Compare Country Roads of the Deep South 2022 Small Group by Insight Vacations vs New Orleans & Mississippi River Country 2023 by Tauck

Day 1: Arrive in Nashville

Welcome to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee and the USA’s glittering centre stage. From the Everly Brothers' “Bye Bye Love," to Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman," the streets are paved with talent. Your airport transfer will whisk you to your hotel.Relax and unwind before meeting your Travel Director and mingling with guests at 18:00 followed by a Welcome Dinner with wine.

Day 2: Take centre stage in Nashville

Start your day with an orientation tour of music city. You'll visit the picturesque Riverfront Park, Tennessee State Capitol and the 132 acre Centennial State Park, where you'll encounter an exact replica of the Parthenon. Pass by the city's lively honky-tonks and street performers on Broadway, as you make your way to the Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry. Built in 1885 as a building for religious gatherings, it held its first concert in 1892, before opening its doors to Hollywood greats. It is here where Johnny Cash first met June Carter, where bluegrass was born and where country music found an audience. Tonight, head to the famous Grand Ole Opry, the world-renowned country music stage and longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history.

Day 3: A day of legends

Go behind the scenes of a Nashville recording studio. This intimate experience introduces you to a performing artist, musicians and the techniques behind a song’s development. Make a stop at Nashville’s Farmers' Market and Market House to explore its artisanal crafts and produce.Explore Nashville with Insight Choice. Choose to visit Nelson’s Green Brier, a local Tennessee distillery and home of the Original Tennessee Whiskey. Alternatively, visit the National Museum of African American Music, which shares the story of the American soundtrack through history and interactive technology.Tonight's dinner at Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant will introduce you to the colourful flavours of Nashville. Perhaps try the crabmeat cheesecake.

Day 4: Heading back home to Memphis

This morning you'll head to Memphis. Whether it’s your first or hundredth time visiting this vibrant city, you’ll be drawn in by the lively melodies coming from Beale Street.Spend the morning on a sightseeing tour of the city, followed by a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience at the National Civil Rights Museum. While there, you’ll be guided through five centuries of The Civil Rights Movement history and its impact on our culture today.End your day by joining a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience with a private evening at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The museum is part of The Soulsville Foundation, which aims to prepare young adults for life success and inspire future artists.

Day 5: A day dedicated to the King

Begin you day with a visit to Sun Studio, the “birthplace of rock and roll”, where music legends, including B.B. King, Johnny Cash and Elvis recorded.Make your way to the magnificent Graceland, the former home of the "King of Rock and Roll," Elvis Presley.Dinner this evening will be served at The Beauty Shop, a former parlour turned whimsical New American eatery where Elvis’ ex-wife, Priscilla, was said to get her hair done.

Day 6: Memphis to Greenwood

Travel through the Mississippi Delta down the Mississippi Blues Trail, a route that tells the stories of bluesmen and women. Explore the Delta town of Greenwood at your own pace, before heading to the Viking Cooking School for a hot tamales cooking demonstration - a regional specialty.Later, dine on a mouthwatering dinner at a James Beard Award finalist restaurant that features southern inspired dishes that include produce local to the area.

Day 7: Moving on to Natchez

Learn more about Southern history and hospitality as you head to Natchez. Tour the historic antebellum mansions, and discover the preservation efforts of later generations to tell the story of African-Americans through the decades, understanding that slavery and cotton allowed plantation owners to build these mansions. Test your mixologist skills as you concoct a traditional Southern cocktail, the Mint Julep. Minty, cooling and with a touch of sweetness, you're sure to learn a few party tricks to bring back home with you. Enjoy an evening to yourself. Ask your Travel Director for restaurant suggestions and discover one of the wonderful options in town.

Day 8: Natchez to Lafayette

Move on to Lafayette for a taste of the Cajun and Creole culture. Get to know more about Cajun culture and how it is defined by its roots.Head to the Acadian Cultural Center followed by a unique Cajun music experience.A genre rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians, it is both eclectic and joyous. Learn more about this fast tempo music and its history from a local accordion maker and musician.In the evening, indulge in a delicious dinner with your fellow travellers.

Day 9: Lafayette for foodies

Start the day with a crawfish farm tour just outside the city. You will be joined by a Local Expert who will help you catch your lunch the old-fashioned way, using hand nets. You’ll be taught how to prepare a traditional boil, before sitting down to the meal. If crawfish are out of season, you'll take part in a boil experience with seasonal seafood. Later, enjoy time at leisure or head out on an optional swamp tour.

Day 10: Welcome to the Big Easy

New Orleans is a lively and dynamic city, known for its vibrant culture and electric jazz festivals. On the way down south, stop at the Tabasco® Factory for a self-guided tour and discover how the world-famous red hot pepper sauce is made. This afternoon, head to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, where you’ll learn more about the city’s diverse cuisine with a guided tour and included lunch.

Day 11: Festivities in New Orleans Relaxed Start

Get to know the city with a Local Expert as you discover each neighborhood's unique architecture and explore the vibrant art scene. See how the community comes together through celebration.In the afternoon, take your pick of optional activities, perhaps getting to know the local culture through a jazz music experience or by meeting a voodoo specialist.End your day by joining your fellow travellers at a Celebration Dinner at the Palace Cafe - a contemporary and upbeat Creole restaurant at the foot of the French Quarter.

Day 12: Depart New Orleans

It’s time to say goodbye to your fellow travellers as your adventure comes to an end with a departure to the airport.

