Musical Moments, Southern Food & the Great Smoky Mountains - Family Road Trip through the Deep South
A full-scale replica of the Parthenon standing in the middle of Tennessee, and a recording studio where rock and roll was arguably invented – thirteen family nights from New Orleans jazz to the Great Smoky Mountains.
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The route
Fourteen days through the Deep South, built around music and food, with the Smokies providing the fresh air in the middle. The history here is handled seriously rather than skipped, which is the right call.
New Orleans opens it with three nights, the French Quarter, a private jazz history walk through Congo Square where enslaved people were permitted to gather and play on Sundays, and an airboat trip into the Barataria Preserve among the alligators. Natchez follows for a night of plantation-era architecture.
Memphis then gets two nights. Sun Studio is a small room where Elvis, Cash, Perkins and Lewis all recorded, and has a fair claim to be where rock and roll started. Stax covers the soul side, a riverboat runs on the Mississippi, and the National Civil Rights Museum is built around the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was killed in 1968, which is sobering and worth the time.
Nashville follows with two nights, the Country Music Hall of Fame, hot chicken and a full-scale replica of the Parthenon. Townsend then gets three nights at the Great Smoky Mountains, with a guided hike to Rainbow Falls or the much harder climb to Mount LeConte, and Cades Cove, where elk and black bear are both about. Atlanta closes the trip with two nights, optionally via Chattanooga. Original Travel include the hire car, accommodation, the tours and activities, concierge access, a 24-hour helpline and carbon absorption. International flights and most meals are separate. Prices run from 5,550 to 8,850 pounds per person.
Images selected by Stradora to represent the journey.
What's included
- Hire car (from Natchez)
- accommodation, including a private log cabin
- a private jazz history tour
- an airboat tour
- a Sun Studio tour
- a riverboat cruise
- a guided Smoky Mountains hike
- children's fun packs
- Wi-Fi router and e-SIM
- local Concierge access
- 24-hour helpline
- carbon absorption on the trip's footprint (operator's own programme).
Not included
- International flights
- meals beyond those specified
- not itemised in full.
Ready to drive it?
13 days, from $7,408pp