Must-see attractions in Southern USA

  • The Silence monument watches over 750 confederate graves in the Laurel Grove North Cemetery.

    Laurel Grove Cemetery

    Savannah

    In a city filled with cemeteries, Laurel Grove is among the most picturesque. The Victorian-era gravesites hint at the city’s history and the lovely…

  • Linn Cove Viaduct along Blue Ridge Parkway.

    Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    Southern USA

    The story of the Smoky Mountains began in primordial times when clashing supersized continents created a chain of mountains that are today among the…

  • City Park, New Orleans

    City Park

    New Orleans

    Live oaks, Spanish moss and lazy bayous frame this masterpiece of urban planning. Three miles long and 1 mile wide, dotted with gardens, waterways and…

  • Close-up detail of lichen encrusted stone flower found on tomb at Bonaventue Cemetery near Savannah, Georgia, USA.

    Bonaventure Cemetery

    Savannah

    Less than a 10-minute drive east of Savannah’s Historic District you’ll find one of the most peaceful, quiet, green escapes tucked away next to the…

  • Lover's Leap Waterfall, Lookout Mountain, Georgia, America

    Lookout Mountain

    Chattanooga

    Just ten minutes from downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, rising along the upper rim of the city, Lookout Mountain is rich in both Civil War history and…

  • The Henry Whitehead Cabin, at Cade's Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

    Cades Cove

    Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    In Appalachian parlance, a cove means a valley, but Cades Cove is far more than that. One of the most popular destinations in the Tennessee section of…

  • Photo Taken In Italy, Roma

    Songbirds

    Chattanooga

    Myriad songbirds of the avian variety call Tennessee home, but Chattanooga's newly revamped Songbirds – an innovative interactive learning space devoted…

  • Forsyth Park fountain in Savannah.

    Forsyth Park

    Savannah

    The 33-acre Forsyth Park, Savannah’s largest, was named after Georgia’s 33rd governor John Forsyth and is home to the most famous fountain in the city…

  • Old above-ground graves in Lafayette Cemetery Number 1, Garden District.

    Lafayette Cemetery No 1

    New Orleans

    Of all the cemeteries in New Orleans, Lafayette exudes the strongest sense of subtropical Southern Gothic. The stark contrast of moldering crypts and…

  • August 4, 2014: Exterior of the High Museum of Art on Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta.

    High Museum of Art

    Atlanta

    Atlanta's modern High Museum was the first to exhibit art from Paris' Louvre and is a destination as much for its architecture as its world-class exhibits…

  • Civil War Museum & Ogden Museum of Southern Art

    Ogden Museum of Southern Art

    New Orleans

    The South has one of the most distinctive aesthetic cultures in the US artistic universe, a creative vision indelibly influenced by the region's…

  • Atlanta, USA - November 3, 2014: National Center for Civil and Human Rights - is a museum dedicated to the achievements of both the civil rights movement in the United States.

    Center for Civil and Human Rights

    Atlanta

    The striking Center for Civil and Human Rights was a 2014 addition to Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. It is a sobering $68-million memorial to the…

  • "The Sun" sculpture by Ugo Rondinone, located in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden in New Orleans.

    Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden

    New Orleans

    The sculpture garden that sits just outside the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park is a wooded quilt of streams, pathways, lovers' benches and, of…

  • Douglas C-47 Dakota, transport glidertowning aircraft in D-Day markings at the National WWII Museum.

    National WWII Museum

    New Orleans

    One of New Orleans’ most distinctive tourism attractions has nothing to do with food, music, or having a good time. Rather, it is a museum dedicated to the…

  • The Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

    Biltmore Estate

    Asheville

    Charmed by Asheville's natural beauty, shipping and railroad heir George Washington Vanderbilt II decided to build a summer home modeled after three…

  • Oak Alley Plantation

    Louisiana

    The most impressive aspect of Oak Alley Plantation is its canopy of 28 majestic live oaks lining the entry to the grandiose Greek Revival–style home.

  • Welcome sign outside the Tennessee Aquarium building in Chattanooga, TN, USA

    Tennessee Aquarium

    Chattanooga

    Situated on the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga, TN, the Tennessee Aquarium is home to 10,000 animals. The aquarium, Chattanooga’s most visited…

  • Giant head statues at Mardi Gras World. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

    Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World

    New Orleans

    Mardi Gras World offers a behind the scenes peek into the weird, wonderful backstage of carnival season float making.

  • RCA Studio B

    Historic RCA Studio B

    Nashville

    One of Music Row's most historic studios, this is where Elvis, the Everly Brothers and Dolly Parton all recorded numerous hits. The latter did a little…

  • (GERMANY OUT) Presley, Elvis *08.01.1935-16.08.1977+Saenger, Schauspieler, USA - seine Villa 'Graceland' in Memphis, Tennessee (Innenansicht): goldene Schallplatten umkraenzen ein Elvis-Portrait- Januar 1997 (Photo by Sabine Wolf/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

    Graceland

    Memphis

    If you only make one stop in Memphis, it should be here: the sublimely kitschy, gloriously bizarre home of the King of Rock and Roll. Though born in…

  • Splinter Hill Bog

    Splinter Hill Bog

    Alabama

    Blankets of white-topped pitcher plants can be found here, a 2100 acre plot of land owned and protected by the non-profit Nature Conservancy. Walk into…

  • Woman sculpting clay on a spinning wheel at Old Salem Museums & Gardens. Old Salem Museums & Gardens, located in Winston-Salem, is one of the nation's shining examples of living history dating back to the 18th century.

