The Blues Highway

New Orleans

Arrive at New Orleans International Airport and transfer to your hotel in New Orleans, The Astor Crowne Plaza. In the evening enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of this unique city. The American art form known as jazz inspired such world-renowned local musicians as Louis Armstrong who transformed it into the heartbeat of the city where "the good times roll". You will hear jazz everywhere - on street corners, traditional funeral processions, the Preservation Hall, and in the numerous clubs, and hotel lounges dotted through-out this wonderful vibrant city.

Explore New Orleans including the US Mint Jazz Museum, Jackson Square, Bourbon Street and the French Quarter. No other city in America can boast such intrigue or romance

Spend more time getting to know the Big Easy and its many sights and - more importantly - sounds. You might choose to take a steamboat trip along the Mississippi or you might decide to sample the city's Creole cuisine; New Orleans is also famous for its food.

You last day in New Orleans. Perhaps by now you'll have some favourite jazz clubs to go back to or, more likely, you'll still have a lot to see. Visit the Gallier House, Lake Pontchartrain and Mardi Gras World where the famous festival floats are made.
Stay 3 nights.

Lafayette

155 miles

Pick up your hire car and drive across swampy Louisiana to Lafayette, capital of the French-speaking Cajun South and home to Cajun and zydeco music. Go in search of the Cajun way of life at Vermilionville or hone your dance moves at a local club.

A full day in Lafayette to explore this sleepy, Southern town where music and dancing are part of everyday life. Go to a Cajun jam session or visit one of the many nearby antebellum plantation houses.
Stay 1 night.

Natchez

138 miles

From Lafayette head north into Mississippi to Natchez, a cotton centre and once the richest town in the US. Natchez is still dripping in antebellum finery; explore the many plantation houses and indulge in some of the best restaurants on this tour.

This extra day in Natchez will allow you to explore a little further afield; go in search of the some of the most impressive plantation grounds and houses in the South amid the cotton fields around Natchez. Or you could investigate the cool 'Under-the-Hill' district, once described by Mark Twain as home to the roughest bars on the Mississippi River but now a trendy row of bars and restaurants.
Stay 2 nights.

Jackson

242 miles

Drive to Jackson, state capital of Mississippi. You have one night here to explore Farish Street, where the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson II and Robert Johnson were discovered, and the city's many blues clubs.
Stay 1 night.

Greenwood

116 miles

Leave Jackson and head across the Delta to Greenwood, putting you as deep in the Delta blues as you can get. Greenwood is the county's second largest cotton exchange after Memphis. Graceful mansions line the pretty Grand Boulevard of this sleepy town which comes alive every October for the Cotton Capital Blues Festival held here. On the way you might want to use our 'Deep Delta Guide' to find the graves of Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and others as well as a series of key blues landmarks.

Enjoy some Italian/Cajun cuisine at 'Luscos' Restaurant - once the haunt of cotton barons who came here to drink moonshine. Each table is still hidden away in a small booth veiled by chintz curtains dating back from this time. You'll have opportunity to explore the juke-joints of Greenville's Nelson and Walnut Streets or to try your luck in one of the town's many casinos.
Stay 1 night.

Clarksdale

78 miles

Drive north along Highway 61 - the 'Blues Highway' - through the Delta to Clarksdale, America's most significant blues town. On the way you might want to use our 'Deep Delta Guide' to find Dockery Plantation where Charley Patton defined the Delta blues. Clarksdale is America's most significant blues town. Illustrious one-time Clarksdale residents include John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Ike Turner.

A full day to get to know Clarksdale. Visit the outstanding Delta Blues Museum and drive out to Stovall Plantation where Muddy Waters grew up. This evening you might tour the town's many 'juke-joints' - authentic blues bars - or you could dine at Hollywood star and local Morgan Freeman's restaurant.
Stay 1 night.

