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The Peabody Memphis, Memphis

Things to do guide

The best things to do in Memphis

Updated 7 October 2026 · 16 things to do

Pictured: The Peabody Memphis

Memphis changed the sound of the twentieth century. The blues came up from the Mississippi Delta and settled on Beale Street; a young truck driver called Elvis Presley walked into a tiny studio on Union Avenue; and across town, Stax Records gave the world Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes. You can stand in the very rooms where it happened, and the city still plays live music every night of the week.

It is a city of big emotions as well as big tunes. The motel where Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was killed is now one of the most moving museums in America. And then there is the food: slow-smoked pork ribs that people argue about with the passion others reserve for football. Come hungry, come curious, and bring comfortable shoes for dancing.

Don't miss

  1. 1Graceland
  2. 2Beale Street
  3. 3National Civil Rights Museum
  4. 4Sun Studio
  5. 5Memphis barbecue

The big sights

The places that put Memphis on the map.

  1. Graceland

    Landmark

    The front entrance of Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley
    Photo: JLHJets, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Elvis Presley bought this white-columned mansion in 1957, when he was 22, and lived here for the rest of his life. The house is smaller than you expect and preserved exactly as he left it, from the mirrored television room to the famous Jungle Room with its green shag carpet and indoor waterfall. He is buried in the garden.

    Across the road, a large exhibition complex displays his cars, jumpsuits and gold records, and his two private aeroplanes. You do not need to be a fan to be fascinated.

    Tip: Tours are timed and popular. Book ahead, and go early in the day when it is quieter.

  2. National Civil Rights Museum

    Museum

    The Lorraine Motel, now the National Civil Rights Museum
    Photo: DavGreg, CC BY-SA 3.0

    The Lorraine Motel, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on 4 April 1968, has been preserved and built into a powerful museum of the American civil rights movement. The galleries take you from slavery through the bus boycotts, sit-ins and marches, and end at the balcony outside Room 306.

    It is sobering, brilliantly done and, for many visitors, the most memorable thing in Memphis. Give it a good half-day and do not rush.

  3. Beale Street

    Nightlife

    Beale Street in Memphis
    Photo: WillyBearden, CC BY-SA 4.0

    The most famous street in the blues. In the early twentieth century Beale was the centre of Black life and music in Memphis, where W. C. Handy wrote his blues and a young B. B. King earned his name. Today a few closed-off blocks are packed with clubs, bars and neon, with bands playing from the afternoon into the small hours.

    It is touristy, noisy and great fun. Wander in and out of the clubs until you find a band you like.

    Tip: Beale Street is lively every night but at its busiest at weekends. Midweek is easier if you want a seat near the stage.

  4. Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid

    Landmark

    The Memphis Pyramid
    Photo: Joel יוֹאֵל, CC BY-SA 2.0

    Memphis is named after the ancient Egyptian city, so in the 1990s it built itself a giant glass pyramid beside the Mississippi. The former sports arena is now, improbably, an enormous outdoor-goods shop, complete with an indoor swamp, a hotel and a very tall lift up to an observation deck at the tip. It is gloriously odd and the view over the river is superb.

The music trail

Three small buildings that changed popular music.

  1. Sun Studio

    Museum

    Sun Studio on Union Avenue in Memphis
    Photo: dbking from Washington, DC, CC BY 2.0

    A modest brick building on Union Avenue with a strong claim to be the birthplace of rock and roll. Here the producer Sam Phillips recorded Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and bluesmen such as Howlin' Wolf. The guided tour ends in the original studio, which is still used for recording.

    You can stand on the spot where Elvis sang and hold a microphone from the era. Music fans get goosebumps.

  2. Stax Museum of American Soul Music

    Museum

    The Stax Museum of American Soul Music
    Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain

    Built on the site of the old Stax Records studio in the neighbourhood known as Soulsville, this museum tells the story of the label behind Otis Redding, Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Sam and Dave and Isaac Hayes. There is a recreated studio, a dance floor, walls of records and Hayes's extravagant gold-trimmed Cadillac.

    It is joyful and full of music, and it has a serious story to tell about a place where Black and white musicians worked side by side.

  3. Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum

    Museum

    The Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum
    Photo: Gary J. Wood from Toronto, ON, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0

    A good place to start if you want the whole story in one go. Created with the Smithsonian Institution, this museum just off Beale Street traces how the music of rural sharecroppers travelled to the city and became blues, rock and roll and soul. An audio guide packed with songs means you listen your way round.

Neighbourhoods and the river

  1. The Mississippi riverfront

    Nature

    The Hernando de Soto Bridge over the Mississippi River at Memphis
    Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0

    The Mississippi is immense here, a broad brown river sliding past the foot of downtown. Parks and paths run along the bluff and the bank, and the Big River Crossing, a walkway on an old railway bridge, lets you stroll right across to Arkansas. Come at sunset, when the sky lights up behind the bridges.

