Memphis Music History Self-Guided Driving Tour

Explore the heart of Memphis on this self-guided driving tour through music history. You’ll drive from Downtown Memphis to Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate, tuning into essential stories of blues, soul, and rock and roll. See the iconic Sun Studio, where legends like Elvis and Johnny Cash are recorded, stop by the Stax Museum of Soul, and even visit Aretha Franklin’s birthplace! And, of course, revisit the wild true story of Elvis Presley’s rise and fall.
After booking, you can check your email before downloading the Tour Guide App by Action, entering your unique password, and accessing your tour. The preceding steps require good internet or Wi-Fi access. Then, follow the audio instructions and the route.

Buy once, use for one year! Ideal for extended visits and return trips over the next 12 months.

This is not an entrance ticket to attractions along the route. Check opening hours before your visit.

Meeting Point

1 Bass Pro Dr

1 Bass Pro Dr, Memphis, TN 38105, USA

After booking the tour, search your emails for "self-guided tour." Your tour is VALID FOR ONE YEAR so follow these instructions NOW to finish setting up the tour while you have Wi-Fi/data. Do NOT wait until you are onsite.

What's included:

• Easy-to-use app: download Action’s Tour Guide App onto your phone
• Great value: purchase per car, not per person. More affordable than bus or guided tours!
• Engaging storytelling: Uncover unique tales and thrilling history for a memorable journey!
• Perfect narrator: nothing can beat listening to a great voice. Proven with tons of rave reviews!
• Offline maps: no signal, no problem! Works perfectly without cellular or wifi.
• Comprehensive route and stops: See it all, miss nothing, leave no stone unturned!
• Go at your own pace: Start anytime, pause anywhere, enjoy breaks for snacks and photos freely!
• Hands-free: audio stories play on their own based on your location. Easy to use!

Not included:

• Attraction passes, entry tickets, or reservations

What to expect:

Duration: between 2 hours and 3 hours

Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid

1 Bass Pro Dr, GPS address: 1 Auction Avenue, Memphis, 38105-1400, Tennessee

Welcome to Memphis! Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll, this musical city has no shortage of sights and sounds for rhythm-loving pilgrims.
Buy once, use for one year! Ideal for extended visits and return trips over the next 12 months.

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Beale Street

, , Memphis, 38103, Tennessee

If we kept driving straight, we’d reach Beale Street. That’s the beating heart of this city’s downtown.
If you want to check it out, you can find parking and walk through the pedestrian-only area straight ahead. I have a few fun bonus stories there if you decide to go.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Sun Studio

706 Union Ave, Memphis, 38103-3218, Tennessee

In a few minutes, we’ll pass by a brick building with a massive guitar hanging in front of it. That’s Sun Studio, also known as “the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll.”

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Elmwood Cemetery

824 S Dudley St, , Memphis, 38104-6005, Tennessee

Singer Ma Rainey II is buried there. Her father, a pastor, forbade her from singing, so Ma Rainey ran away and joined a traveling circus-type show. She worked as both the show’s fortune teller and as a ragtime performer on Beale Street.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Stax Museum of American Soul Music

926 E McLemore Ave, , Memphis, 38106-3338, Tennessee

Coming up on our right at the end of this road will be the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. And boy does it have soul—Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, and even the Reverend Jesse Jackson recorded here. If you want to check it out, turn into the parking lot coming up on our right. You can tap Learn More for more about soul music once you park.

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Birthplace of Aretha Franklin

406 Lucy Ave, Memphis, TN 38106, USA

Franklin eventually moved to Detroit with her father after her parents separated. She took to singing in her father’s church. Everyone recognized her immense talents. Her father even took her along with his “gospel caravan,” where they performed in churches all around the area.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Royal Studios

1320 Willie Mitchell Blvd, Memphis, 38106-4526, Tennessee

This historic recording studio actually began as a movie theater showing silent films all the way back in 1915. It was converted into the Royal Recording Studio in ‘57, and became the official recording studio for Hi Records.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Graceland

3717 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis, 38116, Tennessee

In ‘56, Elvis and his family lived on a relatively quiet street—until his fans discovered it. Soon, they were camped outside of his home, desperate to get a glimpse of their favorite rockstar. While Elvis’s neighbors had no personal beef with him, they did have a problem with hordes of screaming fans parked on their street.

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included