US South travel guide

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?
Guide to visiting Booker T Washington National Monument near Roanoke.
Plan your visit to Natural Bridge State Park.
All you need to know before visiting Virginia Safari Park near Roanoke.
What you should know before visiting the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond.
What to know before visiting the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond.
Planning a visit to the Maymont Mansion in Richmond.
Plan your visit to the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News.
Prepare yourself for the enormous scale of Colonial Williamsburg.

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, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The best of the DC Smithsonian Museums – including the National Museum of the American Indian, National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of Natural History.
Learning where Washington DC’s power lies on a Pennsylvania Avenue walking tour.
What to expect at the Museum of the Bible, National Postal Museum, National Building Museum and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.
What to see and do on a visit to Dumbarton Oaks and Rock Creek Park, Washington DC.
Plan your visit to Washington DC’s quirkiest sight – the National Capital Columns.
National Mall bus tour vs bike tour: What’s the best way to see Washington DC’s monuments and memorials?
Pay a visit to the United States Botanic Garden in Washington DC.
Getting to Washington DC: The best stops on the Chicago to Washington DC drive and Philadelphia to Washington DC drive.
Road trips from Washington DC: What to see on the Washington DC to Baltimore drive and Washington DC to Pittsburgh drive.

Kentucky travel articles

Enjoy railroad heritage at the La Grange Railroad Museum.
The strange sinkhole history of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Plan your visit to Riverview at Hobson Grove in Bowling Green.
What to know before visiting Cumberland Falls near Corbin, Kentucky.
How to see the bison at Big Bone Lick State Historic Park in northern Kentucky.
Plan your visit to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.
What to expect at Dinosaur World in Cave City, Kentucky.

Lexington travel guides

Visiting Mary Todd Lincoln House and Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate in Lexington, Kentucky.
How to do a thoroughbred horse farm tour from Lexington, Kentucky.
What to expect on a visit to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.
Exploring the Camp Nelson National Monument near Lexington, Kentucky.
Getting to Lexington: The best stops on the Louisville to Lexington drive.

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.
Plan your visit to Falls of the Ohio State Park over the river in Clarksville. Indiana.
How to get up to the Iroquois Park Overlook in Louisville.
Getting to Louisville: Where to stop on the Pittsburgh to Louisville drive.
Road trips from Louisville: The best stops on the Louisville to Cincinnati drive, Louisville to Detroit drive, Louisville to Indianapolis drive and Louisville to Nashville drive.

Tennessee travel articles

A practical guide to riding the Rocky Top Mountain Coaster in Pigeon Forge.

South Carolina travel articles

Plan your visit to Cowpens National Battlefield in Gaffney.
The best places to see dolphins in South Carolina.
Key information for visiting the Harbour Town Lighthouse on Hilton Head Island.
What to know before visiting Coligny Beach Park on Hilton Head Island.

Charleston travel guides

What you need to know before visiting the Nathaniel Russell House Museum in Charleston.
Guides to historic plantations around Charleston: Boone Hall, Drayton Hall, Magnolia Plantation and Middleton Place.
All you need to know about catching the Fort Sumter ferry in Charleston.
Relive scenes from the Notebook at Cypress Gardens near Charleston.
Plan your visit to the Aiken-Rhett House Museum in Charleston.
What to expect at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston.

Georgia travel articles

Georgia road trips: What are the best stops on the Atlanta to Savannah drive, Atlanta to Macon drive and Columbus to Atlanta drive?
The best stops on the Savannah to Jacksonville drive.
Complete guide to the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.
The best places to see manatees in Georgia.
What you need to know before catching the St Mary’s to Cumberland Island ferry.

