New York to New Orleans

Three weeks from New York to New Orleans, taking in the eastern cities, the Blue Ridge and the music towns of Tennessee and Mississippi. Flights, car and hotels are arranged together from the UK with a road book for the driving.

The first eight nights are urban and car-free: four in New York, two in Philadelphia and two in Washington. Then the road begins, climbing into Shenandoah and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for three nights at Peaks of Otter, Blowing Rock and Asheville, with the Linn Cove Viaduct, Grandfather Mountain and Linville Falls along the way. Two nights in the Great Smoky Mountains follow.

The last week is the one people come for. Two nights in Nashville, then two in Memphis for Graceland, Sun Studios and the Lorraine Motel. The Great River Road runs south to a night at Natchez, where Emerald Mound and the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians sit above the Mississippi, and the final driving day passes Oak Alley Plantation on the way into two nights in New Orleans.

Around 1,740 miles over twenty-one nights, with twelve stops and seven of them lasting two nights or more. Unusually for a long route, every overnight is named, so you know where you are sleeping before you book. The itinerary is bespoke, with nights addable and stops removable, and departures arranged around your dates. It suits anyone who wants the full arc from Manhattan to the French Quarter, with the Appalachians and the music cities in between rather than a straight run down the interstate.