The American South is one of the USA’s most culturally rich and geographically varied regions — a place where presidential history, civil rights heritage, great food and genuinely eccentric roadside attractions sit comfortably side by side. The US South travel guides on this page cover a wide sweep of states, from Virginia and Washington DC in the north down through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, to Arkansas in the west. Texas and Florida are covered separately, but everything else you’d associate with the South is here.
The content spans an impressive range. Washington DC features heavily, with guides to the International Spy Museum, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Mall memorials — including the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Memorial — and a walking tour of Pennsylvania Avenue. Virginia offers presidential plantation homes, the thought-provoking slavery legacy of Mount Vernon and the spectacular Natural Bridge State Park. Kentucky brings thoroughbred horse farms, the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, the Muhammad Ali Center and the appealingly quirky National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Nashville covers the Johnny Cash Museum and Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, Atlanta delivers the World of Coca-Cola and Martin Luther King Jr sites, and Savannah rounds things out with military history, railroad heritage and the American Prohibition Museum. Alabama and Arkansas also get their due — from Birmingham’s McWane Science Centre to the genuinely unique experience of digging for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park.
Virginia travel articles
- The small-scale Virginia cider makers driving the cider renaissance.
- Guide to Sherwood Forest – President John Tyler’s plantation.
- Discovering presidents and the first Thanksgiving at Berkeley Plantation.
- Virginia’s best presidential homes for visitors.
- The uncomfortable slavery legacy of Mount Vernon.
- A practical visitor guide to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre in Chantilly.
- What’s so special about the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke?
- Plan your visit to Natural Bridge State Park.
Washington DC travel articles
- Living out James Bond fantasies at the International Spy Museum.
- Discovering Abraham Lincoln’s private life at Lincoln’s Cottage.
- The most impressive memorials on the National Mall – including the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
- The best of the DC Smithsonian Museums – including the National Museum of the American Indian.
- Learning where Washington DC’s power lies on a Pennsylvania Avenue walking tour.
- What to expect at the National Postal Museum.
- Plan your visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
- Guide to the National Building Museum in Washington DC.
Kentucky travel articles
- Visiting Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, Kentucky.
- How to do a thoroughbred horse farm tour from Lexington, Kentucky.
- Enjoy railroad heritage at the La Grange Railroad Museum.
- The strange sinkhole history of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Louisville travel articles
- Practical guide to visiting the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville.
- The information you need to visit the Frazier Kentucky History Museum in Louisville.
- What to expect at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory Tour in Louisville.
- Celebrate The Greatest at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.
- How to make the most of the Kentucky Science Center in Louisville.
Tennessee travel articles
Nashville travel articles
- Plan your visit to the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, Legends of Country Music Museum and Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville.
- What to know before visiting Madame Tussauds Nashville.
- First time visitor guides to Belmont Mansion and Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage in Nashville.
- Practical visitor guide to Lane Motor Museum and the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.
Georgia travel articles
Atlanta travel articles
- Tasting history at the World of Coca-Cola.
- Learning about civil rights history at Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr sites.
- All you need to know before visiting the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
- Practical guide to visiting the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
- Why you should book Zoo Atlanta tickets in advance.
- Why the Fernbank Museum of Natural History offers more than you’re probably expecting.
- Plan your visit to the Atlanta History Center.
- Visiting the home of the Gone With The Wind author – Margaret Mitchell House.
Savannah travel articles
- First time visitor guides to the Webb Military Museum, Savannah History Museum and American Prohibition Museum in Savannah.
- What to expect on a visit to Old Fort Jackson in Savannah.
- Plan your trip to the Georgia State Railroad Museum in Savannah.
Alabama travel articles
- Discover the birthplace of American Carnival at the Mobile Carnival Museum.
- Plan your visit to the McWane Science Museum in Birmingham, Alabama.
Arkansas travel articles
- Dig for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro
- First-time visitor’s guide to Fort Smith, Arkansas.
