What are the best things to do in Memphis?

The sights we could check are Graceland, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, Beale Street, Sun Studio, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Peabody duck march, the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum, Big River Crossing and Shelby Farms Park. Each has its address and what we could confirm in this guide.

Do you need a car in Memphis?

Not for downtown. Beale Street, the Peabody, Sun Studio, the Rock 'n' Soul Museum and the Civil Rights Museum are all in the 38103 ZIP code. A car, taxi or rideshare is the easier way to reach Graceland, Stax, the Zoo and Shelby Farms. We did not check a bus route to any of them.

How much does Graceland cost?

The Elvis Experience Tour is $85 for adults and $49 for kids. The Elvis Presley's Memphis plus Planes Tour is $53 for adults and $30 for kids. VIP tours run from $148 to $260. These are the prices on graceland.com on 15 October 2026. The page lists no parking price.

What time is the duck march at the Peabody?

Daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., says the Peabody's duck page, and the hotel's home page gives the same times. The duck page says to arrive 30 minutes early. Neither page lists a price to watch.

What are the free things to do in Memphis?

Big River Crossing is free and open daily from sunrise to 10 p.m., says its website. Beale Street is usually free, though a $5 security fee applies on select Friday, Saturday and holiday nights after 9 p.m. Memphis Tourism says so. The Peabody page lists no price for the duck march.

What are the best things to do in Memphis with kids?

Graceland's kids tour is $49 or $30, depending on the tour. Sun Studio is $15 for ages 5 to 11. The Civil Rights Museum is $22 for ages 5 to 17. The Stax Museum is free for ages 6 and under and $16 for ages 7 to 12. We could not read the Memphis Zoo's prices.

Where should I stay in Memphis?

Downtown if you want to walk to Beale Street, the Peabody, Sun Studio and the Civil Rights Museum. Near Graceland if Elvis is the main reason for your trip. We checked no hotel rates, so this guide gives no prices.

How do you get from Memphis airport to downtown?

MATA bus route 28 stops at the baggage level of the airport. Taxis leave from the Concourse B baggage claim, and Uber and Lyft pick up at the Interim Commercial Curb on the arrivals level. The airport site gives no fare, distance or travel time to downtown.

Things to Do in Memphis

The things to do in Memphis that we could check are Graceland, the National Civil Rights Museum, Beale Street, Sun Studio, the Stax Museum and the Peabody duck march. Downtown sights sit close together, so you do not need a car there, but Graceland and Stax are a drive or a bus ride away. We read each official page on 15 October 2026.

The sights, with address, hours and price

Graceland

Address: 3717 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis, TN 38116 (graceland.com, tickets page, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Open daily, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The last mansion tour starts at 4:00 p.m., and Elvis' airplanes open at 10:00 a.m. The hours page lists Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day as closed and Christmas Eve as 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Graceland hours page, read 15 Oct 2026)

Price: Elvis Experience Tour $85 adults, $49 kids. Elvis Presley's Memphis plus Planes Tour $53 adults, $30 kids. Elvis Entourage VIP Tour $148, all ages. Ultimate VIP Tour $240 before 1:30 p.m. and $215 after. Inside the Graceland Archives VIP Tour $260 before 1:30 p.m. and $235 after (same page)

The holiday dates on the hours page are Thursday, 27 November and Thursday, 25 December, which match 2025, not 2026 (Thanksgiving 2026 is 26 November). Check the page again for this year's dates. The site lists no parking price and does not say what age counts as a kid. It says Graceland is 10 minutes from downtown and 3 minutes from the airport. That is the site's own claim, and we did not time the drive.

National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel

Address: 450 Mulberry Street, Memphis, TN 38103 (National Civil Rights Museum, visit page, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Monday and Wednesday to Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Tuesday. The page lists "Last ticket sold at 5:15pm" and asks you to check in 15 minutes early (same page)

Price: Adult $25, ages 5 to 17 $22, senior 65 and over $23, college student $23. Free parking for museum guests (same page)

The page says the museum usually closes on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Weather closures can also happen.