Day 1 Arrive New Orleans

Tour begins: 5:00 PM, Hotel Monteleone. Welcome to New Orleans and French Louisiana! A transfer is included from Louis Armstrong International Airport to the Hotel Monteleone. Please join us for this evening's welcome cocktail reception at your historic hotel at the foot of Royal Street in the heart of the French Quarter, followed by dinner at Hotel Monteleone.

MEALS : D

LODGING : Hotel Monteleone

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 2 Cooking School & Mardi Gras Insider

From the flavor of étouffée to the strains of jazz, tour New Orleans as an insider today with Tauck! Explore iconic Canal Street, the historic homes, boutiques and cafés of the Warehouse District, and the Mississippi River waterfront. Discover the French Quarter from venerable Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo to the swirl of daily – and nightly – life along fabled Bourbon Street on a guided walking tour. Learn a few secrets of Cajun and Creole cuisine from the chefs of the New Orleans School of Cooking with a private cooking demonstration followed by a lunch you won't soon forget. Attend an exclusive-to-Tauck, private jazz experience at Bourbon Street's world-famous Preservation Hall... before a Mardi Gras insider takes you for a behind-the-scenes look at the city's traditional annual celebrations at Mardi Gras World. The afternoon and evening are free to explore what interests you most in this remarkable city. 

MEALS : B, L

LODGING : Hotel Monteleone

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 3 New Orleans from above, its unique environment & more

Begin the day with a flightseeing tour of New Orleans for views of the French Quarter, Mississippi River, canals, and wetlands, with commentary by your pilot. You'll also learn about the unique geological environment of New Orleans, America's only city situated below sea level, and its vulnerability to natural and manmade disasters at a private lecture by Nellie Watson, an expert on the interplay of humans, architecture and the environment. This evening, you'll get another true taste of New Orleans' famous cuisine when you dine at Tujague's Restaurant – a local favorite for 160 years.

MEALS : B, D

LODGING : Hotel Monteleone

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 4 The bayou, Baton Rouge & Nottoway Resort

Depart New Orleans this morning and head out into the countryside for an alligator bayou tour in an excursion boat with a local guide. Continue on to downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital city, for lunch at a local restaurant. Next, learn about the life and career of Huey P. Long, Louisiana's populist Governor of the 1930s, during a guided visit to the Old State Capitol. Then travel to Nottoway Resort – an 1850's sugarcane estate on the Mississippi's west bank that's home to the largest existing antebellum mansion in the South – where you'll spend the next two nights. Your stay begins in style in the Mansion House with a guided tour and a private mint julep reception for Tauck guests only, followed by an elegant private dinner, accompanied by a string quartet in the parlor.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : Nottoway Resort

Day 5 Mississippi River Country

Today, begin your discovery of Louisiana's "River Road" sites with a visit to Houmas House and Gardens along the "big bend" of the Mississippi River. Named for the local Houmas Indians who owned the land until its purchase by planters in the mid-18th century, Houmas House was the heart of a working sugar plantation whose holdings once grew as large as 300,000 acres, and at its height in the late 1800s produced some 20 million pounds of sugar annually. A docent provides insider information on a guided historic house tour; have lunch, and stroll through some of its 38 acres of exquisite gardens. This afternoon, visit Whitney Plantation, Louisiana's only museum with an exclusive focus on the lives of enslaved people. A guided walking tour of Whitney's memorials and restored buildings – including slave cabins, a freedmen's church, detached kitchen and outbuildings, a 1790s owner's house and memorials built to honor the enslaved – reveals the reality of a pre-Civil War Louisiana sugar plantation, and invites you to remember those who built and worked this property. Return to Nottoway Resort for dinner and an evening spent as you wish.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : Nottoway Resort

Day 6 Back to New Orleans & World War II America

From Nottoway Plantation, return to New Orleans this morning for another two-night stay in the Crescent City, which begins with a guided visit and time on your own at the National World War II Museum. This acclaimed institution, honoring the efforts of millions of everyday American men and women who contributed to the nation's war effort in World War II on both the battlefront and the homefront, is situated in the neighborhood of the New Orleans factory that produced the ubiquitous Higgins boats, which played a key role in Allied amphibious assaults throughout the war. Your visit begins with a viewing of the award-winning "4-D" multi-media experience Beyond All Boundaries, produced and narrated by Tom Hanks and featuring the voice talents of a Who's Who of Hollywood actors including Brad Pitt, Viola Davis, and more. Late this afternoon, check into your stylish accommodations at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, on Canal Street in the French Quarter, then spend an evening as you please in this unique American city.

MEALS : B, L

LODGING : The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 7 Gardens, a private streetcar & a special farewell

Visit more iconic destinations as you continue to tour New Orleans with Tauck today. Begin with sightseeing in the Garden District, whose National Historic Landmark district preserves historic mansions dating from the 1830s to about 1900, reflecting the prosperity of their wealthy builders prior to and following the Civil War, as well as the city's antiques district. Then hop aboard an authentic New Orleans streetcar for another Tauck Exclusive – a private streetcar tour along Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue, accompanied by a New Orleans resident. After a Garden District walking tour, return to your hotel and spend the rest of the day exploring more of New Orleans at your leisure. Tonight, experience more of the best of the Cresent City as you head to Galotoire's Restaurant, one of New Orleans' celebrate restaurants since it debuted in 1905.

MEALS : B, D

LODGING : The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 8 Journey Home

Tour ends: New Orleans. Fly home anytime. A transfer is included from The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans to Louis Armstrong International Airport. Please allow a minimum of two hours for flight check-in.

MEALS : B

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA