Tennessee is a southeastern state known for cities like Memphis and Nashville, as well as its deep connection to American music. Even when I first arrived at the airport in Nashville, I came across a small live band playing in an airport restaurant! Some of the most famous musicians in American history have strong ties to Tennessee, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton. From the blues and rock and roll of Memphis to the country music of Nashville, the state’s musical heritage is difficult to escape.
Aside from its cities and music, Tennessee is also known for its great outdoors. In the east, the Great Smoky Mountains contain some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in the eastern United States, with forested peaks, waterfalls, and hundreds of miles of hiking trails. Meanwhile, the Mississippi River forms much of the state’s western border, creating wetlands and important habitats for wildlife. Between its music, history, and natural scenery, Tennessee has a remarkable variety of attractions.
Explore Memphis
Memphis is one of America’s great destinations for music lovers and played an important role in the development of blues, soul, and rock and roll. The city’s musical heritage is closely associated with Beale Street, Sun Studio, and Stax Records, where influential performers helped shape modern American music. Elvis Presley fans come from around the world to visit Graceland, his home for roughly twenty years and now his final resting place.
Memphis also played a major role in the American Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in 1968, and the site is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. After exploring the city’s history, Beale Street remains one of the best places to experience Memphis at night, with live music, restaurants, and bars filling the historic entertainment district.
Explore Nashville
Known as Music City and widely regarded as the country music capital of the world, Nashville is one of America’s premier destinations for live music. Lower Broadway is lined with honky-tonks, restaurants, and bars where musicians perform throughout the day and late into the night. Other major attractions include the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, and the Country Music Hall of Fame, all of which reflect Nashville’s enormous influence on American music.
Although music is central to Nashville’s identity, the city also has a rich history and several unusual landmarks. One of the most distinctive is the Parthenon in Centennial Park, a full-scale replica of the ancient Greek temple in Athens. Originally constructed for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition, the present structure houses an art museum and a towering statue of Athena. Nashville’s combination of music, history, and entertainment makes it one of the most recognizable cities in the American South.
Explore Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg sits at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and serves as one of the main gateways to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The town has an unusual combination of mountain scenery and tourist entertainment, with restaurants, hotels, shops, live music venues, arcades, and novelty attractions concentrated along its busy downtown streets. Gatlinburg is also well known for its legal moonshine distilleries, which celebrate the region’s Appalachian distilling traditions with a wide variety of flavored spirits and tasting experiences.
Just outside town, Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers forested hiking trails, waterfalls, scenic drives, and some of the most biologically diverse landscapes in the eastern United States. Popular destinations include Newfound Gap, the Alum Cave Trail, and the trails leading to Mount Le Conte. The contrast between Gatlinburg’s lively downtown and the quiet mountain wilderness nearby makes the town a convenient base for exploring eastern Tennessee.
