Known as ‘Music City’, Nashville’s music history goes back to the late 1700s, but is more recently associated with country music. Today you can hear all genres of music in the variety of venues in the city, from the back-street honky-tonks to the newly constructed Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Take a free dance lesson at the Wild Horse Saloon, tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA’s Studio B. Visit the Grand Ole Opry, the world's longest running radio show and a recommended highlight, and also the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. 

Stay one night in Nashville

Desoto State Park is nestled atop beautiful Lookout Mountain in scenic Northeast Alabama. There are many rushing waterfalls and fragrant wildflowers that will simply take your breath away. DeSoto State Park has plenty to do to keep you entertained – kayaking, fishing, hiking, biking, cycling, rappelling, bouldering, picnicking, wildflower expeditions, and just plain ole' exploring nature - they literally have it all! The park is conveniently located only 8 miles northeast of Fort Payne, where you can check-out the Alabama Fan Club and Museum (a must for any fans of the band!), visit Boom Town Makers Market where you can discover incredible local handmade treasures and a selection of restaurants from fine-dining to simple, but incredible barbeque. Make sure you also visit DeSoto Falls - part of DeSoto State Park, about 7 miles north of the park itself.  

Stay three nights in De Soto State Park 

On your way, stop in Huntsville, known as ‘Rocket City’, where history and southern hospitality meet high-tech innovation. Huntsville is famous for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and its part in the race to the Moon, and is a must for anyone interested in space.

Spend your next couple of days enjoying the beauty and serenity of Joe Wheeler 2,550-acre resort park. On the shores of Wheeler Lake, the park boasts a championship 18-hole golf course and a full-service marina, where you can rent pontoon or paddle boats, or take a scenic boat tour. The park is divided by the Tennessee River, which forms the 69,700-acre Wheeler Lake. Bass, bream and catfish are plentiful in the sparkling waters, and on land Joe Wheeler Resort State Park offers hiking and mountain biking trails that allow you to reconnect with nature and view some of the best scenery that north Alabama has to offer.

Close by are ‘The Shoals’, a cluster of cities bursting with musical talent – Tuscumbia, Florence, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. Visit the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia which showcases some of the state’s famous music icons, and the Muscle Shoals Sounds Studio and FAME Recording Studio, used frequently by superstars like Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon and Otis Redding. Both studios are active recording studios but are open for public tours (check ahead for visiting times).

Stay three nights in Joe Wheeler State Park

Head first to Tupelo and Elvis’ birthplace, where you can not only visit the Birthplace, but also Tupelo Hardware, where Elvis’ mother Gladys bought his first guitar, or the award-winning Elvis Presley Museum.

Continue along the Natchez Trace Parkway, a historic route through some beautiful countryside with places to hike or just take in the view, arriving in Jackson – the capital of Mississippi, known as the ‘City with Soul’. Visit the superb Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and points on the Mississippi Freedom Trail that runs through the city, encompassing a number of historic sites that were significant in the Civil Rights Movement. Jackson also boasts a vibrant music scene and places throughout the city where you can find live music, as well as a range of dining options, from small ‘mom and pop’ restaurants to nationally renowned chefs. 

Lefleur’s Bluff State Park and Campground is the perfect place to stay in the urban heart of Jackson, offering a lush, green space for camping, fishing, picnicking and nature trails. The 305-acre park features a nine-hole golf course and a driving range. 

Stay two nights in Lefleur’s Bluff State Park and Campgrounds.

From Jackson continue on the Natchez Trace Parkway to Natchez – The Jewel of the Mississippi. Natchez is the oldest city on the Mississippi River and has preserved the influences of Native American, European, Southern, and African American cultures – all of which have given it a unique blend of charm, grace, romance, mystery, and adventure. The area boasts over 500 antebellum houses and plantation homes, many of which are open to visitors. 

Surrounded by beautiful scenery, Natchez has plenty of places for you to enjoy the outdoors. Gaze at the mighty Mississippi River from Bluff Park, which is particularly spectacular at sunset. Rent a bike and tour the area by peddle power, take a historic downtown walking tour or hike in one of the nearby state parks or wildlife refuges.

