memphis studio tour

Home » Travel Guides » United States » Tennessee (TN) » 15 Best Memphis Tours

15 Best Memphis Tours

Located in southwestern Tennessee along the Mississippi River, Memphis is considered to be one of the most historic and cultural cities of not only Tennessee but also all of the United States of America.

In the present day, Memphis features as a hub for trade, knowledge, art, and entertainment. Home to blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll music, Memphis has a unique aura, as well as delicious traditional food. The combined traditional and modern amenities of the area ensure the best experience of the sunny days and exciting nights.

To make sure you don’t miss any of the highlights of the city, here are 15 of the best tours that will show you the best of Memphis.

1. Memphis Tour With Optional Graceland Admission

Head out on the streets of Memphis and discover all its major highlights, ranging from the Memphis Pyramid to the National Civil Rights Museum, and optional entrance to Graceland.

Spend 3 hours touring the city of Memphis with a narrator to tell you all the facts and tidbits about sites you visit. The tour will take you on a cruise along the Mississippi River, drive by the Pyramid Arena, Lorraine Hotel, Peabody Hotel and finally grant admission into Graceland Mansion.

This tour offers you the best sights of Memphis city, from the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated to Elvis Presley’s former home, all of them being things that you don’t want to miss.

2. Sun Studio Guided Tour

Explore one of the must-visit places in Memphis, the Sun Studio, where rock ‘n’ roll, blues, and soul music came to life.

This is a 45-minute guided tour that will take you around the most famous recording studio in the world, where a number of great musicians like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and B.B. King made their magic happen. And you also get a voucher to spend at the Sun Studio store, where you can find some of your musical favorites.

View Prices & Reviews

3. Historic Memphis Walking Tour

Explore the history of Memphis on a walking tour as you roam its streets, exploring all the hotspots of the city. Marvel at the beautiful and iconic sights as you gain more knowledge about the city.

This 2-hour tour will take you to all the historic and beautiful sights of the city, including the iconic Beale Street. Visit the architectural wonders of the city such as Court Square Fountain, Lincoln American Tower, and Calvary Episcopal Church, as your guide tells you about the city’s civil war, prohibition history, and its rich culture.

4. Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum Admission

Discover the mansion which was once home to the Woodruff and Fontaine families and is furnished with fabulous antiques from the Victorian era.

This hour-long tour that will give you a deeper insight into what the city was like back in the nineteenth century, as you learn more about what the city was like during that era.

Explore the Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum in a small group, at your own pace. Scan QR codes throughout the house and learn more about the house and history.

5. Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum Admission

Get your music mode on and visit the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum to discover the history of the music that came to life in Memphis.

Spend your day at the museum indulging in Memphis’ musical legacy, and discover more about important musicians such as BB King and Muddy Waters, who were major pioneers in the music industry.

Explore costumes, instruments, photographs and more belonging to the musicians of Memphis, with an audio guide that includes up to 5 hours of information and over 100 songs, making this experience one of a kind.

6. Taste of Downtown Memphis Food Tour

This is a food crawl that serves you the history of the city along with its traditional food, as you tour six different restaurants with a local food expert.

Enjoy 3 hours of classic Memphian food at six restaurants, including not only award-winning restaurants but also known family-owned eateries. Escape the tourist traps as a local tells you all the right places and the right things to eat.

Follow your guide on this tour as he leads you to the best restaurants of the town and learn more about the history of Memphis in between restaurants and food.

7. Memphis Mojo Music Bus Tour

Tap your feet to the music on this bus tour that will guide you around the city of the birth of blues as local musicians keep you grooving with music, tambourines, and bongos.

Spend up to three hours with local Memphis musicians that entertain and guide you around the city as you visit all the major sites of the city including Beale Street, Stax Studio, Lorraine Moter, and even admission into Sun Studio.

It’s a tour packed with music, history and loads of enjoyments that is definitely one of a kind.

8. Haunted Pub Crawl In Memphis

Hold your breath and beat the fear on this pub crawl that takes you through the haunted pubs of the city.

Spend two and a half hours discovering three of the city’s haunted pubs where you get to hear stories and legends straight from the locals and your guide.

Rely on your guide, a paranormal investigator, who will tell you only the real and verified ghost stories as you enjoy your drinks at the pubs.

9. Elvis Memories Sightseeing Tour

Follow the memories of Elvis Presley around the city of Memphis as you explore the city from his eyes.