Beale Street

Address: Downtown Memphis. The tourism page gives no street address for Beale Street itself (Memphis Tourism, Beale Street page, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Open 365 days. Many bars stay open until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. (same page)

Price: Usually free. A $5 Beale Street security fee applies on select Friday, Saturday and holiday nights, from 9 p.m. (same page)

The page describes three blocks of clubs, restaurants, museums and shops. After 8 p.m. visitors must be 21 or older, or with a legal parent or guardian. After 11 p.m. they must be 21 or older. It says Beale is the only place in Tennessee where open containers are allowed.

Sun Studio

Address: 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38103, at the corner of Union and Marshall (sunstudio.com, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Every day, 10 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Tours start at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30. No reservations, first come, first served (same page)

Price: Adults $20, children 5 to 11 $15 (same page)

Stax Museum of American Soul Music

Address: 926 E. McLemore Ave, Memphis, TN 38106 (staxmuseum.org, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Last admission 4 p.m. Closed Monday (same page)

Price: Adults $20. Ages 7 to 12, ages 62 and over, and veterans, military and AAA members $16. Ages 6 and under free (same page)

The page lists closures on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.

The Peabody duck march

Address: The Peabody Memphis, 149 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38103 (Peabody Memphis, duck page, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. The page says to arrive 30 minutes before the march (same page). The hotel's home page also says the ducks "march daily through the lobby at 11am and 5pm" (peabodymemphis.com, read 15 Oct 2026)

The pages list no price for watching the march. The duck page mentions a paid Duckmaster Experience with no amount, and gives the hotel reservations number, 901-529-4000.

Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum

Address: 191 Beale St., Memphis, TN 38103 (memphisrocknsoul.org, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Open daily, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (same page)

Price: Adults $16, youth $12. The page lists discounts for AAA, AARP, military and Smithsonian members. It does not say what age counts as youth (same page)

Memphis Zoo

Address: 2000 Prentiss Pl., Memphis, TN 38112. Phone 901-333-6500 (Memphis Tourism, Memphis Zoo page, read 15 Oct 2026)

Note: Hours and prices not confirmed. The zoo's own site blocked our reader, and the Memphis Tourism page lists neither. It says only that guided tram tours are available for a small fee

Big River Crossing

Address: No street address on the site. It says the bridge connects Main Street in Memphis to Main Street in West Memphis (bigrivercrossing.com, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Free and open daily from sunrise to 10 p.m. The page header says 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and a banner says sunrise to 10 p.m. (same page)

Price: Free (same page)

The page shows no closure notice. We did not confirm the length of the walk.

Shelby Farms Park

Address: 6903 Great View Drive North, Memphis, TN 38134 (Shelby Farms Park, about page, read 15 Oct 2026)

Hours: Open from sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year, says the about page. The home page posts daily times that change with the sun, for example 7:05 a.m. to 6:25 p.m. on a Thursday (Shelby Farms Park, read 15 Oct 2026)

We read no entry fee or parking price on either page, so we cannot say whether the park is free.

Free things to do in Memphis

Big River Crossing is free, says its website.
Beale Street is usually free. The $5 security fee on select nights is on Memphis Tourism's page.
The Peabody pages list no price for the duck march.
Shelby Farms Park: not confirmed. The pages we read list no fee.

Memphis with kids

Graceland: kids tickets are $49 on the Elvis Experience Tour and $30 on the Planes Tour. The site does not give an age cut-off.
Sun Studio: $15 for ages 5 to 11.
National Civil Rights Museum: $22 for ages 5 to 17.
Stax Museum: free for ages 6 and under, $16 for ages 7 to 12.
MATA: children under 5 ride free with a fare-paying adult, says the MATA fares page.
Beale Street has an age rule after 8 p.m. (see above).

Where to stay in Memphis

We did not check any hotel's rate or room list, so we give no prices. This table comes from the sight addresses above.

Area	What it is near
Downtown	Beale Street, the Peabody (149 Union Ave.), Sun Studio (706 Union Ave.), the Rock 'n' Soul Museum (191 Beale St.), the Civil Rights Museum (450 Mulberry St.)
South Main	Amtrak Central Station at 545 South Main Street
Near Graceland	Graceland at 3717 Elvis Presley Blvd. The Graceland site also lists The Guest House at Graceland at 3600 Elvis Presley Blvd. We did not check its rates or rooms

Downtown suits a first visit because most sights are in one ZIP code. Beale Street is loud on weekend nights, and its age rules matter if you have kids.

