NASHVILLE • MEMPHIS • NEW ORLEANS
Plus optional add-on pre-tour: Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms & post-tour: Dollywood, Tennessee!
7-25 April 2026 (including add-ons)
This Music tour was so popular in 2024, that we’re doing it again!
Journey with me from the cherry blossoms in DC (hopefully we’ll strike it right), through jazz and blues to rock and roll and country music, and add Dollywood for the full experience!
But this tour is so much more than that. It’s exploring some of the most unique cities in America, trying southern cuisine (not a fan of grits!), a little shopping, culture and history, and plenty of time to explore on your own too.
• Washington DC •
• New Orleans •
• Houmas House Plantation •
• Memphis •
• Nashville •
• Dollywood & Smoky Mountains •
I love Washington DC and have visited countless times. I’ve always wanted to be there for cherry blossom time, which is a bit hard to pick, so I’ve started this tour plonk in the middle of the blossom season from 2025 and will keep my fingers crossed.
We begin with three nights in Washington DC just after Easter 2026.
April 7-10
Accommodation: Sofitel La Fayette Square
Breakfast included
I have curated a lovely few days to see some of the best highlights of this beautiful city. You could spend three weeks here and not run out of places to visit, but some of my favourites are the People’s House, the new interactive White House exhibition, National Art Gallery, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery.
Maybe we’ll hire ebikes and go on a monument tour…
A two-day hop-on-hop-off bus ticket will be included and our accommodation is super central to the White House and the mall for exploring on your own if you wish.
Then I will meet everyone else in New Orleans for the official start of the tour on April 10th.
New Orleans – 4 nights
April 10-14
Accommodation: Four Points by Sheraton, in the French Quarter
One dinner, one lunch included
This will be my 10th visit to New Orleans over the past 20 years. I just love it there! Most recently I went for Mardi Gras – and got to ride on a float complete in costume and throwing beads to the masses!
We will stay in the French Quarter hotel within easy walking distance to the best places for live music, good food and great shopping. I’ll take you on a walking tour through the little streets, and we’ll also organise a two-hour bus ride to visit some of the fascinating cemeteries, the Garden District, Tremé and the Marigny.
I’ll take you to some fabulous jazz performances and a Mississippi River jazz brunch (or dinner). You’ll have lots of free time to wander on your own too.
We’ll visit the French Market, eat sugary donut beignets, throw $ to the buskers, eat the po-boys and so much more.
Houmas House – 1 night
April 14
Dinner and breakfast included
My secret sauce on these tours has been to visit and spend a night at Houmas House, one of the best restored plantation homes in the South. Houmas House is named after the Houma native Americans who used to live here. It was also one of the biggest sugar plantations with the largest slave holding in the area.
But en route from New Orleans, I plan to take you to Whitney Plantation. Whitney tells the slavery story. It’s not easy, but it is important and rated very highly as one of the leading plantations in the south that do.
By mid afternoon we’ll arrive at Houmas House. It’s breathtakingly beautiful. Current owner Kevin Kelly has spent the past two decades restoring the house and collecting as much memorabilia from the Civil War period as possible. We will have a guided tour, then free time to wander in the expansive gardens with water features. Tonight we’ll stay in our own villas and have a meal in the former carriage house.
Memphis – 3 nights
April 15-17
Accommodation: Peabody Hotel
One dinner included
We will drive to Memphis by private coach, as there are no direct flights between Memphis and New Orleans. It’s about a six-hour drive, so we’ll stop along the way for snacks and pit stops. It’s a good chance to see this part of the country, especially as we travel north alongside the river.
In Memphis we’ll stay at my favourite hotel, the iconic Peabody Hotel for three nights.
This elegant accommodation is about two blocks from Beale Street and known for the famous Peabody ducks that live on the rooftop in their own “hotel” and are brought down in the lift each day at 11am to walk the red carpet to the fountain in the lobby, where they swim until 5pm, and the duck master comes to get them. You have to get there early to be in the front and take a photo!
Memphis is famous for Graceland, so of course we’ll be going there with VIP access to enjoy a self-guided audio tour of Elvis’ mansion, as well as his planes and classic car collection. We’ll have time there for lunch at Gladys’ Diner or Vernon’s Smokehouse, named after his parents.
You’ll have free time to explore some of the other music museums in Memphis like Stax Records and Sun Studios, and the Civil Rights Museum set in the Lorraine Hotel, where Martin Luther King Jnr was assassinated.
We’ll eat BBQ and listen to live blues, jazz and rock n roll, and I might even find a speakeasy or a rooftop bar to surprise you with.
Nashville – 4 nights
April 18-22
Accommodation: Drury Hotel
Breakfast included daily + one dinner
In Nashville we will stay downtown near Honky Tonk Row for easy walking distance to the many live music bars and iconic music museums.
We’ll get to a show at the Grand Ole Opry and a VIP Backstage tour, plus tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Studio B, where the legends of country music cut their albums. We’ll also either see a show or have a tour of the Ryman.
There are plenty of live music venues along Broadway, plus a whole lot more than country music. The river is right there too, and shopping in The Gulch nearby is fun.
Optional add-on: Dollywood – 3 nights
April 22-25
Accommodation: Dollywood DreamMore Resort
Breakfast included
Those who join me on this part of the tour will have a private coach transfer to Pigeon Forge, TN where Dollywood theme park is located. It’s a huge park with over 50 rides, plus exhibitions and a whole lot of Dolly memorabilia. It’s actually not as kitschy as it sounds, and if you love a roller coaster, you’ll love it. But if you don’t, there’s more to see here too.
Plus our pass will get into Dolly’s Splash Country water park, if we get too hot over in the main park. Each night there is a fireworks and drone show.
Our resort is luxurious with its own pool and restaurant, so spending a few moments there is nice too. In your free time you could visit Gatlinburg or go and explore the Smoky Mountains. This is not costed into the tour, but we can make arrangements to assist.
On our final night I will take us all into the quaint little town of Sevierville where I found one of the top voted restaurants in Tennessee, so that will be our finale!
Costs:
13-night tour New Orleans-Memphis-Nashville:
Based on Single Room $11,400
Bring a friend or partner and they pay $8,300
3-night Washington DC pre-tour add on:
Based on Single Room $2,750
Bring a friend or partner and they pay $1,800
(excludes flights to New Orleans)
3-night Dollywood post-tour add-on:
Based on Single Room $4,200
Bring a friend or partner and they pay $2,995
(includes transfers from Nashville plus 2-day VIP park ticket)
What’s not included
- International and domestic flights (we can arrange those for you on an individual basis)
- Travel insurance – a requirement for this tour
- Meals not included above
- Gratuities for drivers or guides
- ESTA US visa waiver or US visitor visa
Deposits required to guarantee your room
As this tour is split into three parts, we require separate deposits for each one in order to pre-pay rooms, tickets and transfers. The main tour deposit is $2000pp, the pre and post tour deposits are $1000pp each. If you’re joining me on the whole shebang it’d be $4000 per person. The final payment is due by 30 November 2025.
We will be in touch individually to plan your flights, and can add on any other destinations you might be interested in too.
*This small group tour will be of a maximum of 16 people (plus hosts), please send me an email megan@bloggeratlarge.com
**Note: this tour requires 15 people to go ahead.
For an idea of flight costs, jump onto Air New Zealand’s website, or American Airlines or United or Delta, as they all fly direct to the US. You will need to decide which airport you’d like to pass through.
If you’d like to come as a single woman and want to room share, please email me and I will let you know if anyone else gets in touch for that too.
I hope you will join me! – Megan
