downtown so you can walk to all the attractions. Visit Beale Street's great bars and music clubs. Take # 61 the blues highway S to NOLA. Stop in Clarksdale, MS home of the blues and stay at Shack Up Inn in an original plantation shack. Stop at Greenwood, MS at the 4 * Alluvian Hotel owned by Viking Range. Spend a night in Vicksburg, MS and visit the antebellum homes and National Military Park. Spend a few nights in historic Natchez, MS and visit the antebellum homes there.
Then on to NOLA. Stay in the FQ and enjoy your visit.

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

http://www.visitthedelta.com/

Thanks for all of that. On the basis of all of that information, if we took the "City of New Orleans" train to Memphis (unfortunately I don't know the song -yet!) would it be a good idea to base ourselves there for several days, rent a car and visit some of the places like Clarkesdale, Vicksburg, Natchez etc on day trips? Is a car a good idea whilst staying in the city of Memphis? I really appreciate all these great replies.

The drop off charge on rental cars is always very high but I would research one that's not too high and rent a car in Memphis. Tour Graceland and Sun Studios. Visit Beale Street and enjoy the music and BBQ. Head S to Clarksdale. Stay at Shack Up Inn in a authentic plantaion shack. Head S to Vicksburg and Natchez then on to NOLA. Stay in the FQ in NOLA and walk to all the great attractions.

We drove from Chicago to New Orleans last April (2011)! I won't go into detail about that since you already planned your trip by train, but I will just say: spend as much time outside of the French Quarter as possible if you really want to fall in love with the city. Each neighborhood is different and has its own flavor of special. If you will have a car go to the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park. It's just south of the city and it was more amazing than the swamp tour in my 2010 trip to NOLA, and obviously, much cheaper.
http://www.nps.gov/jela/index.htm

I'm going back to New Orleans in May 2012, and you'll most likely see me on Frenchman St. or Magazine. Yes! Check out some live music ahead of time and make sure to go to a show!

Oh, restaurants:
Chicago:
Kuma's Corner (burgers)- locals will wait 1+ hours to be seated to get one of these bad boys
Hoosier Mama (Pie)
Violet Hour (amazing alcohol)

Memphis:
Charles Vergos' Rendezvous (I don't eat meat so I don't get it, but we HAD to stop here on our way back home from New Orleans to Chicago. Something has to be said for the fact that you enter through an entrance in an alley.. Gotta love back alley BBQ.)

New Orleans:
Juan's Flying Burrito (Mexican)
Sucre (Sweets)
Lil Dizzy's (southern food, apparently the best fried chicken)

My trip reports for Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans. For the non-food topics, you'll find actual what-I-did attractions reports near the ends of the threads:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...experience.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...y-184065-2.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...experience.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-itinerary.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ack-wanted.cfm

Good information offered by previous posters as well.

Littleman's right that you can experience many of Memphis's good attractions without a car if you stay downtown. Note also that there's a shuttle service that runs between the Rock and Soul Museum (close by Beale Street downtown), Graceland, and Sun Studio.

Excellent thanks everyone. I will definitely have a car for the Memphis to NO part of the trip so we hope to visit some of the suggested places en route!

So having done some research and using these great suggestions I have a rough itinerary planned that I would love your comments/input on. We are flying in to Chicago and staying for 2 nights (that gives us almost 3 days there) then taking the overnight train to Memphis.
We hope to spend three nights in Memphis and visit Gibson factory, Beale St, Sun Studio, Graceland and other sights and generally get a sense of the place.
We will then rent a car and drive to Clarksdale, perhaps stay at the Shack up Inn. Any suggestions for sights along the way or what else to visit while we are there?
Next morning we will head to Vicksburg and Natchez and perhaps stay the night in one or other of these places. Again suggestions of the best one welcome. We are really interested in historic sites and nature or areas of great natural beauty.
Next stop New Orleans for 3 nights where we will meet up with friends and see and eat as much as possible!
We then hope to drive up towards Nashville and pick up the Natchez Trace for some of the drive and hopefully stay for a couple of overnights in different places along the way.
When we reach Nashville we plan to spend 2 nights there and then drive back to Memphis airport, drop off the rental car (saving $300 in one way fees!!) and fly back to Ireland.
How does this sound folks? Any tips on sights/stop off points along the way would be much appreciated!
We drove through a large part of Canada a few years ago and we hired a 'Gypsy' guide for the car - basically a GPS that gave you a commentary on interesting places to visit en route. Does anyone know of something similar for the Delta area? Thanks a lot.

