Kansas City to Memphis road trip: Drive time, distance & best stops
The distance from Kansas City to Memphis by car is 451 miles, with a 7h23m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Kansas City to Memphis drive are Springfield MO, Grand Gulf State Park and Walnut Ridge AR.
Planning a Kansas City to Memphis road trip itinerary
The Kansas City to Memphis drive connects the Great Plains to the Mississippi River.
Technically two cities spread over two different states, Kansas City has a rich cultural heritage. The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and American Jazz Museum show this off. Other top attractions include the National World I Memorial and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
Good experiences in Kansas City include an indulgent food tour of the city’s best BBQ joints, Segway tours, the Sealife Aquarium and wine-tasting trips.
Memorable Kansas City accommodation includes the colonial-style Truitt Hotel and the stylish, art-filled 21C Museum Hotel.
Memphis, Tennessee, is a pilgrimage site for Elvis fans. The King’s Graceland mansion is one of the top tourist sites in the US. But the cultural heritage extends beyond music, as you’ll discover on an African-American history tour.
Try the Rock and Soul Museum, plus the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the 19th century Woodruff-Fontaine House.
Ways of seeing the city include ghost walks, Downtown food tours and musical bus tours. There are also guided walks down music central, Beale Street, and city tours that take you inside the legendary Sun Studios.
Top Memphis accommodation options include the Peabody, famous for its marching ducks, and the Guesthouse at Graceland.
Kansas City to Memphis distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Kansas City to Memphis is 451 miles. You can expect a driving time of around seven hours and 23 minutes.
The best stops to add to a Kansas City to Memphis road trip itinerary are Springfield MO, Grand Gulf State Park and Walnut Ridge AR.
Best stops between Kansas City and Memphis: Springfield MO
Springfield is the third biggest city in Missouri, and packs an impressive amount in. Top of most visitor’s lists is the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. The aquarium is the best section, but the rest is a quirky celebration of model animals. It flits from penguins in the Antarctic to elephants on the African savanna.
Other options include the Route 66 Car Museum, the Dickerson Park Zoo, the Mizumoto Japanese Garden and craft beer tours.
For something totally bizarre, head to the Pythian Castle, built in 1913 by an order of knights. You can visit on a history tour or a nighttime ghost tour.
Kansas City to Memphis drive: Grand Gulf State Park
Grand Gulf State Park is occasionally dubbed ‘the Little Grand Canyon’, which is something of an overstatement. Missouri’s Grand Gulf is, nevertheless, pretty impressive. It’s a collapsed cave system, stretching for three-quarters of a mile, with 130ft-high walls. The trails along the top offer better views, but the route along the floor is more immersive. It also passes through the 75 foot-high Natural Bridge.
Kansas City to Memphis road trip attractions: Walnut Ridge AR
Walnut Ridge AR is home to the Wings of Honor Museum. This aviation museum focuses on the Walnut Ridge Army Flying School, which trained numerous pilots during World War II. The focus is on the Second World War, but offers a wider commemoration of American veterans.
Also in Walnut Ridge is Beatles Park, which is full of artwork celebrating the only time the Beatles visited Arkansas.
More Kansas City road trips
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