Low, soulful, a little rough around the edges – but all the more magnetic for it – Memphis, Tennessee, is a city where music seeps out of doorways and into the pavement, where stories linger in the air, and where every Uber ride feels like its own rolling soundtrack.
And right now, there’s a fresh reason to tune in! With a wave of city-wide revitalisation projects reshaping downtown Memphis for a new era and Baz Luhrmann’s Epic Elvis Presley biopic putting the King back in the cultural spotlight – its time to put on your blue suede footsteps – and discover the Memphis that shaped the King of Rock n Roll.
Day One: Soul, Stories and a Side of Smoke
Start your Memphis immersion not with music, but with meaning. A visit to the National Civil Rights Museum is essential – not just as a history lesson, but as a grounding experience. Set within the former Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the museum is powerful, confronting and deeply human. It’s the kind of place that reshapes how you experience everything that follows.
Soon, there’ll be even more to explore here, with the new Legacy Building expanding the museum’s storytelling – adding immersive spaces designed to carry Dr King’s message forward for a new generation.
From there, ease into the rhythm of the city with a slow wander along the Mississippi River. The late afternoon light turns everything golden, the water moving with that slow, hypnotic certainty that makes you want to linger a little longer than planned.
Keep an eye on the skyline – it’s shifting. Projects like the redevelopment of 100 North Main are quietly transforming downtown into a more layered mix of old and new, adding hotels, rooftop dining and fresh energy to the historic core.
Come evening, it’s time to eat – properly. Book into Catherine & Mary’s, where Southern ingredients meet Italian soul in a space that feels equal parts polished and welcoming. It’s the kind of place where dinner stretches, another glass is poured, and the night gently unfolds.
Still hungry? Or simply curious? Slip into something more casual like Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken – crispy, spicy, unapologetically messy and absolutely worth it.
Then, like any good Memphis night, follow the music. Beale Street may be famous, but it still delivers. Duck into Rum Boogie Cafe for live blues that spills onto the street, or wander until something stops you mid-step.
Day Two: Where Music Was Made
Ease into the morning with something comforting (and carb-heavy) at Sunrise Memphis. Expect buttery biscuits, cinnamon rolls the size of your hand, and a queue that moves slowly but is entirely worth it. Don’t hurry breakfast. In Memphis, it’s less rush more deep Southern charm ritual.
From there, head to Sun Studio – small, unassuming, and seismic in its significance. This is where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis first recorded, and stepping inside feels less like entering a museum and more like interrupting a moment in time. It’s intimate, a little worn-in, and all the more powerful for it.
Continue the musical thread at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, where legends like Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes shaped the sound of a generation. It’s immersive without being overwhelming – the kind of place that makes you pause, listen, and feel.
For something a little different, you could also jump aboard the Memphis Mojo Tour – the country’s only music bus tour – for a lively, singalong-style crash course in the city’s sonic history.
Lunch calls for something smoky and deeply satisfying. Head to Central BBQ, where the ribs are tender, the sauce is unapologetically bold, and the atmosphere is refreshingly no-frills. This is Memphis on a plate – sticky fingers encouraged.
If time allows, art lovers should make a detour to the soon-to-open Memphis Art Museum, set to house over 5,000 years of art and crowned by a rooftop sculpture garden overlooking the Mississippi – a striking symbol of the city’s cultural evolution.
Otherwise, you obviously can’t come to Memphis and not pay homage to Elvis Presley – and there’s no better place to do it than Graceland.
Yes, it’s extravagant. Yes, it leans into the theatrical. It’s a little less “Heartbreak Hotel” these days and more a full-blown shrine to a life that was anything but ordinary. From the technicolour excess of the Jungle Room to the mirrored walls that feel frozen in a permanent stage light glow, Graceland is pure rock ‘n’ roll fantasy.
You half expect to hear “Jailhouse Rock” bouncing off the walls, or “Hound Dog” playing somewhere just out of reach. And while the showmanship is everywhere, there’s something deeper beneath the surface.
From the planes to the personal artefacts, the story builds – fame, fortune, frenzy. It’s easy to get caught up in the spectacle, to fall a little “All Shook Up” in the excess of it all.
But then, in the Meditation Garden, where Elvis now rests, you realise you really “Can’t Help Falling in Love” with the humanity behind the legend.
Where to sleep
With new openings like Hotel Pontotoc, Canopy by Hilton Memphis Downtown Beale Street and Aloft Hotel Downtown Memphis adding fresh places to stay. Plus a growing calendar of major sporting events, from FedEx St. Jude Championship to NBA games with the Memphis Grizzlies ensures that the city is evolving in ways that go far beyond its musical roots.
Two days in the King’s favourite city is soulful, storied and a little unpredictable. It’s music drifting out of open doors, strangers who feel like storytellers, and meals that demand you slow down and stay a while.
Forty-eight hours won’t be enough. But it will be begin to understand why, decades later, we’re all still walking in Memphis.
