Tulsa to Nashville road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops

Planning a Tulsa to Nashville road trip itinerary

The Tulsa to Nashville drive takes you from Oklahoma to Tennessee.

Tulsa’s big ticket attraction is the Philbrook Museum of Art. But you’ll get more of a local cultural education at the Woody Guthrie Center.

Alternatively, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum has a decent planetarium and Gathering Place is a great park with play areas on the Arkansas River. The classic photo stop, though, is at the enormous Golden Driller Statue.

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.

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.

Tulsa to Nashville distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Tulsa to Nashville is 613 miles. That makes for a driving time of around nine hours and seven minutes. The quickest route is along the I-40.

The best stops to add to a Tulsa to Nashville road trip itinerary are Fort Smith AR, Memphis TN and Little Rock AR.

Tulsa to Nashville road trip attractions: Fort Smith AR

The Fort Smith National Historic site is the key highlight of the Arkansas city that bears its name. The original fort was built in 1817 as a military post. It played a major part in the removal of Native American tribes from east of the Mississippi to new territories in the west. This Trail of Tears is a major part of the visitor centre, but there’s also plenty on ‘hanging judge’ Isaac Parker. He sentenced more than 160 people to death from the Fort Smith Courthouse.

Other Fort Smith attractions include Miss Laura’s Visitor Center. This is a former bordello that looks at the area’s more colourful Old West history. There’s also the US Marshals Museum, detailing the history of the US Marshals, and the Parrot Island Water Park.

Tulsa to Nashville drive: Memphis TN

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.

Best stops between Tulsa and Nashville: Little Rock AR

Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas, and the closest thing the state has to a metropolis.

Key experiences in Little Rock include the Museum of Discovery and the William J Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. The latter, as with most presidential libraries, acts as a fascinating insight not just into the president, but the era he was in charge for.

Of Little Rock’s hotels, the Capital Hotel provides most historic glamour and the Residence Inn Little Rock Downtown is great value.

Nashville, Tennessee skyline.
Nashville Tennessee skyline. Photo by GingerColwell/ Pixabay.

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