Day Trip to Memphis from Nashville: A Music Day

Graceland’s Jungle Room, Elvis Presley’s microphone at Sun Studio and the musicians’ plaques along Beale Street give Memphis three music perspectives: home, recording room and street. This is a full-day driving excursion from Nashville and back, with lunch in South Main and optional riverfront and Peabody lobby stops.

The Monday-to-Saturday plan starts and ends at Riverfront Station in central Nashville, with accommodation access additional. It leaves out the National Civil Rights Museum to keep Sun Studio and Beale Street in the music programme.

Driving, coaches and organised tours

Buy first

Graceland Elvis Experience: mansion, Elvis Presley’s Memphis and Custom Jets

Adult admission

$85; compulsory facility fee $1.50 online, $3 on site before 2pm or $1.50 after 2pm

Mansion entry assumed

10am

Drive via I-40 for control over the local transfers and return. The outward road journey takes about 3 and a half hours, and the return takes about 3 and a half hours. Scheduled coaches are a separate option, not a substitute for the car within this itinerary.

Criterion	Greyhound	FlixBus
Nashville–Memphis departures	5 daily on shared route	5 daily on shared route
Memphis–Nashville departures	—	5 daily, including weekends
Direct services	Yes	Yes
First outward, weekdays and weekends	4am	4am
One-way outward starting fare	$37.98	$35.98Best
One-way return starting fare	$34.98	$34.98
Last return	—	7:15pm, varies by day

Fares vary with departure, demand and advance purchase. Nashville Bus Station is at 709 Rep John Lewis Way South, where you present your ticket to security before entering the lobby. Memphis Bus Station is at 3033 Airways Boulevard. Both terminals require separate sightseeing transfers, and the Nashville terminal is not Riverfront Station.

Sun Studio admission is separate from Graceland’s ticket. For arranged transport, Gray Line Tennessee’s Memphis Day Tour boards at Riverfront Station, 108 1st Avenue South, and starts at $328 per adult. It includes the Graceland mansion audio tour, VIP exhibit, aircraft and Elvis Presley’s Memphis complex, plus a guided Sun Studio tour. You give up independent pacing but avoid driving the return yourself.

The music day from departure to return

From Riverfront Station, the day gives Graceland the main visit allowance before turning towards downtown Memphis. Cut the optional park and lobby visits first if traffic or admission delays build up. The driving and walking legs together take about 7 and a half hours, apart from time at the stops.

Tom Lee Park offers Mississippi riverfront paths, overlooks and seating with views towards the Hernando de Soto Bridge. After Graceland, this optional stop gives you a short outdoor break before lunch in South Main.

South Main is the lunch neighbourhood between the riverfront and Sun Studio. Keep the break for a seated meal rather than turning it into another attraction visit.

The Peabody Memphis lets non-guests see its lobby ducks from 11am–5pm daily. This is a look at the fountain display, not a plan built around the duck march.

Beale Street ends the sightseeing with bronze music notes embedded in the pavement, brass plaques honouring musicians and historic club frontages. Treat it as a daytime music-history walk, not an evening performance. There is room to stop and read rather than simply cross the street.

Graceland

After the drive from Nashville, Graceland brings you into Elvis Presley’s domestic world. The Jungle Room’s shag carpeting and indoor waterfall are the mansion’s distinctive interior stop. Beyond the house, the Presley Motors Automobile Museum displays his car collection, while the Lisa Marie and Hound Dog II aircraft extend the visit to the way he travelled.

Park in the visitor lot across Elvis Presley Boulevard and go to the visitor centre for admission. The included mansion shuttle takes you across the road and up the driveway, then returns you to the visitor centre. Use the shuttle rather than crossing to the mansion on foot.

The mansion and Elvis Presley’s Memphis exhibits open daily from 9am–4pm, and the aircraft open from 10am. Start with the included exhibits before the mansion entry shown in the ticket section, leaving the aircraft until afterwards. The visit allowance covers the whole experience, so do not treat the mansion as the only attraction before moving on towards Tom Lee Park.

Sun Studio

From lunch in South Main, continue to Sun Studio for the recording side of Elvis’s story. The original control room retains vintage recording equipment, and Elvis Presley’s microphone and early studio memorabilia give the tour a different focus from his home and collections at Graceland.

Tours leave hourly on the half-hour. The route reaches Sun Studio at a departure, so it depends on a place being available and prompt admission, with no comfortable queue margin. A missed departure costs downtown time, and the optional Peabody lobby visit is the next cut after the riverfront walk.

The National Civil Rights Museum and roadside stops

Near the South Main lunch area, the National Civil Rights Museum offers the substantial visit this music day leaves out. Its permanent exhibitions trace slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement through the 1960s struggle, culminating at the preserved room and balcony associated with Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. This is a different historical focus, not another music stop.

Allow about 2–3 hours for the principal permanent exhibitions. Adding them without removing anything extends the return to Nashville by the same amount, before extra movement or waiting. The delivered day keeps Sun Studio and the Beale Street walk instead, preserving the progression from Elvis’s home to the recording studio and downtown music history.

Substitute the museum for a music attraction rather than simply adding it if civil rights history is your priority. That is a different day from the one scheduled here, and the museum deserves an unhurried visit rather than a quick detour after lunch. You could also stay overnight to give both subjects their own time.

Extra sightseeing along I-40 has the same practical cost: it uses time intended for Memphis or extends the drive home. Keep roadside breaks for rest and food, rather than building a second destination into an already demanding excursion.

Walking, weather and the return drive

After Beale Street, you still have the long return drive. Choose arranged transport or an overnight stay if sustained driving after walking and standing would be tiring. Summer heat or heavy rain makes the exposed Tom Lee Park walk the first weather-related cut. Shorter seasonal daylight also reduces the appeal of lingering outside.

Graceland’s mansion is wheelchair-accessible apart from two basement rooms, with an alternative route and photos and video available. The exhibits and lift-equipped shuttles are accessible too. Neither aircraft is wheelchair-accessible, but a video is offered. Wheelchairs are limited, first come, first served and for the mansion only, so bring what you need for the other attractions.

Sun Studio’s complete tour is not step-free. Its first half requires stairs, although the studio portion, gift shop and café are accessible and staff can assist visitors unable to use the stairs. The restroom entrance has one step.

Tower garage at 110 Peabody Place accepts public visitors, with vehicle access around the clock Monday–Saturday. Parking costs $1 for up to 60 minutes, then $1 per additional hourly band through 11 hours. The 11–19-hour band costs $12, and the maximum stay is 19 hours.

If the return journey outweighs the appeal of Memphis, shorter day trips from Nashville by car give you alternatives with less time behind the wheel.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: services, closures, opening hours, and fares and charges. Route times and distances were calculated from geolocated stops.

• The Peabody Memphis — service
• Sun Studio — closures
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Parkway Corporation — service
• Graceland — opening hours
• Tips for Visiting Graceland
• Greyhound and FlixBus — service
• FlixBus — service
• Gray Line Tennessee — service
• Gray Line Worldwide — fares and charges
• Ticket Info
• Camp FAQ — Graceland