Itinerary

Bursting with Southern Charm and world-class sophistication, Atlanta combines rich history with contemporary cultural attractions, delectable dining, hip nightlife and enticing shopping. You’ll be staying at the beautiful Beaux-Arts Candler Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Atlanta’s first steel skyscraper when it was built. Get settled in and spend the rest of the day strolling around one of Atlanta’s many eclectic and lively neighbourhoods. Choose from the historic Downtown, where you’re staying, cool Midtown, funky Little Five Points, hip Old Fourth Ward or sophisticated Buckhead. You’ll easily find a place for dinner too before heading back to your hotel for a good night’s rest after a day of travel.

Atlanta once played a pivotal role in both the American Civil War and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and there are a number of locations you can visit to learn about this storied past. Start your day at the Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Home before strolling through the MLK National Historical Park, and make sure to stop by the Center for Civil & Human Rights.

Or, if you’d rather explore the city as a whole, take a delicious food & history tour through the Victorian-style Grant Park neighbourhood and Oakland Cemetery. You’ll get to try 8 modern Southern tastings from 3 locally-renowned restaurants and detour for a jaunt through Oakland Cemetery – home to the graves of “Gone With the Wind” writer, Margaret Mitchell, American golfer, Bobby Jones and numerous Civil War soldiers – all the while being entertained by a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide. Hear all about the founding of Atlanta, from a tiny railroad town to the capital of Georgia, while trying delightful bites such as shrimp & grits and South fruit galettes from a nationally award-winning bakery.

After breakfast, take a 2-hour drive over to Birmingham. One of the South’s industrial centres, it has everything from an incredible ‘soul food’ scene to numerous sports teams and museums galore – but it is perhaps best known for being the focal point of America’s Civil Rights Movement. You’ll be staying in the heart of modern Birmingham in one of the city’s finest historic hotels. Get settled in and explore Birmingham’s rapidly expanding cultural scene, not forgetting to stop for some of the South’s most incredible home cooking whenever you need a break.

A visit to Birmingham, Alabama isn’t complete without learning about the city’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. Discover this incredible period in America’s past by visiting the Civil Rights Institute, home to many important artefacts from the actual movement; the 16th Street Baptist Church, which was one of the catalysts for the movement after a bombing there killed four girl; and Kelly Ingram Park with its memorial sculptures dedicated to the African-American struggle. You can even visit these locations on an hour-long guided walking tour through the city to get a great introduction to Alabama’s importance within this tumultuous period of American history.

Alabama’s music capital, Muscle Shoals is the place where the Soul and R&B sounds of the Sixties and Seventies were born. Drive over after breakfast – the journey is just under two hours – and spend an incredible day visiting the two recording studios used by icons such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Sonny & Cher and many others: FAME Recording Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Many of the music industry’s greatest hits were and still are recorded here, and a visit means standing where the Rolling Stones found their harmony and walking through the padded booths where Aretha Franklin recorded some of her finest work. You might even find out where the local speakeasy is in which Willie Nelson was said to have frequently partied.

On your way out of Muscle Shoals, don’t miss the Alabama Music Hall of Fame just 10 minutes away in Tuscumbia. Boasting music and memorabilia from Alabama’s extraordinary number of famous musicians, you’ll get to see a whole host of Alabama natives, including Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Lionel Richie, Nat King Cole, and Percy Sledge, just to name a few.

You’ll then take the scenic backroads to Tuscaloosa for an optional afternoon on one of the Civil Rights Trail Tours. Tuscaloosa has had a difficult past and this engaging tour opens up the stories and sights of enslaved people auctioned before the Civil War, Native Americans exiled from their homelands, lynchings in the local area, how exclusionary legislations were passed and the presence of the Klu Klux Klan in America. Most importantly however, this trail tour discusses how these travesties were ultimately overturned by the courageous efforts of all sides involved.

A thriving modern city, Montgomery was once the founding headquarters of the Confederate States prior to the American Civil War, and nearly 100 years later the heart of the Civil Rights struggle in America. A visit to Montgomery will take you on a journey from the Antebellum Civil War era through stops at the State Capitol and the First White House of the Confederacy to the birth of the Civil Rights Movement by visiting places like the Rosa Parks Museum and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. Take your pick according to your interests – all major sites do a wonderful job of immersing you in the past.

Start the day with a personal and comprehensive Montogomery City Tour. Led by a guide who actually lived through the Civil Rights Movement, you will be given a history lesson like no other from someone who knows it best. Covering the city’s past from the Civil War to Civil Rights, you’ll find yourself captivated by your guide’s knowledge of local history and fascinated by the many places of interest around the city. After your tour, spend the rest of the day catching up on anything you might have missed around Montgomery.

Drive down to the historic town of Mobile first thing in the morning so you can make the most of your time in this pretty Gulf Coast city. Once the original capital of the state of Louisiana, Mobile is credited for first celebrating Mardi Gras. Start your time here with a private walking tour of the historic part of the city. You’ll get to hear all about its history as a former French settlement and see some of the best parts of the city. That said, if military and naval history is more of interest, spend the afternoon visiting the USS Alabama Battleship and its extensive museum right in Mobile’s harbour. You’ll discover what it was like to live and serve on a WWII vessel and explore over 30 aircraft, tanks, artillery and more on this fascinating self-guided tour.

After a 2-hour drive along the Gulf Coast’s scenic byways, you’ll arrive in the birthplace of Jazz, New Orleans. Check into your hotel – which has a fascinating history in and of itself – and start your time in the Big Easy discovering the narrow streets, laced balconies and private courtyards of the iconic French Quarter with a private walking tour. Spend the rest of the day exploring at your leisure – you’ll find interesting museums, historic sites and excellent shopping throughout the city – before heading back to your hotel to get dressed up for a Jazz Dinner at one of the oldest and most reputable establishments in New Orleans, Arnaud’s.

New Orleans is a feast for the senses, especially when it comes to taste. Indulge yourself in the city’s culinary traditions with a hands-on or demonstration-style mid-morning Creole Cooking Class where you will learn and delight in how the city’s iconic dishes are prepared. Or, if you’re looking for an adventure, have lunch on a Mississippi River Cruise. You’ll be on a historic steamboat, enjoying traditional Southern cooking while admiring the pretty views of the New Orleans skyline from the banks of the Mississippi. Spend the rest of the day exploring New Orleans at your leisure – chances are you probably missed a couple of places you wanted to pass by the first time around.

Louisiana – and especially New Orleans – have a storied past that is worth discovering before you go. Delve into life before the American Civil War by heading just outside of New Orleans to tour one or more of the state’s many plantations. Houmas House & Gardens, once one of the largest sugar plantations in the South, has majestic gardens filled with fountains and lush vegetation – perfect for strolling through – and an excellent restaurant for lunch called Carriage House. Don’t leave without stopping at America’s most famous and most photographed plantation and historic mansion, Oak Alley. Its breathtaking beauty is something you have to see in person. For those curious about slavery in the region, a stop by Laura Plantation is equally worthwhile as the plantation has gone to diligent lengths to unearth the stories of the slaves who once lived there.

Spend your last evening back in New Orleans enjoying dinner at one of the city’s award-winning restaurants or, for the musically-inclined, head to a speakeasy for another round of live jazz.