tipphill

Any suggestions on where to start a trip to include, Memphis, Nashville, Smokey Mts and the coast?? We have 10 days -so what city would we fly into, rent a car and then a return airport?? Travel either end of June or mid July.
Any must sees on the way -we are adventurous and like off the beaten track type of travel.

Thank you.

tomfuller

Where are you coming from? Be aware that our Independence Day (July 4) is on a Friday this year so the highways will be very busy with people taking a long weekend.
Do you have a rental company that won't charge a drop off fee if you rent one place and drop off somewhere else?
Either fly to someplace on the east coast (Washington or BWI) or fly to Chicago. These major airports will likely have lower fares than smaller airports such as Charlotte or Memphis.
FYI: There is a train called the "City of New Orleans" that leaves Chicago at 8PM every night. It arrives in Memphis (downtown) in the morning.

BigRuss

Skip the train - it's Amtrak, which means it will be slow, late, and less comfortable than it should.

Fly to Memphis, drive straight across Tennessee on I-40, keep going east. Double back to Raleigh for the flight home. Note that there will likely be a drop charge for leaving the rental far from the place you obtained it.

Do the reverse order if you're closer to the west coast (you said "rent" a car, not hire - means you're likely an American or Canadian, not Brit or Aussie).

tipphill

One person flying from Syracuse NY and another Phoenix. Will avoid the 4th all together . Is three days enough in Memphis? What about Nashville?
Thanks so much.

Ackislander

Well, this is a pretty linear journey.

Memphis (MEM) arrive by plane, 2 nights
Nashville drive via I 40 2 nights
Smokies drive via I 40 2 nights
Asheville drive via I 40 2 nights, 3 if you want to see Biltmore
Travel day 1 night
Outer Banks 2 nights
Raleigh Durham ( RDU ) fly home

Oops, that's more days than you have, and it's a very fast trip. Something has to go.

The additional cost of a one way rental is not usually that bad, especially if you are going to a larger airport. I might start this trip in Asheville or even Charlotte and end it in Memphis for that reason.

abram

We spent 16 days in Tennessee a couple of years ago.

Approximately: 3-4 days in Memphis, 3-4 days in Nashville, 1 day driving in between, with stops along the way, 1 day to drive to Gatlinburg, with 1/2 day in Knoxville, 4 days in the Great Smoky Mtns National Park, 2 days in Chattanooga, 1 day, with stops, to drive back to Nashville.

It would have cost us an additional $500 to pick up the rental car in one city and return it to another, so we flew into/out of Nashville, drove to Memphis, and then backtracked to Nashville.

cd

I would fly into Memphis - 2nights
Drive to Nashville - 1 night (personal opinion, I never found that much of interest in Nashville)
Drive Smokey Mountain spending most of my time in the Outer Banks and flying out of Raleigh.

jent103

How much time in Memphis and especially Nashville depends on what you want to do. Memphis I'd say two full days would be fine. In Nashville, if you just want to do the main downtown things (Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman, trip out to the Opry), 2 days should be fine (though note that the Opry is on Tuesday/Friday/Saturday); if you want to add in the Hermitage, Belle Meade, trips to Franklin or Lynchburg/Jack Daniels, you'd need another day or two depending.

The coast (either Wilmington or Outer Banks) is a very big outlier compared to the rest of your itinerary. With ten days, if you want to do it, something else will have to go. You could spend the whole ten days in Tennessee, or end with Asheville.