The Deep South Mardi Gras Departures & Prices Airport

Departing

Time

Returning

Time

Cost

Availability

Heathrow

16 Feb 17

12:15

02 Mar 17

07:25

£3790

Sold out

What's Included Return scheduled flights Comfortable hotel accommodation in your own spacious room Porterage All breakfasts Five evening meals with live music and drinks Three lunches Farewell dinner in a New Orleans Jazz club City tours of Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans The Grand Ole Opry Elvis Presley’s Graceland Private delta blues concert with lunch Mississippi sternwheeler cruise with included cocktail Grandstand viewing with drinks, snacks and lunch on Mardi Gras day Luxury air-conditioned cruiser coach Exclusive services of a One Traveller Tour Manager

Your meals and eating out We include full breakfasts each morning, five dinners with excellent live music and drinks, plus three lunches. On Mardi Gras Tuesday, snacks and drinks as well as lunch are included all day. On other occasions your Tour Manager will give advice on where to eat and nobody will be left on their own. Eating out in this part of the USA offers good value for money and a wide range of cuisines are available.

Excursions as follows: Country Music Hall of Fame RCA Studio B

Johnny Cash Museum Casey Jones Railroad Museum Sun Studio Staxx ‘Soulsville USA’ Museum B.B. King Museum and Delta Blues Interpretive Center

Not Included

Optional Excursions Jack Daniels Distillery Oak Alley Plantation Cajun Swamp Tour

Holiday Insurance You need to arrange your own but we can help). For more information, please see our suggested insurance services.

Visa: Travellers require an electronic authorisation known as an ESTA, for which the US government will charge US$14. This is only available online but the form is simple to complete. You, a family member or friend can apply for an ESTA on your behalf by logging on to the following web address: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ (Please note that other websites may charge higher fees.) Simply have ready your passport and confirmation invoice (which you will receive from us), with your booking confirmation (which contains the relevant details for the ESTA form). If you would prefer us to obtain the ESTA on your behalf, we are happy to do so for an additional administrative charge of £35 (including the ESTA fee).

Itinerary Key: Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Drink

Longer walks and steps may be involved on this day

1 Fly to Nashville

Afternoon Tea

Meet your One Traveller Tour Manager and fellow travelling companions and board your transatlantic flight to Nashville (via Chicago) On arrival check-in to the Inn at Opryland for a four-night stay. Evening: welcome drinks in the hotel.

2 Nashville (Music City USA) Morning: introductory tour of the city known as ‘the Athens of the South’ and the home of country music, where you will see the Parthenon, Vanderbilt University, Music Row, Broadway with its ‘honky tonks’, boot stores and souvenir shops. Afternoon: welcome lunch with your fellow travellers followed by an included visit to the Johnny Cash Museum dedicated to ‘the man in black’. Evening: dinner and country music show.

3 Jack Daniels Distillery Optional excursion to the rolling hills, quaint towns and farmlands of middle Tennessee and the home of the Jack Daniels distillery founded in 1866. Evening: performance at the world-famous Grand Ole Opry, the live showcase of country music, and the oldest continuous running radio programme in the USA.

4 Nashville Morning: visit to RCA studio B, the home of a thousand hits, where the country greats and Elvis Presley recorded, also included is entry to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Afternoon: free to explore the downtown area of Nashville, its attractions and live music venues. Evening: private dinner with live music from a singer/songwriter in Nashville.

5 Nashville – Tupelo – Memphis Morning: visit the Casey Jones Railroad Museum in Jackson, Tennessee to see the former home of the famous railroad engineer, then continue to Tupelo, Mississippi. Afternoon: visit the small town where Elvis was born; his Birthplace & Museum has many personal and private possessions on display. Afterwards continue to Memphis to check-in to the Holiday Inn ‘Select’ Downtown for a three-night stay.

6 Memphis Morning: city tour, including Cotton Row, home of W.C. Handy; the National Civil Rights Museum, site of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated; and a memorable visit to the legendary Sun Studios where Elvis recorded Heartbreak Hotel and where Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins began their careers. Afternoon: after time for lunch enjoy an included visit to Staxx ‘Soulsville USA’ museum, where Isaac Hayes, Tina Turner, Otis Redding, Booker T and the MG’s recorded American and Memphis soul music. Finally at the end of the afternoon see the ‘march of the ducks’ at the world-famous Peabody Hotel. Evening: included dinner and live blues on Beale Street.

7 Elvis Presley’s Graceland Morning: you will spend the morning at Elvis Presley’s beloved Graceland, his final resting place, including entrance to the motor museum and aircraft. Afternoon enjoy the downtown Memphis area at your leisure with small fascinating museums such as the Cotton Museum, Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, visit the National Civil Rights Museum or maybe take a ride on the antique trolley along the riverfront.

