Blue Ridge Blues and BBQ - Nashville to Chicago (Guided)

The guided second half: ride the Tail of the Dragon, 318 curves in just 11 miles, then the Blue Ridge Parkway before finishing in Chicago – seven nights of the country’s most demanding motorcycle road.

Stradora Partner

From£3,088pp

Duration7 days

StyleGuided

Best suited toExperienced riders

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7 nights through United States

The second half of the Blues and BBQ route, and the half with the roads. Eight days from Nashville to Chicago, seven nights and around 1,360 miles, guided throughout, built around the Appalachians rather than the Delta.

Townsend comes first, sitting at the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains, and the following day delivers the main event of the whole route. The Tail of the Dragon packs 318 curves into eleven miles of Highway 129 and has a reputation among riders worldwide, both for the quality of the road and for the number of people who overcook it. From there the route joins the Blue Ridge Parkway into Asheville.

More of the Parkway follows on the 250-mile ride to Pikeville in the Kentucky coalfields, and then Louisville, which is where the bourbon country properly begins. The last two days are long and flatter, 300 miles to Champaign and 200 into Chicago, as the Appalachians give way to the Midwest and the trip changes character for the run home.

EAGLERIDER provides the motorcycle, the tour leader, all seven nights and the group dinners. Fuel, most meals and insurance sit outside the price. Riding days run from 150 to 300 miles, and the longest fall at the end rather than the beginning. For riders who came for the Tail of the Dragon and the Blue Ridge Parkway rather than for the music, this is the half to book, and having a guide out in front on 318 blind curves is no bad thing at all.

Style

Guided

Duration

A week or so (7-10 nights)

Region

North America

Vehicle provision

Vehicle provided

Departures

June

Starts/ends

Nashville, United States → Chicago, United States

Support

Guide

Accommodation

Hotels

Suitable cars

Experienced riders

Vehicle

Motorcycle

Price basis

Per person, two riders with two bikes (operator Package 3), USD 4,091. Operator also prices one rider with one bike at USD 4,837 and two riders sharing one bike at USD 3,088 per person. Read from the operator page 14 Oct 2026.

Run by

Specialist Stradora partner

Blue Ridge Blues and BBQ - Nashville to Chicago (Guided) (1 of 8)