What time of year are you traveling? Memphis and New Orleans have many food, art, and cultural festivals during the year. Might be fun to drop in on a few of those.

Yes! I like the plan. You may want to detour through Oxford Mississippi home of Faulkner and University of Mississippi. Great little town. One night at the shack up inn in Clarksdale will be an experience. Go to Ground Zero for music. Then spend a night in Natchez (wife from there we go often). Skip Vicksburg in my opinion. Stay at one of the antebellum homes in Natchez. I can give you recs if you decide to go. Natchez is full of characters and beautiful architecture. About 10 miles away in ferriday, Louisiana is the Jerry Lee Lewis museum. It has incredible memorabilia (John lennons piano, Elvis stuff, dolly parton stuff) and it's just too weird for words. Then drive down highway 61 through St. Francisville. Beautiful drive until you get to Baton Rouge.

Then NOLA, our home. Go to Frenchmen Street for music or clubs Uptown. Not Bourbon Street. Not sure why someone recommended Juan's for dinner. Why go to new Orleans for Tex Mex? If you get homesick there's a new Irish bar and restaurant called Irish House. Have fun!

We are travelling at the beginning of June so if we happen upon some festivals that would be wonderful! @BKD I would definitely take your advice to skip Vicksburg and stop in Natchez for the night - it has to be one of the other! If you have some recs for antebellum homes I would appreciate it. My husband is a real music nut so the Jerry Lee Lewis museum will most likely make it into the itinerary :-) Believe me, I would never be homesick for an Irish restaurant with all of the wonderful creole and cajun offerings to choose from!

In Natchez, I can recommend Dunleith, Monmouth, Twin Oaks, The Burn. There are more, but I've stayed in all except the Burn. Twin Oaks rooms are kind of small but it's fine and the owner is a chef who grew up in Natchez and had a restaurant in San Francisco and Alaska (I believe). Friend of my wife, actually I guess they're all friends of my wife. The Guest House is good, too, located downtown though it only takes about 2 minutes to get anywhere by car. Check out the Corner Bar where locals go until the wee hours. Let me check on one other for you. I forgot that my brother in law's girlfriend runs a B&B right on the river. I'll get the info. If they do nightly rentals, it's very, very nice.

Wow that's great BKD thank you for all of your advice.

Fe, the name of the B&B in Natchez is River Edge Guest House. It's Under the Hill a small area of very old buildings next to the Mississippi River. There are a few bars and restaurants there. We stayed there last time we were there and it's extremely nice. The contact is Gail and the email address is [email protected]. Gail's a sweetheart and she'll take great care of you.

In NO, to eat where the locals eat and step out of the twenty-first century (not an intentional time-lapse--they just never left the Sixties): "Please You" is a little cafe on St. Charles (on the trolleycar line, I think $1.25 US each way) with Greek roots, good food and low prices.
Also, Fiorella's near the French Market was mainly frequented by locals prior to Katrina, but may have updated somewhat since. Great Po-Boys there.
For a louder, lively atmosphere with authentic NO food, you can also try Acme Oyster House near Bourbon St. (724 Iberville St.). And you really should spend an evening at Mulate's where the dancefloor is always open (live music) and the food is great (authentic Cajun). (the Wall Street Journal called it one of the most underrated in NO) It's at 201 Julia Street, on a corner not far from the Riverwalk. All of these are on our to-do list whenever we go--all have great food at reasonable prices and an enjoyable atmos.
But one word of warning--it get pretty sultry in NO in June, so you might want to be sure to have cool clothes and comfortable shoes. Parking is extremely limited and the hotels don't mind taking their share to house your car (although if you drive around before checking in, you may find a do-it-yourself-lot nearby that is more affordable). Either way, you need to get out and walk to really get the feel of the quarter. Have fun!