It’s a two-to-three-hour tour that will allow you to visit all the places important to Elvis Presley’s life such as his home, school, and the very beautiful Botanical Garden Home, as a local guide tells you more about his life and the sites you visit.

Enjoy this family-friendly tour, which is perfect for anyone who is an avid fan of the star, and enjoy the pleasures of eating fried peanut butter and banana sandwich at Elvis’ favorite restaurant too.

10. Hard Rock Cafe

Take a break from long and tiring tours and stop for lunch at the very popular Hard Rock Cafe, situated right in the midst of the never-ending bustle of the iconic Beale Street.

Spend your afternoon at the Rock Hard Cafe and delve into the prix-fixe menu. Enjoy the music genre-themed meals and the accompanying beverages, both of which come from classic American cooking.

Enjoy priority seating and scrumptious food while you marvel at the rock memorabilia on the walls and relax.

11. Memphis Ghosts Walking Tour

Set out on an adventure to the darker, secluded, and haunted sights of Memphis on this walking tour that will give you the chills.

Embark on this 2-hour tour, led by a local guide that tells you all the spooky tales of various hauntings, paranormal sightings, and legends from around the city. Go through the former brothel Ernestine and Hazel’s, which is known to be home to a number of notorious spirits.

Hear about haunting tales from guides and locals as you visit the haunted sites on this chilling tour.

12. Memphis City Tour And Riverboat Cruise

Head out sightseeing in downtown Memphis with a guide and enjoy a ride down the Mississipi River on an old-fashioned paddlewheel boat.

Enjoy over 6 hours of exploring the city of Memphis, its history and captivating sights, on land as well as water. Witness Memphis’ classic Beale Street and the old mansions in the Victorian Village neighborhood as a guide tells you about their history and culture.

This is a land and water tour that takes you through beautiful sites and history of Memphis in a day, ensuring you see the best of the city.

13. Self-Guided Memphis Music Tour With Transportation

Explore three of Memphis’ most famous historical sites of the music industry, discovering the history of each at your own pace on this self-guided tour.

This 5-hour tour will take you to Stax Records, Sun Studio, and the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, and allow you to enjoy and explore each site as fast or as slow as you wish, as you discover the landmarks where musical history was made.

This is a tour perfect for anyone that enjoys music with live commentary along the tour and round-trip transportation throughout.

14. Memphis Discovery Tour Including Rock & Soul Museum

Uncover the rich culture and history of downtown Memphis on this coach tour as you visit most of the city’s attractions and learn more about them.

This 3-hour tour is led by a guide that gives you an insight into the city’s music scene on Beale Street and at the Orpheum Theater and Gibson Guitar Factory, as well as its civil rights landmarks such as the Lorraine Motel. During the tour, you also get to witness the sites that hold historic importance such as the Court Square, Victorian Village, and Cotton Row.

Enjoy discovering all the aspects of Memphis and then fill your belly at the included barbecue at a local restaurant.

15. City Of Memphis Tour

This tour is ideal for anyone visiting Memphis for the first time, with visits to all the major hotspots of the city while learning all about the city’s history and present.

This three-hour tour will take you to the key sights of the city including the iconic Beale Street, the famous Graceland, and the historic Victorian Homes as you get a deeper insight on all of the locations and their historic importance.

The tour allows you to choose from morning or afternoon bookings, and includes round-trip transportation to and from your hotel, which makes touring the city of Memphis all the more convenient.

15 Best Memphis Tours:

• Memphis Tour With Optional Graceland Admission
• Sun Studio Guided Tour
• Historic Memphis Walking Tour
• Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum Admission
• Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum Admission
• Taste of Downtown Memphis Food Tour
• Memphis Mojo Music Bus Tour
• Haunted Pub Crawl In Memphis
• Elvis Memories Sightseeing Tour
• Hard Rock Cafe
• Memphis Ghosts Walking Tour
• Memphis City Tour And Riverboat Cruise
• Self-Guided Memphis Music Tour With Transportation
• Memphis Discovery Tour Including Rock & Soul Museum
• City Of Memphis Tour

ABOUT SUN STUDIO

Sun Studio is known worldwide as “The Birthplace of Rock’n’roll” . It is the discovery location of musical legends and genres of the 50’s from B.B. King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis; from Blues and Gospel to Country and Rock’n'roll. Today our goal is to spread the story of Memphis’ history and culture through the music that put Memphis on the map. 

Stand in the very same spot that Elvis first recorded. Your tour guide will tell you the inside stories of B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf and Ike Turner before Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, & Roy Orbison who were all drawn to the new Sun Sound.

