Sample Itineraries

• Guides available with advance reservations
• Phone: 901-761-5250 / Fax: 901-682-0943 / www.dixon.org

Lauderdale Courts
(Suggested Tour time: 15 min.)
Though Lauderdale Courts began life in 1938 as one of America's first public housing projects, the Uptown Square location is known not so much for its history as for its most famous resident. From 1949 to 1953, Gladys, Vernon and their teenage son Elvis called Apartment #328 home. Now restored to reflect the Presley family's simple life and times, The Elvis Suite is officially the only place in town where visitors can sleep exactly where the King did.

• Phone: 901-523-8662 / Fax: 901-523-8299 / www.lauderdalecourts.com

Memphis Botanic Garden
(Suggested tour time: 1-2 hrs.)
With a Japanese garden of tranquility, 100,000 daffodils and a wind chime sculpture, the Botanic Garden is the very definition of serene. Except on Friday nights during the Summer Concert Series, when acts like Three Dog Night and Hootie & the Blowfish take the stage.

• Phone: 901-576-4100 / Fax: 901-682-1561 / www.memphisbotanicgarden.com

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
(Suggested Tour time: 1.5 hrs.)
A registered National Landmark, the Brooks Museum features an impressive permanent collection of items ranging from the ancient to the modern. Highly regarded for its medieval and Renaissance work, the Brooks often showcases world-class exhibitions from around the globe. A can't miss is the museum's First Wednesday, which features tours, live music, cocktails and entertainment the First Wednesday of every month.

• Phone: 901-544-6200 / Fax: 901-725-4071 / www.brooksmuseum.org

Memphis Pink Palace Museum, Planetarium and IMAX Theater
(Suggested Tour time: Mansion 1 hr., IMAX 2 hrs., Planetarium 1.5 hrs.)
The 36,500-square-foot home of Memphian Clarence Saunders - father of the self-service grocery and founder of supermarket chain Piggly Wiggly - is now home to a wide-ranging collection of fascinating historic, scientific and technological attractions. Through the years the museum has expanded into one of the Southeast's largest. It now includes a planetarium and IMAX theater and is a regular stop for traveling exhibitions.

• Advanced reservations required for groups
• Phone: 901-320-6320 / Fax: 901-320-6391 / www.memphismuseums.org

National Ornamental Metal Museum
(Suggested Tour time: 1 hr.)
Known for one of the most picturesque views of the Mississippi River, the Ornamental Metal Museum gives craftsmen and casual observers alike the opportunity to have a magical experience along the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Home to a working blacksmith shop and more than 3,000 pieces of decorative metalwork, this is anything but your typical museum. Take in a blacksmithing class, see contemporary and historic metal work or just enjoy a sunset (and if your timing is right, a wedding) at one of the hottest spots ... literally ... in town.

• Phone: 774-6380 / Fax: 901-774-6382 / www.metalmuseum.org

Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art
(Suggested Tour time with dinner: 1 hr.)
Just when you thought Peabody Place had run out of surprises, you come across a treasure trove of Asian and European art and artifacts. The museum houses more than 600 works created for Chinese nobility during the Quink (Ch'ing) Dynasty, including jade sculptures, ivory carvings and bronze ceremonial vessels.

• Phone: 901-523-2787 / Fax: 901-523-9603 /www.belzmuseum.org

Art Museum at the University of Memphis
Offers changing exhibitions of contemporary art and permanent displays of Egyptian antiquities and West African artifacts.

• Phone: 901-678-2224 / Fax: 901-678-5118 / www.amum.org

Biblical Resource Center and Museum
Located in Historic Collierville, this museum features artifacts and replicas of the Bible, a hands-on exhibit, a Bible lab, library, and museum shop.

• Video presentation included with group tours.
• Adjacent to specialty shops and restaurants Phone: 901-854-9578 / Fax: 901-854-9883 / www.biblical-museum.org

Kemmons Wilson Gallery
(Suggested Tour time: 1 hr.)
They say Memphis is a city of firsts: the first Greyhound and Continental Trailways bus lines; the world's first self-service grocery store, Piggly Wiggly; site of the first Welcome Wagon in 1928. The list goes on to include the first Holiday Inn, founded by Kemmons Wilson, an entrepreneurial achievement you can experience through the Kemmons Wilson Gallery. Featuring photographs, magazine covers, awards and more, the museum is housed at the Holiday Inn - University of Memphis.

• Free admission
• Phone: 901-678-8021 / Fax: 901-678-0034 / http://wilson.memphis.edu

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital / Alsac Pavilion
(Suggested Tour time: 30-45 min.)
Located on the campus of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, one of the country's largest health-care charities, this museum contains memorabilia of the late entertainer and founder of St. Jude, Danny Thomas, including Emmy Awards and numerous humanitarian achievements.

• Phone: 901-495-4414 / Fax: 901-578-2849 / www.stjude.org

Public Earthquake Resource Center
Displays research about the New Madrid seismic zone. It is part of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, an academic department at the University of Memphis. Exhibits feature paleoseismology, historical earthquakes, liquefaction, real-time earthquake information and a seismograph.

• Free parking
• Free admission
• Phone: 901-678-1723 / www.ceri.memphis.edu/