Mena's Palace is a local's favorite that serves NOLA comfort food for breakfast and lunch. They serve 25/30 different po boys. Johnny's Po Boy's is in the FQ on St. Louis and has outstanding po boys. El Gato Negro has great Mexican food using local ingredients. Clover Grill is open 24/7 for breakfast and good burgers and it's inexpensive. Rampart Food Store has good po boys. Antoine's, Mr. B's and Luke both have a 3 course prix fixe lunch for $20.00 if you want to step up a notch. Antoine's has 25 cent martini's at lunch. Luke has 50 cent oysters and half price drinks each weekday from 3 PM to 6 PM. Dine at the bar if you like. Domenica in The Roosevelt Hotel has half price pizza and half price drinks between 3 PM and 6 PM every weekday. Evelyn's Place is a great dive bar a block off Canal on Chartres Street with good gumbo and muffaletta's.
Mena's Palace @ 200 Chartres St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 525 - 0217.
http://www.menaspalace.com/
Johnny's Po Boys @ 511 Saint Louis St., New Orleans, LA 504 - 524 - 8129.
http://www.johnnyspoboy.com/
El Gato Negro @ 81 French Market Place, New Orleans, LA 504 - 525 - 9752. http://elgatonegronola.com/
Clover Grill @ 900 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 598 - 1010.
http://www.clovergrill.com/
Rampart Food Store @ 1700 North Rampart Street, New Orleans, LA 504 - 944 - 7777.
Antoine's @ 713 Saint Louis St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 581 - 4422.
http://www.antoines.com/
Mr. B's Bistro @ 201 Royal St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 523 - 2078.
http://www.mrbsbistro.com/index2.php
Luke Restaurant @ 333 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 378 - 2840.
http://www.lukeneworleans.com/

Domenica @ 123 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 648 - 6020.
http://www.domenicarestaurant.com/
Evelyn's Place @ 139 Chartres, New Orleans, LA 504 - 522 - 2216.

Commerce Restaurant is a couple of blocks W of Canal in walking distance of FQ and has good inexpensive lunch. Daisy Dukes serves good breakfast, lunch and dinner open 24/7. Yo Mama's Bar and Grill has good inexpensive food and great burgers. The Trolley Stop Cafe on St. Charles Avenue has outstanding breakfast and lunch that's inexpensive. Go for the early bird $2.99 special. Angeli on Decatur has cheap late night eats such as pizza, burgers, sandwiches and pasta with a Mediterranean flair. Cafe Maspero serves very good reasonable NOLA cuisine also. Coop's is a great NOLA dive joint that serves outstanding comfort food and cold drinks. You can also watch the game there on their many TV's.
Commerce Restaurant @ 300 Camp St., New Orleans, LA 504 - 561 - 9239.
Daisy Duke's @ 121 Chartres Street, New Orleans, LA 504 - 561 - 5171.
http://www.daisydukesrestaurant.com/
Yo Moma's Bar and Grill @ 727 Saint Peter St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 522 - 1125.
http://www.yomamasbarandgrill.com/
Trolley Stop Cafe @ 1923 Saint Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 504 - 523 - 0090.
Angeli on Decatur @ 1141 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 504 - 566 - 0077.
Cafe Maspero @ 601 Decatur Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 504 - 523 - 6250.
http://www.neworleansonline.com/dire...?locationID=83

Coops Place @ 1109 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 525 - 9053.
http://www.coopsplace.net/

Mimi's in the Marigny and Port O Call are fine places for inexpensive dining. The burgers at Port O Call are outstanding. Buffa's Lounge has good tamales. Three Muses has great music, cold drinks and good food.

Mimi's in the Marigny @ 2601 Royal St., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 872 - 9868.
Port of Call @ 838 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 523 - 0120.
http://www.portofcallneworleans.com/
Buffa's Lounge @ 1001 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans, LA. 504 - 949 - 0038.
http://www.buffaslounge.com/
Three Muses @ 536 Frenchmen Street, New Orleans, LA 504 – 298 – 8746.
http://www.thethreemuses.com/

hi again, I have been trying to plan my chosen itinerary but we have hit a snag. No room at the Shack Up Inn for the time we are passing through Clarksdale. Does anyone have any other suggestions of either a nice B&B style of accommodation there or another town en route from Memphis to Natchez where we could overnight? Also recommendations for places in Nashville would be appreciated. @ BKD: thanks for the Natchez B&B info I am definitely going to get in touch with Gail there and try to reserve a room on our chosen night.

I just wanted to give you a heads up that the CMA Fest will be June 7-10 in Nashville. You might be planning to get here after that, but if those dates cover when you plan to be in town, you should know that it's a huge event downtown and hotels are probably pretty full already. If you're into country music at all it could be fun to go, but if you aren't, I'd avoid downtown - the crowds are crazy.

