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The Most Underestimated City in the South
Memphis gave the world the blues, rock and roll, and soul music — and it did it in a quarter-mile radius on Beale Street and in a handful of recording studios on Union Avenue. It is the city where American music happened. It also has one of the most important museums in the country, built around the room where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Memphis is also cheap. Nashville hotel rates have climbed past $200 a night; Memphis averages $80 to $120 for solid central rooms. The best meal in the city costs $8. Most of the history and music is free or under $20. This guide will get you there prepared.
- ✓ Beale Street # — Six blocks of Victorian-era brick storefronts running from Main Street to the river. Open air, free to walk, live blues and soul music in every bar from noon until well past midnight. The performers are working musicians, not tribute acts. Walk in, stay as long as you want, tip the band. 📍 Map It
- ✓ Tom Lee Park # — A free 30-acre riverfront park with a long view of the Mississippi River and the Hernando de Soto Bridge against the Arkansas sky. One of the best sunset spots in the city. 📍 Map It
- ✓ Cotton Row Historic District # — Front Street preserves the 19th-century cotton exchange buildings in their original cast-iron form — a full block from the era when Memphis was the largest inland cotton market in the world. Free to walk. 📍 Map It
- ✓ Sun Studio Exterior # — The room where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins all recorded in the early 1950s. Exterior viewing is free. Interior tours are $16 and well worth it if you're a music fan. Official Site · 📍 Map It
- ✓ Big River Crossing # — A 4,715-foot pedestrian and bicycle bridge converting a former railroad span into a Mississippi River crossing — the longest pedestrian bridge over the Mississippi. A 40-mile view of the river valley from mid-span at dusk. No admission. No crowds on weekdays. Official Site
- ✓ National Civil Rights Museum # — $18 adults, $16 seniors. Built around Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel and extending across Mulberry Street into the rooming house from which the shot was fired on April 4, 1968. Plan two to three hours. It's not comfortable. It's essential. Tennessee residents get free admission Monday afternoons after 3 p.m. Buy Tickets · 📍 Map It
- ✓ Payne's Bar-B-Q # — Cash only. Counter service. $8 for a chopped pork sandwich piled with coleslaw on top. It is one of the best eight dollars you will spend in Tennessee. Lamar Avenue. Closed Sundays. Cash only — bring it. 📍 Map It
- ✓ Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous # — Greek-spiced dry-rub ribs in the alley off Monroe Avenue since 1948. Written about in every major American food publication. Closed Sunday and Monday. Expect a line on weekends. Worth it. Official Site · 📍 Map It
- ✓ Central BBQ # — Four locations across the city. Pulled pork plates and dry-rub ribs in the $10 to $14 range. The reliable choice when Rendezvous has a two-hour wait. Official Site
- ✓ Budget Lodging — Memphis # — Talbot Heirs Guesthouse on Monroe Avenue: boutique inn, 2 blocks from Beale Street, from $85. Chain options on Second Street and Beale: $70 to $110. Midtown/Overton Park: guesthouses and independent options from $75 in a walkable neighborhood.
- ✓ Graceland # — The most visited private home in the United States after the White House. The jungle room, shag-carpeted TV room, and racquetball court are a time capsule of a very specific American moment. Elvis is buried in the Meditation Garden on the property. General admission: $84 adults (mansion tour + museum complex). Parking $10. Budget three hours. Buy Tickets · 📍 Map It
- ✓ Stax Museum of American Soul Music # — $13 adults. Built on the exact site of the original Stax studio where Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and Sam & Dave cut their records. The original recording booth is reconstructed inside. Isaac Hayes' gold-plated Cadillac El Dorado is on display. Buy Tickets · 📍 Map It
- ✓ The Beauty Shop Restaurant # — A converted 1950s beauty salon in Cooper-Young with original dryer chairs as barstools. Updated American comfort food at $20 to $35 per plate. One of the most distinctive dining rooms in the South. Reservations · 📍 Map It
- ✓ The Madison Hotel # — A boutique property in a converted 1905 bank building on Madison Avenue. Rooms from $150. Rooftop terrace overlooking the Memphis skyline and the river. Official Site
- ✓ The Guest House at Graceland # — Adjacent to the Presley estate. Runs $130 to $180. Worth it if Graceland is the primary reason for the trip — you're already on the property. Official Site
- ✓ The Peabody Memphis # — Built in 1925, called the South's Grand Hotel. A marble lobby, a fountain in the center of the atrium, and a tradition since 1933: every morning at 11 a.m., five mallard ducks march from the elevator to the lobby fountain via a red carpet while Sousa's King Cotton March plays. They march back at 5 p.m. It's genuinely a thing. Rooms run $250 to $400. The Capriccio Grill inside serves Italian-American plates from $45 to $75 per person. Official Site · 📍 Map It
- ✓ Elvis Presley's Memphis — VIP Complex # — The full complex adjacent to the mansion adds a showroom, an automobile museum with 33 cars, and an aviation museum with Elvis's personal jets. The full VIP package runs approximately $165. It is maximalist in exactly the way Elvis would have wanted. Buy Tickets
- ✓ Chez Philippe at The Peabody # — The city's white-tablecloth anchor. A French-influenced menu in a formal dining room inside the Peabody Hotel. Prix-fixe dinners around $85 per person. Reservations
Pro Tips for Memphis
Payne's: Cash OnlyPayne's Bar-B-Q does not take cards. Bring cash. The $8 sandwich is worth it — don't miss it because you forgot.
Rendezvous HoursCharlie Vergos' Rendezvous is closed Sunday and Monday. Plan accordingly. Weekends have a line — that's normal.
TN Residents: Free MuseumTennessee residents get free Civil Rights Museum admission Monday afternoons after 3 p.m. Worth knowing for locals or week-long visitors.
Duck March at The PeabodyPosition yourself in the Peabody lobby by 10:50 a.m. The ducks march from the elevator at 11 a.m. sharp. Free to watch from the lobby — no room required.
Recommended Gear for Memphis
Tours
Viator — Memphis Tours & Experiences
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More Tennessee Guides
This is part of The Earnest Traveler's complete Tennessee series — Nashville, state overview, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Gatlinburg. Every destination, every budget.
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