8 Delta Blues & B.B. King Centre Morning: leaving Memphis we you will head south on a journey through ‘them old cotton fields back home’ to Indianola, Mississippi where the ‘blues boy’ B.B. King was born. Afternoon: visit the Delta Blues Interpretive Center and B.B. King

Museum, with included lunch and a private blues concert. Afterwards drive to Jackson, Mississippi for an overnight stay.

9 Drive to New Orleans Morning: continue to New Orleans, through Mississippi and then into Louisiana across the swamp causeway and Lake Pontchartrain. Afternoon: welcome to the ‘big easy!’ On arrival check-in for a fivenight stay at the Hampton Inn Convention Center. Evening: included dinner with live Cajun music just a short walk from your hotel.

10 New Orleans (The Big Easy) Morning: your tour of the city includes the Garden District, St. Charles Avenue, The Superdome, Lake Pontchartrain and the French and Flea Markets. Afternoon: free to explore the French Market and famous French Quarter. Evening: get ready to watch the parade of Endymion, a local favourite!

11 Oak Alley Plantation Morning: optional excursion to a beautiful pre-Civil War plantation home. Located on the Mississippi River, Oak Alley Plantation is called the Grande Dame of the Great River Road. Afternoon: free in the atmospheric city of New Orleans. Evening: get ready to watch more evening illuminated parades with a host of celebrities riding the floats!

12 Swamp Tour - Dinner with live Jazz

Morning: optional boat ride on the swamp, with moss-draped cypress trees and shrubs which hide a wealth of wildlife. Your Cajun captain knows the inhabitants of the swamp and where to find them. Afternoon: free to explore the French quarter, including the French market. Evening: dinner at the Palm Court Jazz Café with a live six-piece traditional jazz band. Due to parade routes and road closures some walking will be involved in getting to the restaurant.

13 Mardi Gras Day Parades! Enjoy your grandstand viewing on St. Charles Avenue for the parades of Zulu and Rex, with snacks, drinks and lunch included. A host of dancers in flamboyant costumes parade to marching bands, there is live music and horseback guardsmen, and the Kings and Queens of Mardi Gras past and present throw a variety of gifts and trinkets as they pass the spectators, who are invited to dance along with the party. Due to parade routes and road closures some walking will be involved in getting to your private parade viewing area.

14 Departure from New Orleans Leisurely breakfast before a lunchtime sternwheeler cruise on ‘ole man river’ with an included farewell cocktail. Afternoon: departure for the return flight (via Dallas) to the U.K.

15 Arrival in the UK Morning arrival in the UK.

Included excursions

City Tour of Nashville ‘Music City USA’ and ‘the Athens of the South’ are names often given to Nashville. Drive Music Row and see where the world’s greatest concentration of hits has come from, Centennial Park with the Parthenon, Uptown & Vanderbilt College, Bicentennial Mall and the farmers market. Also see the Honky Tonks on Broadway as well as its boot, cowboy gear and record stores and all the downtown areas major attractions.

Grand Ole Opry An evening at the showcase of country music the Grand Ole Opry is the world’s oldest continuous running radio show transmitted live across the world. A host of country music artists of yesterday, today and tomorrow all feature on the line up of each show.

City Tour of Memphis & Sun Studio Memphis once traded 80% of the world’s cotton and its more modern history has overshadowed its past. On this morning tour a resident local will guide you through the historical districts and the musical history as well as the Lorraine Motel the sight of Dr Martin Luther King’s assassination. The tour will end at Sun studio where Elvis recorded his first hits and Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.

New Orleans City Tour The “Crescent City” has deep rooted history with traditions and a culture of its very own. Colourful neighbourhoods with Creole cottages in Faubourg’s Treme and Marigny to the Garden District and St Charles Avenue with Victorian homes and grand houses with Colonnades. The tour will encompass all this as well as Lake Ponchertrain and City Park and a fascinating walk through St Louis cemetery with time to explore the French Quarter, French Market, St Louis cathedral and Jackson Square.

Mississippi Sternwheeler Cruise An afternoon cruise on ‘Ole Man River’ on a traditional sternwheeler with a cocktail included. View the surrounding districts, naval yard and ships heading to the Great Lakes or south towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Nashville Nightlife Once owned by Willie Nelson, today owned and run by Tammy Wynette’s former backing singers, drummer and bass player the Nashville Nightlife with a buffet of good southern country cooking is an evening of music with your favourite country hits from resident singers and musicians that have played for many top stars. Occasionally one or two big names drop in to entertain the crowd as well.

Kings Palace Cafe Blues evening on Beale Street

Dinner and blues on Memphis’ famous Beale Street with a drink included as you listen to mellow blues from the resident house musicians before after included entrance to the famous Rum Boogie Cafe for some traditional blues.

