The music of the Southeast United States is like America’s heartbeat, influencing artists in genres ranging from country to blues to jazz. It’s where small-town musicians performed at humble venues like juke joints and honky-tonks before hitting it big like B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, and countless others. Celebrate it all in varied terrain from cityscapes to the bayou, from the plains to the Appalachian Mountains.
Day 1: Atlanta, GA
Start your epic tour of the Southeast in Georgia’s capital. Spend the day outside walking trails along the BeltLine before stopping for lunch at Krog Street Market, or stay downtown to get up close to marine life at the Georgia Aquarium (the largest in the United States). Tour the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, which includes MLK’s childhood home, his church, and a visitor center with exhibits on the civil rights movement. In the evening, sip brews at SweetWater Brewing Company or head to one of the many bars and restaurants.
Day 2: Athens, GA
Head two hours to the east to Athens, the launching pad for famed rock groups such as the B-52s and R.E.M., and the home of the University of Georgia. Visit the downtown clubs that made names for countless artists, including the 40 Watt Club and the Georgia Theatre. You can also catch a performance at the historic Morton Theatre, a former vaudeville theater where Cab Calloway and Bessie Smith played. Spend a night at the Graduate Hotel Athens, located in a former iron foundry not far from campus. It has the Foundry, an in-house music venue, along with a spa and coffee shop.
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Days 3 and 4: Nashville, TN
The next day, head north to Nashville, stopping in the small town of Lynchburg, also known as the home of Jack Daniel’s Distillery. It’s here that all of the company’s whiskey sold worldwide is produced. Take a tour or buy some bottles to go, waiting until you’re clear to drive the rest of the way to Nashville (it’s about 2½ hours total). When you get to Nashville, eat some famous “Nashville hot chicken,” at Prince’s Hot Chicken, where it was created, and then head out on the town to Honky Tonk Highway of Lower Broadway for live music and raucous nightlife.
The next day, start at the Country Music Hall of Fame, a sprawling museum that traces the genre’s influences from church hymns and Appalachian “old time” music. The nearby, but attached, Johnny Cash & Patsy Cline Museums showcase items belonging to both artists, including the chair Cash used in his final music video and kitchen furniture from Cline’s Virginia home. End your day at the Grand Ole Opry, a long-running radio broadcast that has made names out of countless country musicians.
Day 5: Muscle Shoals, AL
Spend the morning of Day 5 in Nashville and then head to northwest Alabama’s Muscle Shoals, a town with legendary recording studios referred to as a “small town with big sound.” Visit Fame Recording Studio where big names like Aretha Franklin and Alicia Keys have recorded big hits. Alternatively, spend a third night in Nashville.
Days 6 and 7: Memphis, TN
Bright and early, make the 2½-hour drive to Memphis, stopping at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center/Tina Turner Museum in the small town of Brownsville, which honors the local girl who became one of the world’s most incredible performers. Make it to Memphis, that must-see destination for music lovers, for dinner, where you can get your fill of Memphis dry rub barbecue from the Bar B Q Shop. Afterward, head to Beale Street, the city’s famous entertainment district where the music is always playing, with venues like B.B. King’s Blues Club and Rum Boogie Cafe.Hernando’s Hideaway is another music venue and restaurant where Elvis and his contemporaries played, now serving local beer and burgers. Stay at the grand Peabody Hotel.
On Day 7, visit Graceland, the residence of Elvis, which showcases his funky decor and impressive car collection. Then head to Sun Studio, offering tours of where the “Million Dollar Quartet” of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins came together. Or head to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music to see exhibits on the recording label’s iconic artists like Otis Redding and Carla Thomas.
Day 8: Clarksdale, MS
Take the one-hour drive south to Clarksdale to kick off your tour of the Mississippi Blues Trail. It starts when you see the giant electric guitars over the intersection of Highways 61 and 49, where it’s said musician Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil so he could play guitar. Clarksdale has iconic blues landmarks commemorating area musicians like Ike Turner, Muddy Waters, and Sam Cooke. Enter one of the juke joints (small music clubs) still in operation, like Red’s Lounge or Ground Zero Blues Club (where Morgan Freeman is a co-owner)—both on the same block.
Day 9: Jackson, MS
Head down to Jackson, Mississippi’s state capital, for more Blues Trails stops, in addition to the Mississippi Freedom Trail, a collection of noteworthy sights related to the civil rights movement. There’s Medgar Evers’s House plus the sight of the 1963 Woolworth sit-in. You can delve deeper at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center. Explore the Fondren District, where you can tuck into soul food and barbecue, and eat at the newer bars and restaurants now on the scene.
Days 10 and 11: New Orleans
Three hours south of Jackson brings you to the birthplace of jazz and host of the most festive party in the South, Mardi Gras. (If you’re really into jazz, time your visit for the Jazz Fest in October or Mardi Gras in February.) Spend your day exploring the French Quarter, taking a ghost tour, and seeking out live jazz musicians in front of Jackson Square and Congo Square in the Tremé (where greats like Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong once lived). Grab a po’ boy or some gumbo for dinner and head to Frenchmen Street to legendary clubs like Blue Nile and the Spotted Cat to see today’s best jazz musicians play live.
On Day 11, revive yourself with coffee and beignets at Café du Monde before exploring the Bywater and Marigny neighborhoods, the mansions and gardens of the Garden District, or galleries in the Art District. If you’re a Mardi Gras fanatic, head to Mardi Gras World to see giant festive floats, and at night, descend upon Bourbon Street to partake in the revelry.
Day 12: Flora-Bama
It’s a three-hour drive from New Orleans to the “Flora-Bama,” a general name given to the towns along the Florida and Alabama state line, including Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. The Hugh Branyon Backcountry Trail connects these beach communities through a paved bike path where you might spot an alligator lazily sleeping on the creek bed. Gulf State Park also has trails and beaches. End your night at the Flora-Bama Lounge, a legendary dive bar on the state line. It frequently hosts country music acts, mechanical bull riding, and even church services in the maze of rooms covered with discarded bras. Sip on a Bushwhacker, a boozy slushie popular on the coast.
Day 13: South Walton, FL
From Flora-Bama, it’s about 2½ hours to South Walton, Florida, home to beautiful beach towns and the 30 A Songwriters Festival, which draws more than 175 songwriters for over 225 performances at more than 25 venues on the beach. Even if you’re not here for the epic festival in January, this is a good place to sink your toes into sugar-white sand year-round. Explore the town of Seaside, which was used as the main filming location for the movie The Truman Show, and the dunes of Grayton Beach State Park before catching live music at Red Bar or at Bud and Alley’s. Spend the night at WaterColor Inn or rent a seaside cottage.
Day 14: Macon to Atlanta, GA
Stay another day or two at the beach or make your way back to Atlanta to come full circle on your journey. If you go back to the Peach State, stop a few hours south of Atlanta in Macon, the birthplace of Southern rock. It was here that Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers Band, and Little Richard all performed and got their start. Learn about these influential artists at the Big House, the Allman Brothers Band Museum, and the Capricorn Museum. Give yourself a few hours to savor the music.