South · United States
Mississippi
Birthplace of the blues, Elvis and America's soundtrack.
Discover Mississippi
Mississippi is the state that gave the world the blues, Elvis, William Faulkner and B.B. King, and the state where you can still hear a slide guitar drift out of a Clarksdale juke joint, walk a civil-rights landmark in Jackson, and finish the day on a white-sand Gulf Coast beach. Compact, uncrowded and welcoming, it's one of the great fly-drive discoveries of the South.
Recommended Drives
Suggested itineraries
10 days
The Classic Mississippi Loop
Route: A circular drive taking in Mississippi's iconic landscapes, gateway towns, and signature stays.
Our most-requested itinerary for first-time visitors to Mississippi, a balance of headline sights and quiet, off-grid retreats.
7 days
Mississippi Hidden Corners
Route: Lesser-known back roads, working ranches, and locally-owned inns across Mississippi.
Designed with our regional partners for travellers who have already seen the postcards and want the unfiltered version.
13 days · Atlanta loop
Rock 'n' Roll, Rockets & Elvis
Route: Atlanta → Birmingham → Memphis → Tupelo → Muscle Shoals → Nashville → Lynchburg → Huntsville → Atlanta
A Deep South music pilgrimage tracing the birthplaces of the blues, soul, country and rock 'n' roll, Graceland, Sun Studio, Beale Street, Tupelo's Elvis birthplace, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, the Grand Ole Opry, the Jack Daniel's Distillery and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
- •Birmingham, four downtown entertainment districts, James Beard-winning kitchens & the Vulcan statue
- •Memphis, Graceland, Sun Studio, Stax Museum, Gibson Guitar Factory & Beale Street blues
- •Tupelo, MS, Elvis Presley Birthplace, the 'Elvis at 13' statue & his childhood church
- •Muscle Shoals, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, W.C. Handy's birthplace & the Alabama Music Hall of Fame
- •Nashville, Music Row, RCA Studio B, Country Music Hall of Fame, the Bluebird Cafe & Grand Ole Opry
- •Lynchburg, TN, Jack Daniel's Distillery, the oldest registered distillery in the USA
- •Huntsville, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, world's largest space museum, plus The Orion amphitheater
- •Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta History Center & Fairlie-Poplar
13 days · Atlanta to Orlando
Rhythms of the South
Route: Atlanta → Nashville → Memphis → Vicksburg → Natchez → Baton Rouge → New Orleans → Pensacola → Tallahassee → St. Augustine → Orlando
A Deep South music and history self-drive from the cradle of country and blues to the white-sand Gulf coast and Florida's theme-park capital, Jack Daniel's, the Grand Ole Opry, Beale Street, Graceland, Vicksburg's Civil War battlefields, the French Quarter and the oldest city in America.
- •Atlanta, Fairlie-Poplar, the African American Panoramic Experience, Grant Park & the Atlanta History Center
- •Chattanooga & Lynchburg, the Choo Choo train and the Jack Daniel's Distillery en route to Nashville
- •Nashville, Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame & the Tennessee State Museum
- •Memphis, Beale Street blues bars, Graceland, Sun Studio, the Memphis Belle & Mud Island
- •Vicksburg, Vicksburg National Military Park, 1,300+ Civil War monuments & the national cemetery
- •Natchez & Baton Rouge, antebellum mansions and the heart of the old South
- •New Orleans, French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Creole cuisine & a Mississippi steamboat cruise
- •Pensacola, Seville Historic District & the white-sand beaches of Santa Rosa Island
- •Tallahassee, antebellum architecture, the Capitol & the Emerald Coast en route
- •St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the USA
- •Orlando, Disney, Universal & a Downtown Orlando finale before flying home
8 days · escorted · New Orleans to Atlanta
Guided Tour: Rhythms of the South
Route: New Orleans → Baton Rouge → Natchez → Memphis → Nashville → Chattanooga → Atlanta
An ATI-escorted small-group tour through the Deep South with a professional Tour Director, jazz and beignets in New Orleans, an antebellum mansion in Natchez along the historic Natchez Trace Parkway, Beale Street in Memphis, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the Chattanooga Choo Choo en route to Atlanta.
- •New Orleans, French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Mississippi paddlewheel & jazz
- •Baton Rouge, a brief tour of Louisiana's capital
- •Natchez Trace Parkway & Natchez, antebellum mansion visit & Mississippi River history
- •Memphis, Beale Street blues, Sun Records, Cotton Row & Graceland (optional)
- •Nashville, Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, Music Row & honky-tonks
- •Chattanooga, the famous Choo Choo & redeveloped riverfront
- •Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola & the CNN Center
Top Places To Visit
The unmissable Mississippi
Mississippi's capital city
Begin your journey amid the cultural heart of Mississippi.
A signature national or state park
Untouched landscapes that define the Mississippi experience.
A coastal or scenic byway
An unhurried drive past viewpoints, diners, and small towns.
An iconic small town
Local craftsmanship, regional cuisine, and Mississippi hospitality.
Simple Things To Do
Fun things to do in Mississippi
A quick-hit list of ideas for first-time visitors to Mississippi, inspired by Visit Mississippi.
Follow the Mississippi Blues Trail
More than 200 markers across the state, Clarksdale's Crossroads (US-61 & US-49), Ground Zero Blues Club, Dockery Farms and Robert Johnson's grave at Greenwood.
Visit Elvis's birthplace in Tupelo
The two-room shotgun house where Elvis was born, the church that shaped his gospel roots and the bronze 'Homecoming' statue outside Tupelo City Hall.
Explore the B.B. King Museum, Indianola
The world-class museum and Delta Interpretive Center on the site of the cotton gin where the King of the Blues once worked, his gravesite is on the grounds.
Walk civil-rights history in Jackson
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and Museum of Mississippi History under one roof, plus the Medgar Evers home, Farish Street and the vivid 'City With Soul' murals.
Tour Vicksburg National Military Park
One of the most important Civil War battlefields in the USA, 16 miles of tour road, the ironclad USS Cairo and sweeping views over the Mississippi River bridges.
Relax on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
26 miles of white-sand beach from Bay St. Louis and Waveland to Biloxi and Ocean Springs, casino resorts, deep-sea fishing charters, Ship Island ferries and Gulf-fresh seafood.
Discover Oxford & Faulkner country
The Square, Square Books, Rowan Oak (William Faulkner's home) and the Ole Miss campus, the most literary small town in the South.
Drive the Natchez Trace Parkway
444 miles of tree-lined, commercial-free parkway from Natchez to Nashville, waterfalls, Native American mounds, cypress swamps and antebellum Natchez itself.
Eat your way through the Delta
Hot tamales in Greenville, catfish in Belzoni, fried chicken at the Blue & White in Tunica and the legendary Doe's Eat Place steaks, plus soul food, barbecue and Gulf seafood statewide.
Play the casino & entertainment scene
Twelve gaming resorts along the coast and the river, Beau Rivage and Hard Rock in Biloxi, plus Tunica's riverfront casinos on the northern Delta.
Hike Red Bluff, 'Mississippi's Grand Canyon'
The state's most dramatic natural landmark, a 400-ft eroded bluff of red, orange and pink clay near Foxworth, plus the pine forests of De Soto National Forest and 25 state parks.
Celebrate music at the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi
In Cleveland, on the campus of Delta State University, the only GRAMMY Museum outside Los Angeles, honouring the state's outsized role in American music.
Continue Exploring The South
Gallery
Mississippi in pictures