Getting around Memphis

MATA's fares page, read 15 Oct 2026, says that under a Zero Fare 90-Day Pilot Program "all rides are currently available at no cost." That covers buses, trolleys, MATAplus and Ready! On-Demand. MATA's Zero Fare page says the pilot launched on 16 November 2025 and "has now been extended," gives no end date, and says riders will be told in advance if fares come back. The standard bus fare is $1.00, $0.50 for seniors 65 and over and for people with disabilities. A Daily Fast Pass is $2.00. Children under five ride free with a fare-paying adult.

The Main Street Trolley runs Monday to Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., about every 60 minutes, says MATA's trolley page. The page lists a $1 fare each way, which the Zero Fare pilot currently waives. MATA's trolley fares page lists a Day Pass at $2.00 and a 3-Day Pass at $9.00, and it carries an old COVID note, so call 901-274-6282 to confirm. We did not read a stop list.

From the airport (MEM)

MATA Bus 28 stops at the baggage level. Monday to Friday 5:45 a.m. to 6:29 p.m., Saturday 8:45 a.m. to 5:29 p.m., Sunday 8:45 a.m. to 4:29 p.m. The schedule may change without notice (flymemphis.com, ground transportation page, read 15 Oct 2026).
Taxis leave from the Concourse B baggage claim. Fares are in a PDF we did not open.
Uber and Lyft pick up at the Interim Commercial Curb on the arrivals and baggage level (flymemphis.com, rideshare page).
We did not confirm the bus route's end stop, or the fare, distance or travel time to downtown.

Amtrak

Memphis Central Station is at 545 South Main Street (Amtrak station page, read 15 Oct 2026). The City of New Orleans runs daily. Amtrak's timetable PDF, dated 15 October 2026, lists 10:45p at Memphis for train 58, which runs New Orleans to Chicago, and 6:55a for train 59, which runs Chicago to New Orleans. The PDF does not label the times as arrivals or departures.

Do I need a car in Memphis?

Not for downtown. Beale Street, the Peabody, Sun Studio, the Rock 'n' Soul Museum and the Civil Rights Museum are all in ZIP code 38103, and the trolley runs on Main Street. For Graceland, Stax and Shelby Farms, a car, taxi or rideshare is the easier choice, because we did not check a bus or walking route to any of them. Graceland says it is 10 minutes from downtown. The Civil Rights Museum has free parking for guests.

Best time to visit Memphis

These are NOAA 1991 to 2020 monthly normals for the Memphis International Airport station, read from the NCEI data service on 15 October 2026. Highs and lows are in degrees Fahrenheit.

Month	Average high	Average low	Precipitation (inches)
January	50.9	33.3	4.14
April	73.4	53.0	5.87
July	91.9	73.6	4.82
October	75.1	54.0	3.98

July is the hottest month in the table, with a high near 92 degrees. April and October are milder. April is the wettest of the four. This is our reading of the numbers.

What we checked and what can change

Read on 15 October 2026: the Graceland tickets page, the National Civil Rights Museum visit page, Sun Studio's home page, the Stax Museum's home page, the Peabody Memphis duck page and home page, Graceland's hours page, the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum's home page, Memphis Tourism's pages for Beale Street and the Memphis Zoo, the Big River Crossing website, the Shelby Farms Park about page, MATA's fares, Zero Fare, trolley routes and trolley fares pages, the Memphis International Airport ground transportation and rideshare pages, Amtrak's Memphis station page and its City of New Orleans timetable PDF, and NOAA NCEI 1991 to 2020 monthly normals.

Not confirmed: the Memphis Zoo's hours and prices (its site blocked our reader), Shelby Farms Park's entry and parking fees, Graceland's parking price and kids age limit, Graceland's 2026 holiday dates (the hours page shows 2025 dates), the end date of MATA's zero fare pilot, a bus route from downtown to Graceland, Stax or the Zoo, the airport taxi fare, and any hotel rate. Prices and hours change, so check the operator's page for your date. We did not visit Memphis for this page.