Things to Do in Memphis

Memphis is a music pilgrimage city — the birthplace of blues, soul, and rock and roll. The core attractions are tied directly to this musical heritage: Graceland, Sun Studio, Stax Museum, and Beale Street together constitute one of the most significant concentrations of American popular culture history in any single city. The National Civil Rights Museum adds a different kind of essential history, making Memphis a city where music history and civil rights history are impossible to separate.

Music Heritage Sites

Graceland (3764 Elvis Presley Blvd) is the mandatory visit for any first-time Memphis visitor. Elvis Presley’s home from 1957 until his death in 1977 is more engaging than most celebrity house museums: the décor (green shag carpet, the Jungle Room, the TV room with three televisions) has been preserved exactly as Elvis left it, and the artifact collection in the on-site buildings covers his career from Sun Studio to Las Vegas in exhaustive depth. The mansion tour runs via self-guided iPad; budget 2-3 hours for the full experience. Admission approximately $42 adults for the mansion tour; comprehensive packages including the Elvis airplane and car museum approximately $65-$95 as of 2026. Book online for significant savings and to secure entry times during peak periods (summer, birthday week in January, death anniversary in August).

Sun Studio (706 Union Ave) is where modern popular music was essentially created. Elvis recorded “That’s All Right” here in 1954; Cash, Perkins, Lewis, and Orbison followed. The guided tour (approximately 40 minutes, every hour) walks through the original recording room with the actual microphone, mixing board, and artifacts from the sessions. Admission approximately $15 adults as of 2026. Open daily 10am-6pm.

Stax Museum of American Soul Music (926 E McLemore Ave) was built on the exact footprint of the Stax Records studio that produced Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, and the Staple Singers. The museum incorporates a reproduction of the original studio and covers the Stax story in full, including the Wattstax concert film. Isaac Hayes’s 1972 gold-plated Cadillac El Dorado is the centerpiece artifact. Admission approximately $13 adults as of 2026. Open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm.

Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and Blues Museum (421 S Main St, South Main Arts District) opened in 2015; a more modest but worthwhile complement to the other music museums.

Beale Street

Beale Street is the entertainment district — a pedestrian-accessible strip where open container laws apply throughout the zone. The clubs range from juke joints to larger venues, and live music starts in the afternoon and runs through 3am on weekends. B.B. King’s Blues Club (143 Beale St) is the most famous name; local musicians perform nightly alongside visiting acts. The street is most atmospheric Thursday-Saturday evenings; Sunday afternoons are also lively.

Civil Rights History

National Civil Rights Museum (450 Mulberry St) should be considered essential regardless of the visitor’s primary interests. The museum is built around and through the Lorraine Motel, preserved at the moment of Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968 — Room 306 is visible through a glass partition. The exhibition traces the full arc of the American civil rights movement, from the 1619 Project-era context through the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Rides, March on Washington, and the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike that brought King to the city. Allow 2.5-3 hours. Admission approximately $20 adults as of 2026.

Other Attractions

Memphis Zoo (2000 Prentiss Pl, Overton Park) — approximately $20 adults; a well-regarded zoo with giant pandas among the featured animals.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (1934 Poplar Ave, Overton Park) — free on Wednesdays; the oldest and largest art museum in Tennessee. Open Tuesday-Sunday.

Mud Island River Park (125 N Front St) — a peninsula in the Mississippi River with a scale model of the lower Mississippi River that you walk along; free to the park, tram/monorail to the island approximately $6 round trip.

Practical Planning

Graceland and Sun Studio benefit from advance online ticket purchase, particularly in summer. Beale Street requires no planning — arrive in the evening and walk. The National Civil Rights Museum is closed Tuesdays. Combining Stax (south) and Graceland (further south) in one day, and Sun Studio + National Civil Rights Museum + Beale Street in another, is the standard two-day itinerary.