  2. South Main

    Neighbourhood

    South Main Street in Memphis
    Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki (thomasmachnitzki.com), CC BY 3.0

    Downtown's arts district runs south from Beale Street along the old trolley line. Its brick warehouses and shopfronts now hold galleries, boutiques, coffee shops, bars and restaurants, and the National Civil Rights Museum is a block away. It is a good area for an afternoon wander or a quieter evening than Beale Street offers.

  3. Cooper-Young

    Neighbourhood

    A relaxed Midtown neighbourhood centred on the crossroads that gives it its name. Old bungalows surround a cluster of independent restaurants, bars, record and book shops, and it is where many locals go out. Head here when you want to eat and drink well away from the tourist trail.

  4. Overton Park

    Nature

    Midtown's big green space includes a rare tract of old-growth forest with walking trails, plus the Memphis Zoo and an outdoor stage, the Overton Park Shell, where Elvis played one of his first professional shows in 1954. It still puts on concerts in the warmer months. It is a lovely place to cool off under the trees.

Eat and drink

  1. Memphis barbecue

    Food

    In Memphis, barbecue means pork, cooked low and slow over wood. The speciality is ribs, served either dry, with a crust of spice rub, or wet, basted in a tangy tomato-based sauce. Order both and decide for yourself. Pulled pork sandwiches come topped with coleslaw, and barbecue even turns up on spaghetti and pizza.

    Every local has a favourite joint and will defend it fiercely. The best have smoke-stained walls and paper napkins.

    Tip: Each May the city hosts a huge barbecue cooking contest as part of its Memphis in May festival.

  2. Soul food and fried chicken

    Food

    Beyond barbecue, Memphis does Southern home cooking with real conviction: fried catfish, greens, cornbread, sweet potato pie and plates of meat with three vegetables on the side. The city is also known for its hot, crisp fried chicken. Elvis's own favourite, a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, appears on menus too, for the brave.

Days out

  1. Shelby Farms Park

    Nature

    Shelby Farms Park in Memphis
    Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki (thomasmachnitzki.com), CC BY 3.0

    One of the largest urban parks in the country, out in the east of the city. There are lakes for kayaking and paddleboarding, miles of trails for walking and cycling, playgrounds and wide open meadows, and even a resident herd of bison. Families staying in East Memphis or Germantown have it close at hand.

  2. Clarksdale and the Mississippi Delta

    Day trip

    The Blues Trail marker at the crossroads of Highways 49 and 61 in Clarksdale
    Photo: Firecruise, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Drive south down Highway 61 and you enter the flat cotton country where the blues was born. The small town of Clarksdale is the heart of it, with a museum of Delta blues, juke joints with live music and the crossroads where, legend says, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. It is a pilgrimage for music lovers.

  3. Tupelo

    Day trip

    The Elvis Presley Birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi
    Photo: Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0

    Elvis fans can complete the story with a trip to Tupelo, Mississippi, where he was born in 1935 in a two-room house built by his father. The tiny house still stands, now surrounded by a museum, a chapel and a park. It is a striking contrast with Graceland and makes the journey between the two all the more remarkable.

Where to stay in Memphis

Not sure which area suits you? Read our guide: Where to stay in Memphis →

Getting around

Downtown, Beale Street, South Main and the riverfront are close together and walkable, with vintage trolleys running along Main Street. Graceland, Sun Studio, Stax and Midtown are a drive away, so use taxis, ride-hailing apps or a hire car. After dark, stick to busy, well-lit areas and take a cab between neighbourhoods.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons, mild and good for walking. Summers are hot and very humid. Elvis fans gather in August for Elvis Week, around the anniversary of his death, and in January for his birthday, when Graceland is especially busy.

Questions about visiting Memphis

What is Memphis best known for?
Music and barbecue. It is the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock and roll, the city of Elvis Presley's Graceland, Beale Street, Sun Studio and Stax Records, and the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.
Is Memphis worth visiting?
Yes. Few cities have had such an influence on popular music, and you can visit the places where it happened. The National Civil Rights Museum is outstanding, and the food alone justifies the trip.
How many days do you need in Memphis?
Two to three days is enough for Graceland, the civil rights museum, the music museums and a couple of nights on Beale Street. Add a day for the Mississippi Delta.
Is Graceland worth visiting if you are not an Elvis fan?
Most people think so. The house is a remarkable time capsule of 1970s taste, and the story of a poor boy from Mississippi who became the most famous singer in the world is hard to resist.
Do you need a car in Memphis?
Not for downtown, which is walkable. For Graceland, Sun Studio, Stax and Midtown you can use taxis or ride-hailing, though a hire car is useful if you plan day trips.

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