Normally, though, I'd recommend a hotel downtown if you plan to do typical tourist things. There are lots of chain hotels. The Hermitage is great but expensive.

You don't say when you are traveling, which will greatly affect what you can experience.

About Chicago:

Chicago is a world-class destination for cuisine. With so many great restaurants, I would hate to have you dine somewhere which doesn't give you the full magnitude of the city's restaurant scene.

Quite frankly, I would be very, very sad if Chicago was only known for deep-dish style pizza, Chicago-style hotdogs, or Italian Beef sandwiches. Know how Chicago-style hotdogs came about? Developed so the very poor citizens could get at least some vegetables in their daily diet with their sausages. So, absolutely nothing wrong with getting one - but please consider the level at which Chicago is now known around the world.

And, for your own sake, you should really take a look where these restaurants recommended to you are located in the city, because you won't have a lot of time to fritter away traveling to them.

Kuma's Corner. Quite frankly, I don't know of *ANY* locals who would wait 1.5 hours for service there. Tourists, yes. Surbanites, yes. But not locals. That's because they know when not to go - specifically during weekends and during the busiest period for lunch. (P.S. If you have no problem with wasting up to 1.5 hours waiting on service, then go to a Chicago institution such as Hot Doug's. Still, I would personally never recommend going there with such a short amount of time at your disposal.)

I would be happy to make some restaurant suggestions, based on what you think you would be doing and where in the city you'll be. If you would post back once you have made a tentative agenda...

I truly recommend that you use the FREE Chicago Greeter service. You can choose your tour by either neighborhood or by interest. Since you aren't familiar with the various neighborhoods of Chicago (these are not the suburbs), a good place to start is by looking at the Explore Chicago website, which gives you a brief overview of them. Again, with your short period of stay here (and I assume the possibility of jet lag), you'd probably want to stay fairly close to the downtown area (the "Loop"). I suspect that you might have some interest in the Gold Coast, Old Town and Lincoln Park neighborhoods - at least the area closest to the lakefront (around Lincoln Park, the park) and/or the DePaul University area, which is about a mile inland from the lake or possibly the Loop.

The really excellent thing about the Chicago Greeter service is that these are lead by locals - and, I think in the past, they provide you with a 1 day CTA pass, which allows you unlimited transportation throughout the entire city for 24 hours. So, you have someone very familiar with the area showing you around and answering your questions as they arise (and who doesn't forget to ask something until the last moment?).

When you go to the Chicago Greeter website, you'll find that there are also InstaGreeter tours of various areas of the city, including the Loop (as well as Pilsen, Old Town, Hyde Park and 1 other which I cannot remember offhand). These would be tours in a group for which you don't have to make specific reservations in advance.

In addition, if you are coming when they are running, truly consider the Chicago Architecture Foundation's River Cruise - although they have many fine walking tours. The city developed around the Chicago River and almost all of the architectural gems associated with Chicago, which you have seen, are located along the banks.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation's main location, the ArchiCenter, is located across S. Michigan Ave. at the south end of the Art Institute. Go there. Not only do they have a nifty gift shop with many quality items, but you can view all of the tours for that day on their board. And, if it is still open when you are here, view the Chicago Model City (you'll see information about it on their website.)

Also, during the course of the summer months, the Chicago History Museum conducts various tours, mostly those neighborhoods around the museum itself. The Chicago History Museum is on N. Clark Street, just south of North Avenue. I mentioned the Old Town, Gold Coast and Lincoln Park neighborhoods above. There is the point where you can *EASILY* enter all three. The CHM is in the Gold Coast, and across the street (to the east) from Old Town as well as across the street (to the south) of the south end of Lincoln Park. Can't get any easier than that to visit all three.

So, now getting to the rest of your visit. I've traveled the Great River Road to a short distance south of St. Louis. I meant to go all the way to the Delta one year, but spring floods scratched that plan. So the rest of the journey is still on my "to do" list.

However, one of the things which I myself would look into is Civil War reenactments. The American Civil War (or War Between the States, depending on the source) is a seminal event in American History. Especially in light of the special anniversaries involved (for example, the Battle of Shiloh was fought April 6 and 7th, 1862 - 150 years ago). Shiloh National Military Park is to the east of Memphis as a point of reference.

