Routes · Americas

Zurich to America's music roads: New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville

Zurich → New Orleans → Memphis → Nashville

Music roads Best season (general guide): Mar–May, Oct

Three cities along the Mississippi and its region shaped jazz, blues, rock'n'roll and country music, and this route connects them by road. It starts in New Orleans, goes north to Memphis and ends in Nashville. From Zurich you'll connect via a European or US hub to New Orleans and fly home from Nashville.

In New Orleans, the French Quarter and Garden District are best explored on foot, and evenings are for live music on Frenchmen Street. The drive north to Memphis can follow the Mississippi through the Delta, the landscape where blues music took shape. Memphis has Beale Street's clubs, the Sun Studio, where Elvis Presley made his first recordings, and Graceland. The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel is an essential stop. Nashville rounds things off with the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame and a show at the Grand Ole Opry.

Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons for the South. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival runs over two weekends from late April to early May; book well ahead if you want to go. Summers are hot and humid.

Book Opry and Graceland tickets in advance, as well as Sun Studio tours, which can sell out. A hire car gives you the most freedom between cities.

How to pace it: the drive from New Orleans to Memphis is long, so make a day of it with stops in the Delta. In Memphis, visit Graceland in the morning and the Civil Rights Museum in the afternoon, or the other way round. In Nashville, book the Opry for your last night and spend the days at the museums and the Ryman. Return the hire car in Nashville if your flight leaves from there.

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