Memphis to Boston road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time

Planning a Memphis to Boston road trip itinerary

The Memphis to Boston drive connects the Mississippi River in Tennessee to the historic capital of Massachusetts.

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.

Boston is drenched in history, with the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum a good first stop on the revolutionary trail. Other Boston attractions include the New England Aquarium, the View Boston observation deck and the Fenway Park baseball stadium.

There are also hundreds of Boston tour options, some more distinctive than others. Good choices include walking the Freedom Trail with a historian guide and story-packed tours of the Harvard campus. For a more Italian flavour, try a North End pizza and history tour. On a sunny day, try a sightseeing day sail around Boston Harbor.

If looking for the best Boston accommodation options, pick the Langham for luxury or the Lenox for a slice of cool in the Back Bay neighborhood. The Liberty, meanwhile, is a jaw-dropping conversion of a former prison.

Memphis to Boston distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Memphis to Boston is 1,317 miles. You can expect a driving time of around 19 hours and 25 minutes.

The best stops to add to a Memphis to Boston road trip itinerary are Pigeon Forge, Charlottesville and New York City.

For more suggestions, read the guides to the Memphis to Nashville drive, Nashville to New York City drive and New York City to Boston drive.

Memphis to Boston drive: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Pigeon Forge is popular because of its close proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the US. But so many attractions have built up around the resort town that it’s now much more than a gateway.

Most famous of these is Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park. But there’s also the Titanic Museum, the Beyond The Lens interactive museum and the Rocky Top Mountain Coaster.

Other Pigeon Forge experiences include small group jeep tours in the mountains, guided ATV adventures and wine plus moonshine tours.

Pigeon Forge is also known for its evening shows, whether Elvis tributes, Motown performances, lumberjack feuds or country music extravaganzas.

Memphis to Boston road trip attractions: Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is home to the prestigious University of Virginia. This college town can be used as a base for exploring local wineries on a wine tour or craft cider makers.

Other Charlottesville experiences include food tours and self-drive audio tours in Shenandoah National Park.  

The real reason to visit Charlotteville, however, is Monticello. The home of polymath president Thomas Jefferson is architecturally stunning and the tours are endlessly fascinating.

For great Charlottesville accommodation options, the redbrick Forum Hotel is amongst the botanical gardens of the UVA campus. The Quirk, meanwhile, has a sense of fun.

Best stops between Memphis and Boston: New York City

Highlights of New York City include the Empire State Building, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the American Museum of Natural History.

For great New York tours, try the boat trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, a night time city lights helicopter flight and a Greenwich village food tour.

More unusual options include catacombs tours, a round-Manhattan architecture cruise and a guided exploration of Grand Central Station’s secrets.

You seriously need to shop around to find affordable New York City accommodation. Start looking for deals here.

Boston Seaport.
Boston Seaport. Photo by Jimmy Woo/ Unsplash.

More Memphis road trips

Memphis to Atlanta | Memphis to Austin | Memphis to Baton Rouge | Memphis to Biloxi | Memphis to Birmingham AL | 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 | Louisville 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.

More Boston road trips

Boston to Baltimore | Boston to Buffalo | Boston to Charlotte | Chicago to Boston | Cincinnati to Boston | Boston to Greensboro NC | Boston to Greenville SC | Hartford CT to Boston | Boston to Kansas City | Knoxville to Boston | Minneapolis to Boston | Boston to Myrtle Beach | Nashville to Boston | Boston to New Haven | Boston to New York City | Boston to Niagara Falls | Boston to Philadelphia | Boston to Raleigh NC | Boston to Richmond VA | Boston to Stamford CT | Boston to St Louis | Boston to Washington DC | Boston to Wilmington NC | Boston to Worcester MA.