New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis and beyond

With the greatest respect to New Orleans, 5-6 days does seem like a lot, even if you include a plantation tour and a swamp | bijou tour. Can't comment on Memphis or Nashville, or other places up the Mississippi, although Vicksburg and the Natchez Trace, are often suggested on here.

On our "Southern Tour" we included time (a week?) for Miami Beach > Everglades > Key West ... which we enjoyed. Cheap Southwest flight between Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and New Orleans (MSY).

The classic way to do a roadtrip from New Orleans to Memphis is the Natchez Trace parkway, from Natchez, MS to Tupelo, MS. Natchez is an antebellum southern town 3 hours north of New Orleans. The parkway goes through beautiful countryside, and there are many stops along the way for historic sights and old plantations. You'd need to get off at Tupelo, where Elvis Pressley was born, because the parkway doesn't go to Memphis.

There are a whole lot of detours you can take, like Vicksburg for the famous Civil War Battlefield national park. And the Blues sites and Civil Rights places in the Mississippi delta. if you're blues fans you have to go to Clarksburg. And also there's Oxford, MS, the college town where you can see William Faulkner's house museum.

There's a ton of stuff to do in Memphis too: that's worth 3 whole days at least. Nashville isn't nearly as interesting. Despite having the grand Old Opry, Nashville doesn't really translate well for tourists.

You could check out Lafayette, LA which has Zydeco and Cajun music venues. You can also eat tasty Cajun food such as red beans and rice, Jambalaya, and Creole Gumbo at restaurants such as Dwight's. The downtown is lively and there are the famous Festival International de Louisiane and Festivals Acadiens et Créoles.

The Acadia Village is a replica of an 1820s Acadian village with gardens. BetweenView alligators and many types of birds beneath live oak and cypress trees dripping with Spanish moss. Lafayette and St. Martinsville is the Cypress Island Swamp!

And don't miss the Jim Henson Museum in Leland MS.
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/6620

On a more serious note, the African American Museum of History and Culture in Natchez is well worth a visit.
https://www.visitnatchez.org/business/natchez-museum-of-african-american-history-and-culture

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