Memphis

79 miles

Drive north along Highway 61 - the 'Blues Highway' - through the Delta to Clarksdale, America's most significant blues town. On the way you might want to use our 'Deep Delta Guide' to find Dockery Plantation where Charley Patton defined the Delta blues. Clarksdale is America's most significant blues town. Illustrious one-time Clarksdale residents include John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Ike Turner.

A full day to get to know Clarksdale. Visit the outstanding Delta Blues Museum and drive out to Stovall Plantation where Muddy Waters grew up. This evening you might tour the town's many 'juke-joints' - authentic blues bars - or you could dine at Hollywood star and local Morgan Freeman's restaurant.
Stay 2 nights.

Nashville

Go east from Memphis to Nashville, 'Music City USA', home of country music and some of America's biggest recording companies. Trawl the outstanding music venues of Second and Broadway or head out to the Grand Ole Opry, the 'church' of country music.

A full day to explore Nashville. Visit the famous Ryman Auditorium, the new Country Music Hall of Fame or RCA's Studio 'B' where Elvis Presley recorded over 200 of his best-loved hits. Or you might choose to wander Music Row hoping - like thousands before you - to be 'spotted' by a talent scout!
Stay 2 nights

Cape Girardeau

239 miles

Head north along Highway 61 - the 'Blues Highway' - through the lush farmland of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri to Cape Girardeau, an attractive and laid-back stopover en route to St Louis.
Stay 1 night.

St Louis

115 miles

Continue along that ol' 'Blues Highway' to St Louis, America's great 'gateway city'. Check in at your hotel then spend the evening roaming the funky Soulard district, home to one of the best blues scenes in the US. Look out for local legends Henry Townsend and Johnnie Johnson.

A day in St Louis. Ride to the top of the amazing 630-foot Gateway Arch which dominates the city's skyline. Then visit Scott Joplin's House where the ragtime innovator penned such hits as 'Maple Leaf Rag' and 'The Entertainer'.

One more day in St Louis giving you time to leave the music landmarks to explore some of this great city's more mainstream attractions like the superb art galleries, parks and the eccentric City Museum. St Louis is a major city and one which has a great deal to offer visitors. Or you might choose to use this 'extra' day to relax before hitting the road again.
Stay 2 nights.

Ft Madison

200 miles

You'll know you've left the South far behind you as you drive on into the cooler, faster world of the American Midwest. But before you reach the next major city, Davenport, stop over at quaint Fort Madison, a taste of peaceful, rural, small-town America. Enjoy the exceptional views across the 'Great Bend' in the Mississippi River to Illinois.
Stay 1 night.

Davenport

95 miles

Follow Highway 61 as it weaves alongside the mighty Mississippi River to Davenport, Iowa. Here jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke took up the cornet after hearing Louis Armstrong's sound drifting across the river from a steamboat where he played with Fate Marable's orchestra. Optional extras include a Bix tour of Davenport.
Stay 1 night.

Chicago

Drive across the Great Plains of the Midwest to Chicago, the place where jazz and blues really came of age and the last stop on your epic journey along the Blues Highway. After the drive you might want to head into the Loop for some Italian-American cooking or to a soul food joint for 'smothered pork and beans'.

Your first full day in the Windy City. Where do you start? You could focus on the South Side's many blues landmarks like Muddy Waters's house and the Checkerboard Lounge or you could head for the mainstream attractions like the lakeshore or Navy Pier.

Chicago is a vast city and even with three full days you'll come away feeling that you still had a lot to see. Perhaps head down to the South Side for a gospel church service at the Pilgrim Baptist Church - the place where Mahalia Jackson and Tom Dorsey defined modern gospel music. Or you could check out Maxwell Street, Chicago's great blues thoroughfare.

This is the your last day on America's music trail. Spend the day checking out the Loop and some of Chicago's great museums before a night on the town. Choose between the North Side with its world-famous blues venues or head down to Buddy Guy's club. Then there's the South Side with clubs like Lee's Unleaded where raw electric blues pounds night after night. Stay 3 nights.

Home

Spend the morning last minute shopping or relaxing before transferring to the airport to catch your flight home.