Atlanta travel articles

Tasting history at the World of Coca-Cola.
Learning about civil rights history at Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr sites.
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.
Paying a visit to the Delta Flight Museum next to Atlanta Hartfield-Jackson Airport.
Midtown Atlanta attraction guides: High Museum of Art, Piedmont Park, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Museum of Design Atlanta and Center for Puppetry Arts.
Guides to state parks near Atlanta: Sweetwater Creek State Park, Panola Mountain State Park, Red Top Mountain State Park.
Getting to Atlanta: The best stops on the Birmingham to Atlanta drive, Detroit to Atlanta drive, Memphis to Atlanta drive and Nashville to Atlanta drive.
Atlanta road trips: The best stops on the Atlanta to Montgomery drive.
Road trips from Atlanta to Florida: Where to stop on the Atlanta to Destin drive, Atlanta to Gainesville drive, Atlanta to Pensacola drive, Atlanta to Tallahassee drive and Atlanta to Tampa drive.

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.
Key information for visiting the Andrew Low House Museum in Savannah.
Practical guide to visiting the Cathedral Basilica of St John the Baptist in Savannah.

Alabama travel articles

Plan your visit to the McWane Science Museum in Birmingham, Alabama.
Planning a road trip from Memphis to Birmingham, Alabama.
What to know before visiting the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Visitor guide to DeSoto Falls near Mentone, Alabama.
Where to stop on the Memphis to Montgomery drive.
The best stops on the Birmingham to Destin drive and Birmingham to Pensacola drive.

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach travel guides

Key information for visiting Gulf Shores Public Beach and Gulf State Park.
How to get the most out of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Gulf Shores.
How to explore Fort Morgan near Gulf Shores.
What’s so special about the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores?

Mobile travel guides

Discover the birthplace of American Carnival at the Mobile Carnival Museum.
What to expect at the USS Battleship Alabama Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.
How to get the best out of Bellingrath Gardens near Mobile, Alabama.
Push buttons at the Exploreum Science Center in Mobile.
What to know before visiting Colonial Fort Conde in Mobile.
Getting to Mobile: Where to stop on the New Orleans to Mobile drive, Atlanta to Mobile drive, Tallahassee to Mobile drive, Houston to Mobile drive and Birmingham to Mobile drive.
Road trips from Mobile: The best stops on the Mobile to Pensacola drive.

Mississippi travel articles

Plan your visit to the Elvis Presley Birthplace Museum in Tupelo, Mississippi.
What you need to know about the Grammy Museum Mississippi in Cleveland, Mississippi.
The best stops on the Atlanta to Biloxi drive, Houston to Biloxi drive, New Orleans to Biloxi drive and Mobile to Biloxi drive.

Louisiana travel articles

What to know before visiting St Joseph Plantation, Felicity Plantation and Laura Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana.
Lafayette attraction guides: Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Acadian Village and Vermilionville.
The best stops on the Dallas to Lafayette drive and Houston to Lafayette drive.
Where to stop on the Atlanta to Baton Rouge drive, Austin to Baton Rouge drive, Dallas to Baton Rouge drive and Houston to Baton Rouge drive.

New Orleans travel guides

The Old Ursuline Convent in New Orleans: Visitor guide with hours, prices and history.
What to expect when visiting St Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.
Plan your visit to the World War II Museum in New Orleans.
What you need to know before visiting the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans.
Practical guides to visiting the historic house museums of New Orleans: The BK House, Gallier House and Hermann-Grima House.
Embrace local food and drink culture at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
Planning your trip to the New Orleans Jazz Museum.
See the costumes and floats in progress at Mardi Gras World.
Learn about Louisiana’s history at The Cabildo.
Plan your visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.
Practical guide to visiting Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
9 New Orleans tours worth booking – and which to skip.
Getting to New Orleans: The best stops on the Atlanta to New Orleans drive, Baton Rouge to New Orleans drive, Houston to New Orleans drive and Tallahassee to New Orleans drive.

Arkansas travel articles

Dig for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro
First-time visitor’s guide to Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The best stops on the drive from Dallas to Hot Springs, Arkansas, Houston to Hot Springs drive and Memphis to Hot Springs drive.
Where to stop on the Little Rock to Dallas drive, Little Rock to Houston drive and Little Rock to Memphis drive.
Learning about the history of Eureka Springs on a golf cart tour.