Which Southern US States/cities would you visit on a 3 week road trip?

[SouthernRoadTrip]

I accidentally posted in chat but this should be here.

I've been planning to go to Florida with a friend and meet mutual friends in Florida. This has now turned into a 2 to 3 week road trip exploring the South.

My friends live in central Florida(Space coast and St Petersburg so we'll probably start there. We may visit Disney World but we're not too fussed if we don't.

Other cities on our must do list are Charleston and Savannah. Also we really want to see some of North Carolina plus Dollywood/Pigeon Forge is a must do for my friend.

Which other cities would you recommend?

TIA

Are you only going to the cities?

Savannah and Charleston are both lovely but it seems a shame to miss some of the beautiful countryside. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is stunning or the Okefenokee swamp.

If you're going to Louisiana obviously New Orleans and also Lafayette.

You are going to have the best time!

I actually found Savannah and Charleston to be a bit twee, and had thrown myself into a literary tour before realising that this largely focused on plantations and was therefore problematic.

Florida is interesting. I read ‘Devil in the Grove’ before going there. We drove down to the Keys, which is the closest I have ever got to an actual Caribbean holiday.

The best places are the musical places: Nashville, Memphis, the Mississippi Delta, New Orleans.

And the food is incredible. You will have so much fun!

yeah, cities are cities but countryside in USA is so rich from Britain, different, spectacular. Charleston is only one I'd make a big effort for.

I'm not a Dolly fan but I have heard the park is great.

We'll visit some of the parks/country too and we're excited about that but we really want to see the cities also particularly for the museums and a little shopping.

Thank you to all for the suggestions. They're much appreciated.

Charleston is gorgeous and is definitely make the effort to go. Nashville amazing but can’t remember how much further it was. I wouldn’t bother with Atlanta . We stayed in a little town right at the edge of the smoky mountain national park and I’d recommend that area.

We did Chattanooga, smoky mountains, Memphis, Tupelo, Graceland, Nashville and New Orleans and the bayou. The best food and music. Go to Sun and Stax record studios and the grand Opry in Nashville and Memphis. Atlanta, where we flew in to, has a good art gallery called the High and great parks.

If you come to New Orleans, the WWII museum is absolutely fantastic. Definitely worth a whole day. The majority of the large plantation tours nearby have incorporated their history of slavery as well, particularly the Whitney Plantation. Lafayette has amazing food. What time of year are you coming? Coz it's fecking HOT rn...

Heat is definitely a concern. We'll probably be going in Spring as my friend wants to go to Dollywood during the Flower & Food festival though no date has been announced for next year yet.

I would head north from the space coast and go to St Augustine > Savannah > Beaufort > Charleston > Blowing Rock > drive the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville > Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge (for Dollywood)