Tennessee

This legendary Nashville concert venue has been broadcasting live country music shows every single week since 1925, making it the longest-running radio show in U.S. history. Catch a stage show if you can, but backstage tours are always available to see what goes on behind the scenes at Nashville’s top attraction.

Seven days a week, 365 days a year, Memphis’ Beale Street is filled with the sounds of live music coming from every open door. You might catch an impromptu street performance, glimpse a famous musician or hear the next big thing at any moment. Stroll the Brass Notes Walk of Fame, filled with 150 notable names in Memphis music from Robert Johnson and Ma Rainey to Justin Timberlake and B.B. King.

Easily one of the most-recognized brands in the world, Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Whiskey was originally distilled in 1864 and became the first registered distillery in the USA two years later. A variety of tours of its Lynchburg facility are offered daily, including non-alcoholic history tours, quick tours and one combining a whiskey tasting with an excursion into Lynchburg’s town square for a meal at the 1908 Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House Restaurant.

When the U.S. Congress declares you the Birthplace of Country Music, you know it’s official. Straddling the border between Tennessee and Virginia, the town of Bristol is where music producer Ralph Peer recorded the earliest sounds of what would become the country music genre back in 1927. Even non-country music fans will enjoy the exhibits at this immersive museum.

Whether you’re a thrill-ride enthusiast or traveling with kids, Dollywood’s theme park has something for everyone. In addition to high-speed coasters and traditional fair-style rides, you can board a steam train, visit an aviary, catch a parade and tour Dolly Parton’s museum. There’s a neighboring water park for the summer months and family-friendly resort accommodations in Pigeon Forge and nearby Sevierville.

This music collection, interactive exhibits, instruments, videos and country music memorabilia here are so comprehensive, this Nashville museum is called the “Smithsonian of country music.” Highlights include the hall of fame rotunda, Elvis Presley’s “Solid Gold” Cadillac, hand-written song lyrics, and clothing and costumes from mega stars such as Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Loretta Lynn.

The mansion and estate where Elvis Presley lived from 1957 until his death in 1977 is the second-most visited home in the country, second only to the White House, the home of the U.S. president in Washington, D.C. In addition to the mansion, you’ll tour Elvis’ career museum and auto museum, climb aboard his opulent airplanes and pay your respects at his gravesite in the meditation garden.

The Memphis studio where rock and roll was born is still in use today, nearly 70 years after its first recording. On your guided tour, you’ll see where legends old and new have recorded some of their most famous tunes – from Ike Turner, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and B.B. King, to Paul Simon, U2, Maroon 5 and Beck.

Everything you could possibly want to know about The Man in Black is housed here at the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville. Instruments, clothing, hand-written notes and lyrics, album covers and informational exhibits cover all aspects of the country singer’s life. The museum is centrally located on downtown Nashville’s famed Music Row. 

Located at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, the National Civil Rights Museum explores centuries of race relations in the U.S. Listening posts, films and interactive media put you in the shoes of the people who experienced milestone events in civil rights history.