Memphis to Charlotte through the Smoky Mountains - April

[Happytraveler2701]

Hello,

My husband and I are planning a road trip this coming April from Memphis to Charlotte for 11 days (Wednesday- following Saturday) and are trying to figure out the right amount of days to spend in each place/best route. Can you please help us out?

We're in our 30's love hiking, biking, the outdoors and photography.
Enjoy eating out and listening to music, but usually don't stay out past midnight.
Hubby likes history/civil war

<<Fly Miami to Memphis>>

Memphis - 2 nights

[Stop at Century Farm Winery or Crown Winery]

Nashville - 2 nights

[Stop at Jack Daniel's Distillery]

Chattanooga - 1 night, is it worth a stop?

Gatlinburg - 3 nights, visit the Smoky Mountains

Asheville - 1 night, visit the Biltmore Estate

[Stop Chimeney Rock/Lake Lure]

Charlotte - 1 night

<<Fly Charlotte to Miami>>

Thanks in advance for your help :)

JB

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The basic outline of your plan certainly looks reasonable. I will say that I tend to prefer spending two nights 'in' a given city so that I have the entire day in between those two nights to explore the town. So I might opt to move one of my nights from Gatlinburg to Asheville or Chattanooga. Other than that, I would note that although you say that your interests include "hiking, biking, the outdoors and photography" as well as "history/civil war", other than Great Smoky Mountains NP you've listed no outdoor activities and no Civil War sites at all.

That's something of a shame because there are several large and important Civil War sites more-or-less along your route, and countless smaller battle/skirmish sites, that would let you get outdoors and immersed in that bit of American history. Among the major battle sites you should consider visiting are: Shiloh, Stones River (Murfreesboro), and Chickamauga & Chattanooga. But as noted there are smaller sites all along your drive. See Donna's excellent 'itineraries'.

AZBuck

[Happytraveler2701]

Dear AZBuck,
Many thanks for your recommendations!
Will definitely revisit the itinerary and include some of the Civil War sites.
Best,
JB