Memphis Tour with Riverboat Cruise: Beale Street & Museums

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/5

Duration6h

GroupUp to 36

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Beale Street blues history, a museum of your choice, and a slow drift down the Mississippi

The Memphis Discovery Tour is a guided day through downtown Memphis that covers Beale Street, Victorian mansions, the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, and your choice of three museums—the National Civil Rights Museum, Rock 'n' Soul Museum, or Edge Motor Museum—before ending with a scenic cruise on the Mississippi River. The tour runs 6 hours and includes an air-conditioned vehicle, a BBQ tasting, and riverboat admission; museum entry depends on which option you select at checkout.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Memphis and river cruise

Visit Beale Street history
Learn about WC Handy and Blues
Pass by Memphis Redbirds and 901 FC stadium
Pass by teenaged Elvis Presley home
Pass by medical research hospital
See Victorian-era mansions
Pass by oldest home in Memphis
Pass by Court Square
Pass by oldest church
Pass by Memphis cotton industry center
Visit Martin Luther King Jr. memorial
Tour National Civil Rights Museum (optional)
Enjoy barbeque tasting
Take scenic Mississippi River cruise

The Experience

How do you see the real Memphis without spending days piecing it together? This tour threads the city's story in one morning: you start on Beale Street, where the blues were born, then move through the Victorian mansions of Millionaire's Row, Court Square, and the historic sites that shaped the city. The guide walks you through the neighborhood instead of just pointing from a bus window, so you get the context—WC Handy and the birth of the blues at Handy Park, the oldest home in Memphis, the cotton industry's center—before you reach the heavier stops.

After the downtown loop, you pick your museum at checkout: the National Civil Rights Museum (where you get 1.5 hours inside to stand where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and learn the 1968 Sanitation Strike), the Smithsonian's Rock 'n' Soul Museum, or the Edge Motor Museum. This is the part of the day that changes depending on what you came to understand. Then comes the BBQ tasting—pork, no substitutions—and you're driven to Riverside Drive, where you walk down the historic cobblestone decline to the Memphis Riverboat for the cruise itself.

The riverboat is the day's closing act: a slow drift down the Mississippi with the city sliding past. The boat sits at the bottom of a steep cobblestone slope, so you'll be dropped at Riverside Drive and walk down; the return pickup is from the same spot. Parking is available in four garages within a few blocks, or metered street spots on Second Street and Peabody Place. The whole day is 6 hours, and you'll need a moderate level of fitness for the walking and the cobblestone descent—it's not recommended if stairs or uneven ground are difficult for you.

What’s included

Air-conditioned vehicle for all downtown stops and the drive to the riverboat.
a BBQ tasting.
admission to the Memphis Riverboat and the scenic cruise on the Mississippi River.
and admission to whichever museum you choose at checkout—the National Civil Rights Museum, Rock 'n' Soul Museum, or Edge Motor Museum.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcome

Operated by Backbeat Tours

Is this one for you?Pick the Civil Rights Museum option if you came to Memphis to understand the city's role in the Civil Rights movement and the 1968 strike; choose Rock 'n' Soul if you want to dig into the music and soul culture that made the city legendary; go with Edge Motor if you're more interested in automotive history. The fixed route and timing mean you don't have to build the day yourself—the guide handles the transitions, and the riverboat at the end gives you a chance to sit still after the walking.