Louisville to Memphis road trip: Best stops, drive time & distance
The distance from Louisville to Memphis by car is 384 miles, with a 5h45m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Louisville to Memphis drive are Mammoth Cave National Park, Nashville and Jackson TN.
Planning a Louisville to Memphis road trip itinerary
The Louisville to Memphis drive takes you from Kentucky’s biggest city to the home of Elvis in Tennessee. It’s best to book Memphis hotels in advance. Compare prices here.
Louisville is the biggest city in Kentucky, and has a strong range of attractions to enjoy. The Louisville Mega Cavern has underground zipline tours, the Churchill Downs race track hosts America’s most famous horse race – the Kentucky Derby – and the Louisville Slugger Factory makes the world’s most famous baseball bats. You can take factory tours and there’s a museum attached.
Top Louisville accommodation choices include the history-drenched Brown Hotel and the art-packed 21C Museum Hotel.
Why you should visit the Kentucky Derby Museum
The Kentucky Derby Museum isn’t just about the nation’s top horse race – it’s about the phenomenon that surrounds it. Museum entry tickets include the chance to see the trophies, learn the backstories of famous winners and watch an immersive theater screening. Best of all, they also include a walking tour of the Churchill Downs Racetrack. Find out more here.
David Whitley, author of Best3Stops.
Good Louisville experiences include Old Louisville ghost tours, the Kentucky Derby Museum and a tasting tour of multiple bourbon distilleries. The food and history tours are also worth checking out
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.
Also 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.
Louisville to Memphis distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Louisville to Memphis is 384 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours and 45 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-65 and I-40.
The best road trip stops on the Louisville to Memphis drive are Mammoth Cave National Park, Nashville and Jackson TN.
For more attractions, check out the individual guides to the road trip segments.
Louisville to Nashville road trip attractions: Mammoth Cave National Park
You can go to Mammoth Cave National Park for horse riding, hiking, camping and canoeing, but the caves are the key attraction.
The cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park is billed as the longest in the world. A bewildering range of cave tours is available, some of which are wheelchair friendly, with others more physical and aimed at cavers.
The classic Mammoth Cave tour is the two hour historic tour, which heads through underground tunnels that humans have used for thousands of years. Be warned, however – there are hundreds of steps.
Louisville to Memphis drive: Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is renowned for its country music, but the National Museum of African American Music is also in the Tennessee capital.
The best Nashville experiences include backstage tours of the Grand Ole Opry House, helicopter flights over the city and tasting tours at the Big Machine Distillery. You can also try line dancing classes, the Country Music Hall of Fame and haunted pub crawls. Or, for lavish old homes, visit Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, the Travellers Rest Historic House Museum and Belmont Mansion.
Excellent Nashville accommodation choices include the gloriously evocative Belle Air Mansion and Inn, plus downtown’s grand dame, the Hermitage.
How to see Nashville the smart way
You can save money in Nashville by combining a tour ticket with admission to two top attractions. These combo tickets give you a half day tour of the main sights, plus entrance to the Ryman Auditorium and Country Music Hall of Fame. Find out more here.
Best stops between Louisville and Memphis: Jackson, TN
Jackson TN is home to the Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum. For the uninitiated, Casey Jones was about as famous as it gets in the world of railroad engineering. The enormous locomotive outside the house tends to be the most popular attraction.
Also in Jackson is Rusty’s TV and Movie Car Museum, which features more than 50 screen-famous cars and vans. These include a Batmobile, a Jeep from Jurassic Park and Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine.
More Louisville road trips
Atlanta to Louisville | Bowling Green to Louisville | Louisville to Chicago | Louisville to Cincinnati | Louisville to Cleveland | Columbus to Louisville | Louisville to Dallas | Louisville to Detroit | Evansville to Louisville | Louisville to Gatlinburg | Louisville to Indianapolis | Knoxville to Louisville | Louisville to Lexington KY | Louisville to Nashville | Pittsburgh to Louisville.
More Memphis road trips
Memphis to Atlanta | Memphis to Austin | Memphis to Baton Rouge | Memphis to Biloxi | Memphis to Birmingham AL | Memphis to Boston | Charlotte to Memphis | Memphis to Chattanooga | Chicago to Memphis | Cincinnati to Memphis | Memphis TN to Clarksville TN | Dallas to Memphis | Memphis to Destin | Memphis to Detroit | Memphis to Fort Smith | Memphis to Gatlinburg | Memphis to Gulf Shores | Memphis to Hot Springs AR | Houston to Memphis | Indianapolis to Memphis.
Memphis to Jackson MS | Jackson TN to Memphis | Kansas City to Memphis | Memphis to Knoxville | Little Rock to Memphis | Memphis to Miami | Memphis to Mobile AL | Memphis to Montgomery AL | Nashville to Memphis | Memphis to New Orleans | New York City to Memphis | Memphis to Oklahoma City | Memphis to Orange Beach | Memphis to Orlando | Memphis to Pensacola | Memphis to Pigeon Forge | Memphis to San Antonio | Memphis to Tampa | Memphis to Tulsa.