Start from 99 curated places around Memphis, TN, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Central BBQ
The local pitmaster shop most Memphians send out-of-town visitors to - slow-smoked pulled pork, dry-rubbed ribs, and smoked nachos that are the under-the-radar order. Open patio across the street from the National Civil Rights Museum.
Cozy Corner Restaurant
A 1977 cinderblock pit house in the Edge District where the move is the smoked Cornish hen - whole bird, glazed, eaten with your hands. Bologna sandwiches and bbq spaghetti round it out; the whole experience is order-at-the-window casual.
Trails & outdoors
Shelby Farms Park
4,500 acres of suburban parkland, five times the size of Central Park, with 40+ miles of trails, three lakes, and a 100-acre off-leash dog park ranked among the country's best. The flagship outdoor space in Memphis.
Shelby Farms Greenline
A 10.6-mile paved rails-to-trails route from Midtown's Tillman trailhead out to Shelby Farms Park and on to Cordova. Flat, shaded in long stretches, and the de-facto cycling commute spine for east Memphis.
Things to do
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Tennessee's oldest and largest art museum, anchored in Overton Park, with strong Italian Renaissance and American collections and a tight modern wing. Free Saturday mornings; small enough to do in 90 minutes.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens
An East Memphis house museum with one of the South's strongest impressionist collections (Monet, Degas, Renoir) on 17 acres of formal gardens. Smaller than Brooks, prettier setting, and admission is free on Saturdays.
Landmarks & sights
National Civil Rights Museum
Built around the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was killed, the museum traces the Black freedom struggle from slavery through today in dense, narrative galleries. Room 306 is preserved exactly as it was on April 4, 1968; the wreath on the balcony is visible from Mulberry Street.
Sun Studio
The single small room where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and B.B. King first recorded - tour guides walk you across the floor tiles Elvis stood on for his '54 audition. The whole tour is about 45 minutes and runs hourly.