Memphis to Nashville – A Tennessee Road Trip for Music Lovers

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Take a melodious journey across Tennessee and northern Alabama to experience the region’s rich musical heritage and culture. From the Birthplace of Rock and Home of the Blues to Music City, this road trip route connects a string of iconic museums, recording studios, live music venues and cultural sights that have helped shape American culture.

Memphis to Nashville time & distance

This Memphis to Nashville road trip covers is about 535-km (331-mi) of driving–for comparison, driving direct from Memphis to Nashville is about 342-km (212-mi).

We trialled this route in five days and it’s possible but fast-paced–if it were music, it would have been a high-energy bluegrass number. I’ve made some tweaks and added a day to give it a more relaxed tempo. Of course, it will depend on how many of the sights and side-trips you decide to include.

You can also reverse this itinerary and travel Nashville to Memphis. We chose these start and end points, somewhat based on airport size and flight availablity.

6-day Memphis to Nashville road trip itinerary

Day 1 – Memphis

Arrive in Memphis, pick up your hire car and head downtown to check into your accommodation. Put on some comfortable walking shoes because we are exploring on foot. If it’s still early in the day, go directly to the Elvis Statue on Beale St, or wait until first thing the next morning so you won’t have to queue for a photo.

Being this is a largely musical-themed road trip, let’s begin at the Rock’n’Soul Museum for a little history lesson. The Museum is small but comprehensive, giving you a fun intro into the birth of rock and soul music. The Gibson Factory is right across the road for any guitarists who want to take a tour.

If it’s still daylight, take a walk down Beale St and see its historic sites by day such as W.C. Handy’s home and the Beale Street Brass Note Walk of Fame. They’ll be all but overshadowed later by the nightlife. Finish the day with dinner and music on Beale St.

Driving distance:  Local driving distance depends on accommodation location and chosen activities.

Day 2 – Memphis

We’ll start the day with a tour of Sun Studio which gets mighty busy when the tourist buses arrive, so be there when the doors open at 10am to get first dibs. The Studio can be seen by tour only, and the first tour starts at 10:30. See the Sun Studio website for more details. 

Next, drive to the Civil Rights Museum and explore their exhibits. The Museum incorporates the former Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. I would suggest allowing a good couple of hours for this, as the Museum is very comprehensive and extremely interesting.

Also, wander around the nearby neighbourhood known as Film Row. We stumbled across this gem as it didn’t come up in any of our research. In the heyday of cinema during the 1930s and ’40s, this corner of town housed many film studio distribution centres and some remain today albeit a little run down. The art deco and midcentury architecture are worth seeing.

Another pocket of architectural treasures exists on former “Millionaires Row” (Adams Ave) where there are a few remaining Victorian-era homes that have been preserved. If you want to get inside these amazing homes, Woodruff-Fontaine House is now a Museum that you can tour.

If you prefer to stay with the music, it’s time to get soulful at the Stax Museum.

Driving distance:  Local driving distance depends on accommodation location and chosen activities.

Day 3 – Memphis

Check out of your accommodation and make your way to Graceland aiming for the first tour of the day. There are a variety of tickets that can be pre-purchased. I recommend the Elvis Experience Tour which includes an audio tour of the Graceland mansion and grounds, along with access to the entertainment complex that has exhibits of all things “The King” including his cars and stage costumes. Beware, there is a gift shop on every corner and it all gets very overwhelming commercial.

After bidding farewell to Elvis, the Cooper Young Historic District is a nice place to stop for lunch on your way out of town.

Drive to Florence, Alabama and visit the birthplace of W.C. Handy, a.k.a The Father of the Blues. For all my fellow Frank Lloyd Wright fans, there is also the Rosenbaum House – one of the famous architect’s Usonian homes open to the public.

Driving distance:  231km (approx. 144mi), roughly 2.5hrs.

Day 4 – Muscle Shoals

Take a morning tour of Muscle Shoals Sound, Fame Studios or both if you have time. Another point of interest in the area is Helen Keller’s birthplace and childhood home just around the corner in Tuscumbia, which is open as a museum.

The next stop on our Memphis to Nashville road trip is Lynchburg, Tennessee. Not familiar with that name? You might know this one: Jack Daniel’s! Whiskey-lovers can participate in a tour and tasting at the historic Jack Daniels Distillery including the original Cave Spring Hollow, the freshwater source at the start of every bottle of Old No.7 . Tours of the Distillery run 9:00am-4:30pm and it’s best to book in advance through the website.

If whiskey really isn’t your thing, an alternate route from Muscle Shoals to Nashville that might take your fancy is the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway. This is especially delightful during the autumn months when the fall foliage colours are at their peak.

Driving distance: Muscle Shoals to Lynchburg 156km (approx. 97mi), 2hrs. Lynchburg to Nashville 120km (approx. 74mi), 1.5hrs.

Day 5 – Nashville

Spend the morning exploring the Country Music Hall of Fame and touring RCA Studio B, known for establishing the “Nashville Sound”. In the afternoon, tour the city on foot, enjoying the history and architecture of Nashville.

As the evening falls, do the touristy thing and crawl the honky-tonks. I only suggest this as a once-off experience as the bachelorette parties, pedal taverns and cover bands all playing the same music, fast grow old. Alternatively, try to get into one of the more musically reputable venues, like Bluebird Café or dinner and boozy ten pin bowling at Pinewood Social à la Anthony Bourdain.

Driving distance:  Local driving distance depends on accommodation location and chosen activities.

Day 6 – Nashville

To finish up your Memphis to Nashville journey, here are a few sights around Music City to enjoy. You will need a car to reach some of these locations from downtown:

• Visit Nashville’s life-size replica of the Parthenon in Centennial Park, built for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition and home to an art museum.
• Explore Music Row further. Hint: If you were to peek over the fence of Spence Manor, you might just find a guitar-shaped pool!
• Tour former US President, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage
• See a show at the Grand Ole Opry or Ryman Auditorium.

Driving distance:  Local driving distance depends on accommodation location and chosen activities.

Memphis to Nashville road trip map

Get a copy of this map by clicking in the rectangle in the top right corner. This will open in Google Maps and allow you to save a copy for your own use and customisation.

Places to eat, drink & be merry

Here are a few place we ate, drank and loved on our Memphis to Nashville road trip:

Enjoy your Memphis to Nashville (or Nashville to Memphis) road trip and let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. For more details on the suggested activities in Memphis, see these unbeatable things to do.

Peace, love and inspiring travel,

Madam ZoZo