Memphis Tours

Overview

Along the American version of the Nile, a stop on the Underground Railroad, the Rock and Roll capital, and a place to get barbeque so lip-smacking, you may develop an addiction to dry ribs, Memphis is mighty magical.

The Mississippi River is deep and wide in this part of Tennessee and when it was founded in 1819, it was called Memphis because of its resemblance to Egypt’s Memphis along the Nile River. Here hulking river steamboats laden with cotton from the surrounding plantations of the Mississippi Delta where thousands of slaves toiled with the hopes of escape, many running to the Burke Estate, which is now the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum. Here Runaway slaves waited in secret cellars and through trapdoors on their way to freedom.

The Mississippi River Museum is a 52-acre park set on an island where you can canoe, kayak and paddleboard or takes in the exhibits of scale model boats. Elvis is alive in spirit at his once home and now a museum: Graceland. This grand colonial-style mansion sees its lion’s share of visitors from around the globe, often dressed and styled after Elvis Presley and is a quirky and fun way to spend a warm afternoon. Even if Elvis isn’t your cup of tea, the Memphis Rock’n’Soul Museum and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music tell the stories of musical stars like Aretha Franklin and Otis Reading who recorded their music in Memphis decades before.

Boating, shopping or tucking into some fine catfish, soul food or salty-sweet barbeque are decadent and deeply satisfying ways to spend your days in this deeply satisfying part of the South.