Billy Connolly's Great American Trail Episode 3
23/09/2019 · By Katie Shaw
Follow in Billy Connolly's footsteps on the Great American Trail. Read the fascinating journey on our blog and plan your own with Grear Rail Journeys.
Read moreSave up to £500pp on Worldwide 2026 holidays, when you book by 31st October 2025.
Historic tracks lead us on an unforgettable rail tour through the heartlands of great American music - from Nashville, home of country music, to the blues, soul and rock 'n' roll of Memphis and the expressive jazz of New Orleans.
Starting our journey in North Carolina, we discover the music legends of Tennessee, then continue on the City of New Orleans train through Mississippi to Louisiana, tracing musical tracks on a culture-packed adventure.
Unforgettable experiences
What’s included on the tour?
Itinerary
Your holiday begins at London Heathrow, where we meet the Tour Manager before joining our flight to Charlotte, North Carolina. After touching down in Charlotte, we transfer to our hotel to spend our first night. With its tree-lined neighbourhoods, diverse dining, and proximity to both mountains and beaches, Charlotte is the perfect city to introduce us to the Southern charm we'll experience over the next two weeks.
Additional information
Hotels
More information on the different trains that are used on this tour.
The USA's national rail operator, Amtrak, runs approximately 300 trains per day throughout the United States, connecting more than 500 destinations on 21,000 miles of track.
Lookout Mountain played an important part in the American Civil War, as it was where the Union forces suffered one of their greatest defeats. So, by the late 19th century, Lookout Mountain had become a popular attraction for tourists, but it took a long time to ascend - horse drawn buggies were the quickest option, and they took about four hours.
Enhance your holiday
Upgrade your flight to World Traveller Plus from £500 per person each way. Please call for further details.
Spending a night in London before your tour can make such a difference to the first day of your holiday - you can arrive in the capital in good time, relaxed and ready to join your Tour Manager the next morning. You may even want to take in a show on the West End or dine in one of London's famous restaurants. Perhaps on your return to London, you would like to break your journey with an overnight stay before continuing home.
We can book a wide range of hotels in central London or, for our holidays beginning with a flight, at Heathrow, Gatwick, or Manchester Airport for the night before or after your holiday. If you require a quote for single occupancy at any of the hotels, please contact us on 01904 734 805.
Buying tickets for UK train services can be a tricky business - there are so many fares to choose from, each with different rules and restrictions. As you are connecting with an international departure, we strongly recommend that you book a fully flexible ticket to ensure that should the departure times for your holiday change, your rail ticket can allow for these changes.
We can book fully-flexible UK rail tickets from your local station to join your holiday whether this be a European holiday from St Pancras or a UK holiday. The prices are competitive and tickets are not restricted to a particular train or time of day, and in most cases offer you a free choice of routes.
For an up to date quote from your local station, please ask one of our Tour Advisors.
Reviews
4.3 / 5 · 127 reviews
Mr Ingham
Submitted 22/Oct
The Tracks of the Deep South Tour manages to give you a perfect flavour of this part of America. From the rolling wooded hills of the Smokey Mountains as you pass through them on a vintage steam train to seeing the piano Elvis played at the iconic Studio B in Nashville and where he recorded most of his hit records. From the many bars (Tootsie’s is to be recommended!) along Broadway in Nashville each of them playing live music and offering a wide choice of drinks and food like fried shrimp. From tasting a smooth Tennessee whiskey at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg to a concert at The Grand Ole Opry, the home of country music. From a visit to Graceland the home of Elvis Presley where you can’t fail to be moved by its unique understated atmosphere to another famous recording studio in Memphis, Sun Studio. And finally to the vibrant and historic city of New Orleans the home of jazz. Listen to street performers, stroll through the shops in the French Quarter or take a cruise on The Creole Queen paddle steamer on the Mississippi river- the sights and sounds keep coming at you! It will take me a long time to recover my overloaded senses of this holiday superbly organised and smoothly run by our tour manager Angie Eccles - two weeks after the holiday, I’m still singing country!! Mike Ingham
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Dean O
Submitted 22/Oct
A fantastic trip with many highlights. Packed itinerary but all rail and coach transport throughout, a great Tour Manager (Angie Eccles) and a fantastic coach driver (Michelle) ensured that everything went to plan. Would highly recommend this trip!
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Ken W
Submitted 2/Jun
A really great trip! Full on but everything was worthwhile.
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MRS K
Submitted 8/May
Excellent. Very busy but we saw some wonderful interesting places and did some great things. Tour leader was outstanding.
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Mrs. Lita Boghurst
Submitted 5/May
Excellent trip, Ann our guide made the whole holiday effortless. It exceeded our expectations. Although quite a bit of coach travel, it didn’t seem long in the coach as we stopped off at interesting places on route. Only disappointment, Mississippi cruise, historical, not musical. I was expecting music aboard. All in all a fantastic holiday and would definitely recommend.
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Bill Warrick
Submitted 5/May
Best tour manager great coach driver, interesting group of people, great itinerary.
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