    Old Salem

    North Carolina

    The beautifully preserved core of the Moravian settlement of Salem extends across several blocks south of downtown. You’re not obliged to pay for…

  • USA, Tennessee, Sun Studio

    Sun Studio

    Memphis

    This dusty storefront is ground zero for American rock and roll. Starting in the early 1950s, Sun's Sam Phillips recorded blues artists such as Howlin'…

  • Llamas resting and eating after carrying supplies to the top of Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    Mt LeConte

    Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    Mt LeConte (6593ft) is the park’s third-highest peak and one of its most familiar sights, visible from practically every viewpoint. The only way to get to…

  • Rendering of the new Carolina Aviation Museum, set to open in 2023.

    Sullenberger Aviation Museum

    Charlotte

    The Sullenberger Aviation Museum, honoring Captain Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III, is located at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

  • MEMPHIS, TN - JANUARY 19:  Aja Robertson, 7, looks out the window of the Rosa Parks bus exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum January 19, 2004 in Memphis, Tennessee. The museum's attendance swelled to about 9,500 visitors on Martin Luther King Day.  (Photo by Mike Brown/Getty Images)

    National Civil Rights Museum

    Memphis

    Housed partly inside the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, is the gut-wrenching National Civil Rights Museum…

  • Historic Aiken-Rhett House in Charleston, South Carolina.

    Aiken-Rhett House

    Charleston

    The only surviving urban town-house complex, this 1820 abode gives a fascinating glimpse into antebellum life on a 45-minute self-guided audio tour. The…

  • Wormsloe Historic Site

    Savannah

    A short drive from downtown, on the beautiful Isle of Hope, this is one of the most photographed sites in town. As soon as you enter, you feel as if you…

  • Two 15 inch 50,000-pound Rodman canons (on the sides), the largest guns used in the Civil War, are on display at the Fort Sumter site in Charleston, South Carolina.

    Guardians of Charleston Harbor

    Charleston

    The first shots of the Civil War rang out at Fort Sumter, on a pentagon-shaped island in the harbor. A Confederate stronghold, this fort was shelled to…

  • Charleston, SC - February 2 2020: The Plantation home at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens; Shutterstock ID 1661611987; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Magnolia Plantation

    Charleston

    This 500-acre plantation, which has been owned by the Drayton family since 1676, is a veritable theme park. Enjoy a tram tour, a petting zoo and a guided…

  • Old Slave Mart Museum

    Charleston

    Formerly called Ryan's Mart, this building once housed an open-air market that auctioned African American men, women and children in the mid-1800s, the…

  • Live Oak trees near Bon Secour, Alabama

    Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge

    Alabama

    Centuries ago, salt-lashed oak forest, inundated coastal prairie and great quilts of sawgrass covered the Gulf Coast. Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge…

  • 500px Photo ID: 109216371 - Sunset from the Natchez Trace Highway near Nashville.

    Natchez Trace Parkway

    Nashville

    A beautiful day trip or extended road trip from Nashville, the Natchez Trace Parkway runs for 444 miles through three states until reaching its eponymous…

  • MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, May 12, 2015 : The Stax Museum is a replica of Stax recording studio. It celebrates the legacy of Stax Records and its artists as Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, and many others.; Shutterstock ID 283890692; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Stax Museum of American Soul Music

    Memphis

    Wanna get funky? Head directly to Soulsville, USA, where this 17,000-sq-ft museum sits on the site of the old Stax recording studio. This venerable spot…

  • USA, Georgia, Atlanta, Martin Luther King National Historic Site, birthplace of Rev. Martin Luther King, King family home

    Martin Luther King Jr Birthplace

    Atlanta

    The home where Martin Luther King was born and spent the first twelve years of his life is now part of the National Historic Site. Free first-come, first…

  • Muhammad Ali Center

    Louisville

    This must-see museum tells the tale of the city's most famous native: a local boxer nicknamed the Louisville Lip or, simply, The Greatest. Highlights…

  • A Saturn 5 rocket appears to be aimming for the moon. The background was taken 10/22/04 at 5:30 pm CST. Taken with a Canon 10D, w/400mm lens set to 400mm. Tv 1/500, Av 8, ISO 400. White balance set to Flurescent. The shot was taken from my front porch in Harvest Al. The Sature 5 was taken 2/17/14 at 2:30 PM CST. at the Space and Rocket center in Huntsville Al. This shot was taken with a canon 7D, with a 28-135 lens set at 28mm. Tv 1/125, Av 6.3, exposure compensation plus 1 and ISO 100. Post process was on the background with PS elements 5, and the rocket with PS element 11 and Perfect photo suite 8.

    US Space & Rocket Center

    Alabama

    If you ever entertained dreams of playing Major Tom to someone's ground control, head here. This Smithsonian-affiliated museum boasts one of the world's…

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