Our van
A 14-seat passenger van with a driver, big windows and room for one suitcase each. It stops where the music happened, not where the highway has a rest area.
Longest driveAbout 5 hours, with stops
How our tours work
How our music tours work: vans, hotels and shows
Every multi-day tour includes the hotels, our van between cities, show tickets and a tour leader. Flights are optional. Here is how each part works, so nothing surprises you.
Getting around
Our van, Amtrak, a riverboat and your own feet
Most of our tours are road trips, because the music happened along the roads: Highway 61, the Natchez Trace, the old route from Memphis to Muscle Shoals. Every tour page lists its legs, and the tours map shows them all.
Amtrak
The Blues Highway tour rides the City of New Orleans, the train in the song, overnight from Memphis to Chicago in sleeper roomettes.
On boardAbout 10 hours, overnight
A riverboat
In New Orleans, an evening on the steamboat Natchez with a jazz band on board and the city lights on the Mississippi.
On the riverAbout 2 hours
On foot
Club districts are best walked: Broadway and Printers Alley in Nashville, Beale Street, Frenchmen Street, Sixth Street. Your tour leader walks you there and back.
After darkAlways with the group
Hotels
Close to the music, two or three nights each
We pick hotels you can walk home from after a show: downtown in Nashville and Memphis, the French Quarter or the Marigny in New Orleans, South Congress in Austin. In the Delta we stay in Clarksdale, in a small hotel or at the converted sharecropper shacks guests ask about most. Every room has a private bathroom and breakfast is included.
Most cities get two or three nights, so you unpack once or twice on a week-long tour. Hotel names are on each tour page, marked "or similar": if a hotel overbooks, we move you to one of the same class and location.
Tour leaders and guides
A named person from the first evening to the last morning
Each region has its own tour leaders, and you get the name with your travel documents: Wade Pruitt (based in Nashville), Darnell Hayes (based in Memphis), Celeste Arceneaux (based in New Orleans), Rosa Delgado (based in Austin) and their colleagues. They have played in, booked for or worked the doors of the clubs you visit, and they handle tickets, tables, hotels and the van.
In the studios and museums, local guides and sometimes the people who were there lead the visits. Behind them, our office in Nashville keeps an emergency line open for guests on tour.
A day on tour
Studios by day, shows by night
Most city days follow the same rhythm, so you always know what is planned and what is yours.
- 9:00
Breakfast at the hotel
Included every day. On mornings after a late show, we start an hour later.
- 10:30
Studio or museum
A guided visit with tickets already bought: a studio, a hall of fame, a house where someone famous grew up.
- 13:00
Lunch your way
Your tour leader suggests a few places nearby: a meat-and-three, a po-boy shop, a barbecue pit.
- 14:30
Free afternoon
Record stores, a nap, a second museum, or the van to a place off the program if the group wants it.
- 20:00
The show
Seats or a table at a show in the program, or a walk with your tour leader to the clubs worth your time that night.
Luggage and meals
One case each, and breakfast every day
- Suitcase
- One case up to about 50 lb (23 kg) per person, in the back of the van.
- Day bag
- One small bag for the van and the shows. Some venues do not allow large bags or backpacks.
- Breakfast
- Every morning at the hotel.
- Dinners
- Two to five per tour, always the welcome and farewell dinners, often at places with a band.
- Diets
- Tell us when you book. Southern menus lean on pork and fried food, but every place we use has vegetarian and lighter dishes.
- Drinks
- Many clubs have a one or two drink minimum. Soft drinks count, and we tell you each night.
Late nights
How hard a music tour is on the feet
- Easy
- Short walks and seated shows. Most day tours and the Nashville tour are in this group.
- Moderate
- Two to three hours on foot on city days, standing at some shows, a few late nights. Most of our tours.
- Active
- Festival grounds, standing-room clubs and late nights back to back, such as Jazz Fest or SXSW.
- Your pace
- You can always skip a late show; the hotel is never far, and the morning starts later after a big night.
Flights
Optional, and priced on every tour
Our prices do not include flights. Many guests drive, use miles or arrive a day early, and that is easy. If you want us to book the flights, every tour page shows a round-trip add-on from New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas, with a small surcharge from the other cities below. We book scheduled airlines into the first city and home from the last, and our operations desk watches them until you land.
| City | Airport | Surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| New York | JFK, LaGuardia and Newark | Base add-on |
| Chicago | O'Hare and Midway | Base add-on |
| Atlanta | Hartsfield-Jackson | Base add-on |
| Dallas | DFW and Love Field | Base add-on |
| Washington DC | Reagan National and Dulles | +$40 |
| Boston | Logan | +$60 |
| Philadelphia | PHL | +$40 |
| Denver | DEN | +$60 |
| Los Angeles | LAX | +$110 |
| San Francisco | SFO | +$110 |
Accessibility
Limited walking and wheelchairs
Our group tours suit travelers who can walk for an hour or two with breaks and climb the step into the van. Old studios are small, some have stairs, and many clubs have standing room only. We say so plainly on every tour page.
Theaters such as the Ryman and the Opry House have accessible seating. For travelers who use a wheelchair we plan private tours with an accessible vehicle and seated shows.
Email us
Tell us where you would like to go
Write to a travel advisor with the tour, the date and whether you want us to book flights. We answer within one business day with seats and the exact price. Nothing is charged until you decide.
- Tours[email protected]
- Everything else[email protected]
Email a travel advisor
[email protected]SubjectTour enquiry
What to include
- The tour and the departure date you would like
- How many are traveling, and double, twin or single rooms
- Whether you want us to book flights, and from which city
- Names as they appear on your photo IDs
- A phone number and any questions
We use what you send only to answer you and plan your trip. See our privacy policy.