road trip
 

We are two Australians going to the golf in Augusta next year we need help to suggest a road trip leaving Augusta on Monday April 8 to be back in Atlanta on April 25 for our flight back to LA
to catch our flight back to Australia on April 26. Is it possible to visit the following cities Memphis, Nashville,Natchez,New Orleanes,up the coast with suggestions to arrive back in Atlanta total out 18 nights.
We don't have a set budget and would like some suggestions on quality accommodations, good restaurants and all types of scenery.

One option encompassing the places mentioned might be a US South road trip: Savannah (ca. 2 days), Charleston (ca. 3 days), a one-day drive, Nashville (ca. 2 days), Memphis (ca. 2 days), Natchez (ca. 2 days), New Orleans (ca. 4 days), drive back to Atlanta. Feel free to adjust as you think best.

Bachslunch didn't follow your desires because there are two cities taking up 28% of your time in BL's suggestion that you didn't mention. So let's start over.

The answer is that yes, it's easy to do Augusta to Nashville to Memphis to Natchez to New Orleans back to Atlanta.

Drive from Augusta and stay 3-4 nights or so in Nashville. If the Predators are in town, go to a hockey game because Nashville has embraced its hockey team and the games are nuts = make Aussie rugby crowds seem tame. Go to Memphis for whatever Memphis has (Beale Street, Blues, BBQ, Graceland, crime, etc). Travel through Mississippi down the river road to New Orleans (incl. Natchez) to see the plantations, Civil War battlefields, Angola Prison Museum (seriously - this is worth the detour and the time), etc.

In New Orleans, spend 5 nights checking out the whole city - French Quarter, French Market, Garden District, creepy overground cemeteries, Mardi Gras Museum, WWII Museum, Whitney Plantation (outside of town), and take a swamp tour. Check out the dates for Jazz Fest to make sure you won't overlap if you want to avoid crowds. Then you can go east through Gulfport and Mobile before turning north to Birmingham (civil rights history) and east back to Atlanta.

You're considering major cities, by and large, therefore quality accommodations are widely available and not giving a nightly budget means your guess is as good as ours.

"The golf in Augusta" is The Masters. Refer to it as such. We know who Jason Day is.

"Up the coast" to me suggested Savannah and Charleston as possibilities, and both are indeed good cities to visit -- and closer to Augusta also. No reason they have to be included, of course. Just a thought.

Some trip reports for these cities:

Savannah and Charleston, 3rd reply down.

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

New Orleans, scroll down near bottom.

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

New Orleans food.

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

Memphis, scroll down near bottom.

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

Memphis food.

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

Nashville, 4th reply down.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...st-in-list.cfm

Hope this is useful.

thanks to all replies can somebody give me the best directions after leaving Augusta to cover our total trip we would like to spend 2 nights in 9 cities or towns before arriving back in Atlanta.

And Big Russ you are so right ''The Masters "is the golf in Augusta

Well, you have six of your nine cities via my post, and that's a reasonable ordering for them. Any reason not to spend a couple days in Atlanta? There's plenty to do there, scroll down most of the way on this thread to see what I actually did in a visit there:

http://www.fodorstravel.com/communit...n-friendly.cfm

For me, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Charleston merit more than two days because there's lots to see. One could also spend more than two days in Nashville and Memphis depending on your interests. In fact, one could easily justify spending much of the time in New Orleans between the sheer number of good attractions and food choices; NOLA is a genuine foodie destination, one of a few major ones along with NYC and San Francisco in the US. And note that Memphis is one of the few barbecue eatery destination spots in the US.

You could of course stop in any of Baton Rouge (top-notch capitol building), Jackson (excellent capitol building), Montgomery (blah capitol building but good civil rights attractions), or Birmingham (good art museum and civil rights attractions), though these tend to be rather unappealing cities generally. There's only about a day's worth to see in each. You could also detour out of the way a bit to St. Augustine in northern Florida, which easily merits 3 days for a visit.

With the help of you guys and a yankie friend in Australia we have put together a rough itinerary for our trip Leave Augusta Monday 8 April drive to Charleston spend 2 nights drive to Hilton Head Island 2 nights drive to St Simons Island 1 night to Jacksonville 1 night to Tallahassee 1 night to Fort Walton Beach 1 night to New Orleans 3 nights to Natchez 1 night to Memphis 2 nights to Nashville 2 nights to Chattanooga 1 night then back to Atlanta for another night before our flight back to LA and home to OZ.
Does this work should we delete some to add more time in others ????

It's a little more whirlwind a jaunt than I'd prefer, but it can work if you don't mind spending a good bit of time driving. Adjustments I'd make:

--substitute Savannah and St. Augustine for Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Savannah is lovely, with an attractive downtown filled with small garden style squares and historic homes as well as lively waterfront bars and such; it fits perfectly between Hilton Head and St. Simons. St. Augustine is the oldest city in the US with a number of excellent historic attractions (not to mention the World Golf Hall of Fame close by) and a pleasant old downtown area, a far superior option to Jacksonville and close by there. Jacksonville itself is just a large city with little charm and not much to do. Have been to Tallahassee, and it's just okay: the best attractions there are the Museum of Florida History, the Black History Museum and Archives at Florida A & M University, and a few nearby outdoor things; it has arguably the worst state capitol building in the US (a dull 70s style high-rise with a good view atop and nothing of interest inside) and is nowhere near as interesting a city to see as Savannah.

--including a Florida Panhandle beach makes good sense in this context. Whether the best choice is Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola, or Panama City is a good question. Haven't been here, so I can't give you good advice. It's worth further research, though.

--Chattanooga has the advantage of being conveniently on the way between Nashville and Atlanta, though unless you're keen to visit the nearby Civil War battlefields, there doesn't seem to be much there (looks like they have an aquarium, but doubt it's better than the one in Atlanta, which is excellent). Never been, myself, and have no plans to go. It might be worth heading further afield to Asheville, NC (to see the Biltmore) or Birmingham, AL (unappealing city, but has a good art museum and civil rights attractions) instead. The latter city is probably more direct, as the former involves driving through the Smokies.

Regardless, have fun!

Thanks for your input on your advice we will skip Jacksonville and Tallahassee and spend more time elsewhere, driving is not a problem to us as we also live in a big wide country.
Will also look at options to exclude Chattanooga, Asheville or Birmingham may have more appeal
Thanks again you have been most helpful and if ever you plan a road trip to Australia would be happy to help as we have travelled most of it