Natchez State Park and Campground is located to the north of the town and offers nature trails, fishing and a playground.

Stay two nights at Natchez State Park and Campground

Head-up Highway 61 to Vicksburg which sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers, and the setting of a bloody 47 day siege during the Civil War. Vicksburg is also the place where Coca-Cola was first bottled, a fact that is happily immortalized at the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum. 

Clarksdale is in the heart of the Delta and has a rich Blues heritage. Names like Muddy Waters, Charley Patton and Robert Johnson dot the musical landscape here, and their legacies continue to inspire and entertain millions of people worldwide.

Visit the site of Stovall Plantation where McKinley Morganfield, aka, Muddy Waters was raised and discovered by folklorist Alan Lomax who recorded him for the Library of Congress in 1941. Muddy Water's cabin is now housed inside the Delta Blues Museum at the train depot in downtown at Blues Alley. 

Clarksdale has a thriving live music scene with clubs open every weekend and festivals scattered throughout the year. Enjoy a night of Blues in one of the local Juke Joints: Ground Zero, Annie Bell Lounge or the Hopson Plantation Commissary.

Stay two nights in the Clarksdale area. We recommend the RV site at the Shack Up Inn. Located only three miles from the legendary Crossroads, Highways 49 and 61, immerse yourself in the living history found within the restored sharecropper shacks, which are also available for overnight stays. Walk around the grounds surrounding the original cotton gin (now the bar and lobby), and you will find one of the first mechanized cotton pickers, manufactured by International Harvester.  

Memphis is renowned as the ‘Home of the Blues’ and the ‘Birthplace of Rock ’n’ Roll’. Visit 'Graceland', the home of Elvis Presley, Sun Studio which opened in 1950 and a place where many great names have passed through, as well as the Stax Museum of American Soul and the Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum. Outside of music, you may also like to pay a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum located in the former Lorraine Hotel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Spend your evenings on Beale Street, where W.C. Handy first penned the Blues music of the Mississippi Delta. Stretching for several blocks, you can enjoy bars, nightclubs and restaurants offering a variety of food and live music, including traditional Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Jazz and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Be sure to hear live Blues at BB King’s or Rum Boogie Café.

Stay two nights in the Memphis area 

The Land Between the Lakes area offers over 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline, 200 miles of paved roads, 500 miles of trails, and 170,000 acres of forests and open lands. Bike, drive, hike, picnic, relax, swim, and watch wildlife.

Take a trip to Paducah, a historic western Kentucky river town at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. It has a rich heritage and colourful past. UNESCO has designated Paducah the world’s seventh City of Crafts and Folk Art, making the city a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Stroll down brick pavements around Market House Square and admire the turn-of-the-20th Century architecture. Enjoy boutiques, antiques and galleries, and experience an array of restaurant choices from Kentucky barbeque to fine dining. 

Stay three nights at Indian Point RV Park

Bardstown has been voted America’s “Most Beautiful Small Town”. Located in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country and situated at the trailhead of the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Bardstown is more familiarly known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” It is home to a number of distilleries (all open for public tours), as well as one of “America’s Most Beautiful Town Squares”, and offers great shopping and dining options.

Admire the beautiful grounds of My Old Kentucky Home State Park, tour the wonderful Historic Mansion. The campground and estate around the mansion are great places for birdwatching, regardless of the season and you can enjoy a round of golf on some of Kentucky’s rolling bluegrass. 

Stay three nights at My Old Kentucky Home State Park Campground

Leave early in the morning and drive to Mammoth Cave National Park – the longest known cave in the world, featuring almost 400 miles of mapped interconnected passages. After exploring Mammoth Cave National Park, head to Bowling Green and the National Corvette Museum (showcases the Chevrolet Corvette, an American sports car that has been in production since 1953), before heading to Nashville and dropping of your RV in the late afternoon. 

Depart from Nashville.