See the priceless memorabilia from the musical legends that blended blues and country music to explode in the "big bang" of Rock'n'roll.

Hear the voices of musicians that still haunt this studio, as you listen to outtakes from recording sessions and feel the energy of the music created here. 

The studio is open for 40 minute guided tours every day from 10am to 5:15pm. The tour is $20 for adults, $18 for students and $15 for kids ages 5-11. After day time operations close down we begin recording nightly starting at $200 per hour. 

IN THE NEWS

Memphis travel, 5 essential experiences for music lovers in memphis, sheshe show, best of memphis , travel guide, kudzu kronicle, memphis, elvis, bbq and the birth of rock'n'roll.

• Memphis Mojo Tour

90 minutes of high-energy fun on this musical journey featuring Memphis’ greatest attractions. Rock ‘n Roll, blues, and a whole lotta soul – it doesn’t get any better than this!

The City’s Most Popular Tours

Whether it’s the 90-minute Mojo Tour or the 3-hour Big Mojo Tour with admission to either Sun Studio or the Stax Museum, you can’t go wrong on these fun-loving rides through musical Memphis, complete with live music.

MEMPHIS MOJO TOUR

Enjoy an exciting introduction to Memphis on this action-packed drive through the city. It’s great fun for all ages! (Note: Admissions to attractions not included on the Memphis Mojo Tour.)

Length: 90 minutes

Departs From: Beale St. and BB King Blvd (at Alfred’s)

Advance purchase required. Tours sell out quickly! To purchase by phone, call (877) 230-0331 or (901) 527-9415

The Home of the Blues comes alive on this city tour aboard the nation’s only music bus. All of the guides on this tour are professional Beale Street musicians who play and sing selections from the city’s rich musical heritage, while entertaining you with comedy, history, and behind-the-scenes stories of your favorite Memphis personalities.

Along the way, you will see:

• Beale Street
• Stax Studio
• The Lorraine Motel
• Peabody Hotel
• Overton Park
• Historic Central Gardens
• St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
• Early homes of Elvis, B. B. King, and Johnny Cash

Enjoy an exciting introduction to Memphis on this action-packed drive through the city. It’s great fun for all ages!

(Note: Admissions to attractions not included on the Memphis Mojo Tour.)

THE MOJO TOUR plus SUN STUDIO ADMISSION

This tour includes all the sights and fun of the Memphis Mojo Tour plus a guided tour of Sun Studio, the studio that launched the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, BB King, Howlin’ Wolf, Roy Orbison…the list goes on and on! Get your photo taken at the microphone where Elvis recorded or next to Jerry Lee’s piano!

(Note: Sun Studio does not permit children under 5 yrs of age on the studio tour.)

Length: 3 hours

THE MOJO TOUR plus STAX MUSEUM ADMISSION

Adds admission to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music to explore in depth the City of Soul. Stax Records launched the careers of such legendary artists as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the MGs and many others. Through tons of interactive exhibits, videos, costumes and artificats – including Isaac Hayes’ Cadillac El Dorado, Tina Turner’s gold sequined stage dress, and an intact 100-year old gospel church from the Mississippi Delta – the Stax Museum tells the complete story of Stax Records and American soul music.

GRACELAND INSIDERS

Show your Graceland Insiders card and get 10% off any tour.

Promo Code: TCB

“ The guide was fantastic and we loved his music. The tour was more fun and informative than we had expected. Will certainly recommend it to friends visiting Memphis.” Pat, May 2021

Write a Review

• Special Events
• Discovery Tour
• Memphis Street Art Tour
• Memphis Ghost Tour
• Historic Memphis Walking Tour
• Beale Street Walking Tour
• Memphis True Crime Tour
• Elvis & Johnny Cash Tours

Backbeat Tours

197 Beale Street Memphis, TN 38103 901-527-9415

© Copyright 2021 Backbeat Tours

• 1-901-870-5760

Memphis City Tour Package

Memphis city tour + sun studio, memphis city tour + elvis experience, memphis city tour + river boat, mct + sun studios + riverboat, music city 3 museum tour, $40/adult | $28/child, $65/adult | $55/child, $148/adult | $94/child, $80/adult | $65/child, $125/adult | $105/child, $110/adult | $65/child.

© 2024 Memphis Best Tours. We Reserve the Rights to Change, Cancel or Update Tours.

• 1-901-870-7386
• Tour Packages

©2023 Memphis Best Tours. All Rights Reserved. 24 HOUR RESERVATIONS: 901-870-5760 OR 901-870-7386