Cajun Music Dinner A fun evening of Cajun cooking and a live Cajun band in Mulates restaurant. Listen to music from the swamps and bayous of Louisiana with its French influence on your first evening in New Orleans.

Farewell Jazz Dinner No visit to New Orleans would be complete without a fine dining experience and some live Dixieland Jazz. The venue is one of the city’s more upmarket Jazz Club with a refined atmosphere and some of the best musicians the city has to offer.

Tupelo and Elvis Presley Birthplace Driving from Nashville to Memphis via Tupelo to see where Elvis was born in a so called ‘shotgun shack’. Experience the music traditions of his first church and where he purchased his first guitar. A long standing personal friend, Janelle McComb, created the museum here and displays examples of moving poetry they wrote to one another as well as touching personal artefacts. You will also see his first schools and childhood hang outs in this small rural southern town.

Elvis Presley's Graceland Platinum Tour You will have the full platinum entrance to the beloved home of the “King of rock n roll” including the mansion tour, car museum, clothing displays and aeroplanes along with a host of personal artefacts. Drive through those famous gates as Elvis sings ‘welcome to my world’ and you immerse yourself in the story of the man who changed music forever.

BB King Museum and Delta Blues Interpretative Center In Indianola Mississippi amidst cotton fields and housed in an old cotton mill this display of the “Blues Boys” life from a humble start in the poor segregated south to his rise to fame and many charitable endeavours as well as the preservation of Blues history. You will also have an included lunch during a private Blues concert!

Optional excursions Jack Daniels distillery and Lynchburg The town of Lynchburg is the seat of Moore County, the smallest county in Tennessee. Home to the distillery, it’s a dry county and has been ever since Prohibition with several generations of men having worked here all set in the beautiful rolling hills of Tennessee dotted with the famed “walking horses”. While the distillery may be the main attraction here, you don't want to miss other local favorites like Lynchburg

Hardware & General Store, County Jail and a Court Square of shops unchanged by time.

Oak Alley Plantation A half day to visit the Mansion called “the Grand Dame of the River Road”. Once a sugar plantation you will take a tour of the house with its original furnishings as well as be able to see the slave quarters, civil war encampment, Pecan grove and wander the quarter mile track of live oaks in this 25 acre setting.

Cajun Swamp Tour A morning ride navigating the cypress swamps and villages with a Cajun captain. You ride gently and slowly on a covered boat learning of the Cajuns way of life and traditions and the flora and fauna that inhabit this unique eco system. Turtles, raccoons, pelicans and a host of birdlife as well as alligators live in the swamp and your captain will know where to find them all.

Hotels Throughout this holiday we use good standard accommodation:

Memphis, Holiday Inn “Select” Downtown The only Holiday Inn in the world to be granted the prestigious “Select” title. Comfortable guest rooms in the heart of downtown Memphis just a five minute walk from famous Beale Street. Located on Union Avenue opposite the Peabody hotel and its ducks. The hotel has a sports lounge and bar on site where “southern hospitality” takes on a whole new meaning.

New Orleans, Hampton Inn Convention Centre Located in the vibrant historic Arts & Warehouse District, Housed in a historic landmark building. This thoughtfully restored property provides the perfect place to stay across the street from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The Hampton Inn & Suites New Orleans Convention Center offers luxurious accommodations within convenient walking distance to some of the most well-known attractions in New Orleans wth close proximity to Riverwalk Market Place, Louisiana Children’s Museum, riverboat cruises, National World War II Museum and near the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Nashville - The Inn at Opryland The hotel is situated on Music Valley Drive next to the Gaylord Opryland Resort, with its indoor gardens, dining, golf, spa, and shops, and the Grand Ole Opry. Also close is Nashville's premier shopping and entertainment complex, Opry Mills Mall. There is a complimentary shuttle to all Opryland attractions. The hotel has a music-inspired atmosphere with a large indoor pool and a newly renovated fitness centre. Whilst situated away from Nashville's hectic down town area, where you will spend two evenings and two days on included excursions and activities, there are many music themed amenities right on the doorstep. All spacious rooms are equipped with coffee maker, complimentary Wi-Fi, hair dryer, and iron with ironing board.

The Holiday Inn Pearl, Jackson Perfectly located next door to The Outlets of Mississippi, proudly featuring over 80 stores, the largest Outlet Mall in Mississippi. Also the hotel is also situated next door to the Bass Pro and Outdoor World Shop for the golfing, hunting and fishing enthusiast. You can also visit The Russell C. Davis Planetarium to see the stars or catch a rising star at a Mississippi Braves baseball game just across the parking lot. As well as the eateries at the outlet mall casual dining is available at the Alumni House Sports Bar and Grill with seating both indoors and outdoors on the terrace. There is a large heated indoor pool, a gym and the hotel offers complimentary WiFi throughout.