Interstate 40 runs dead straight for roughly 210 miles across Tennessee, connecting the two cities most responsible for American popular music: Nashville, the modern capital of country music, and Memphis, the birthplace of rock and roll and the blues. This three-day road trip runs from Broadway’s neon honky-tonks and the Country Music Hall of Fame to a self-drive west across the state, Elvis Presley’s Graceland, and the studio where Sun Records first recorded him. A real rental car, real honky-tonks, and 2026 prices for every stop.
Day 1Nashville — Broadway & Music Row
A first night in Music City, with the genre’s two essential shrines waiting within walking distance of each other.
🛎️ Hotel Check-In — Union Station Hotel, Nashville
from $230 USD/night, for 2 people
A restored 1900 Romanesque Revival train station turned hotel just off Broadway, with a barrel-vaulted, stained-glass lobby ceiling that was once the station’s main concourse.
Union Station Hotel, Autograph Collection · +16157261001 · www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bnacu-the-union-station-nashville-yards-autograph-collection/overview/
🎸 Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
~2 hrs · $32 USD/person
Nashville’s essential country-music museum, with rotating artist exhibits, stage costumes, and a rotunda inscribed with the names of every Hall of Fame inductee.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum · +16154162001 · countrymusichalloffame.org
🎻 Ryman Auditorium Self-Guided Tour
~1 hr · $35.80 USD/person
Known as the “Mother Church of Country Music,” the Ryman hosted the Grand Ole Opry for more than three decades and still holds concerts in its pew-lined, church-like hall.
Ryman Auditorium · ryman.com
🍗 Dinner — Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
~1 hr · ~$15–20 USD/person
Nashville’s best-known hot chicken counter, serving its fried chicken on a heat scale that runs from “Southern” to a blistering “Shut the Cluck Up.”
Hattie B’s Hot Chicken · +16156784794 · hattieb.com
Day 2Broadway Morning & the Drive to Memphis
A last stroll down Nashville’s honky-tonk strip, then the long, straight drive west to Memphis on I-40.
🪕 Broadway Honky-Tonk Strip
~1.5 hrs, self-guided · free (cover varies by venue)
Live music spills out of open doors up and down lower Broadway from mid-morning until past midnight, with no cover charge at most honky-tonks before evening.
🚗 Self-Drive — Nashville to Memphis via I-40
~210 mi / ~3.5 hrs · self-drive, with a stop in Jackson, TN
Interstate 40 runs almost due west across Tennessee; Jackson, roughly the halfway point, makes an easy stretch stop at Casey Jones Village, built around the legendary railroad engineer’s restored home.
🛎️ Hotel Check-In — The Peabody Memphis
from $230 USD/night, for 2 people
A grand 1925 hotel on Union Avenue famous for its resident ducks, which ride a private elevator down to the lobby fountain every morning and back up every evening.
The Peabody Memphis · +19015294000 · www.peabodymemphis.com
🦆 Peabody Duck March
~15 min, self-guided · free
A red-carpet procession of ducks from the lobby fountain to the elevator, led by the hotel’s Duckmaster at 11am and reversed at 5pm daily, a Peabody tradition dating to the 1930s.
Day 3Memphis — Graceland, Sun Studio & Beale Street
A morning at Elvis Presley’s home, an afternoon at the studio where his career began, and a last night on Beale Street.
🎤 Graceland — Elvis Experience Tour
~3 hrs, self-guided · $85 USD/person
A self-guided tour through Elvis Presley’s mansion and grounds, including the Jungle Room and his grave in the Meditation Garden, plus the separate Elvis Presley’s Memphis entertainment complex across the street.
Graceland · +18002382000 · www.graceland.com
🏚️ Sun Studio Tour
~45 min, guided · $20 USD/person
The working studio where Sam Phillips recorded Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, and Jerry Lee Lewis, still used for recording sessions between daytime tours of the control room and original microphones.
Sun Studio · +19015210664 · www.sunstudio.com
🍖 Dinner — Central BBQ
~1 hr · ~$15–20 USD/person
A Memphis barbecue favorite near Beale Street, known for its dry-rubbed ribs and a nacho plate piled with smoked pulled pork.
Central BBQ · cbqmemphis.com
🎷 Beale Street Evening Walk
~1.5 hrs, self-guided · free (cover varies by venue)
Memphis’s historic entertainment strip, lined with blues clubs, barbecue joints, and neon signs — the spiritual home of the Memphis blues sound and a fitting last stop before heading home.
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