Of course, this is just an example thrown out for you, but if you have any interest in this very sad but extremely interesting period of American history, please look into it. I'm going to give you a page from the National Park Service so you can look further into the subject (click on the Civil War Sesquicentennial hyperlink on the left side of the page - then continue on with the hyperlinks on the bottom of the next page for Tennessee and Mississippi), if it interests you. www.nps.gov/shil/index.htm

Sorry, I forgot to give you some websites:

www.explorechicago.org
www.chicagogreeter.com
www.architecture.org
chicagohistory.org

Hope these help you during the Chicago leg of your tour.

Hi exiledprincess, I will be in Chicago from June 3rd to 6th, then on to Memphis for 3 days, then a couple of days en route via Natchez/Clarksdale. 3 or 4 nights in New Orleans June 11th to 14th then Nashville via the Natchez Trace Parkway for a few days. It seems like a really busy time to visit as we are finding difficulty in sourcing reasonably priced central accommodation in Chicago. Thank you for all of the excellent links.

The cheap place that my DW and I stay in Chicago. This is the largest HI hostel I have stayed in. http://www.hichicago.org/
It is an easy walk or bus ride to the lake, museums, Michigan Ave. etc.

Chicago is a big convention city. The American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting is scheduled for that time in early June (over 31,000 attendees) as well as a couple smaller conventions. These conventions will affect the availability and pricing for hotels.

You don't have to stay in a hostel, as there are other options to explore first.

You might look a little further afield than the "downtown" (the Loop), River North or the Mag. Mile. Perhaps the Belden-Stratford in Lincoln Park (about 15-20 minutes north of the top of the Mag. Mile by bus route #151 - but right across the street from Lincoln Park, the park, including the Lincoln Park Zoo and Lincoln Park Conservatory, and you can easily walk to the Mag. Mile through the park, if you wish). Or perhaps the Days Inn Chicago, which is located in the Lakeview neighborhood, immediately across the street from the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Both of these are in two of the better neighborhoods with many dining and evening entertainment choices - they're just a little further away.

Also, you could consider a B&B such as the Gold Coast Guest House or the Flemish House of Chicago in the Gold Coast neighborhood (the last would be my preference if you are looking for a great location).

I hope that you realize that it will already be pretty hot down in the south in June.

Fe, too bad about the Shack Up Inn. Did you try sending them an email? They may be able to help you find another place. Must be something going on there at that time.

Honestly, if you can't stay at the Shack Up, you may just want to skip Clarksdale. The Shack Up is part of the "charm", though others may disagree.

I do recommend that you go through Oxford, home of William Faulkner and the University of Mississippi. It has a lovely square with restaurants and small nightclubs and the University of Mississippi is a really beautiful campus. There are B&B's and the nicest people you would ever want to meet. It's an hour south of Memphis.

If it were me, I'd head straight to Natchez and spend a couple of nights there. If you wanted to slowly work your way down to New Orleans, take HWY 61 to St. Francisville, LA and spend the night in one of the many plantation homes. That's a beautiful area and you could tour several of the houses. That would leave you at the most a 2 hour drive to New Orleans.

Check the Five and Dime in Clarksdale.

The Lofts at the Five and Dime @ 211 Yazoo Avenue, Clarksdale, MS 888 - 510-9604.
http://www.fiveanddimelofts.com/

If you have time stop by Greenwood, MS where you will find some outstanding casual local dining at Lusco's, Crystal Grill and Giardinia's. Giardinia's is in The Alluvian Hotel which is a 4 * hotel owned by Viking Range. The Crystal has good plate lunches, seafood and steaks. Giardinia's and Lusco's both have outstanding seafood and steaks. Lusco's is old style in a fairly rough neighborhood but safe with lots of history and famous names that have been there. Everyone dines in a booth with a curtain same as Giardinia's. Spend the night at The Alluvian and dine at Giardinia's or Lusco's for dinner.
Alluvian Hotel @ 318 Howard Street, Greenwood, MS 662 - 451 - 1500.
http://www.thealluvian.com/
Crystal Grill @ 423 Carrollton Ave.,Greenwood, MS 662 - 453 - 6530.
Giardinia's @ 314 Howard St., Greenwood, MS 662 - 455 - 4227.
http://www.thealluvian.com/restaurants.html
Lusco's @ 722 Carrollton Ave., Greenwood, MS 662 - 453 - 5365.