Discover more
When the Southern USA says ‘welcome all y’all’ it means bring your kids, come hungry because the food is just as good as you’ve heard. It means come ready for adventure and that means anything from theme parks like Magic Springs in Kentucky to the most visited National Park in the US – Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, in case you were wondering.
It’s a warm southern welcome that extends across 12 states: South Carolina; Kentucky; Arkansas; Tennessee; Alabama; West Virginia; Louisiana; North Carolina; Missouri; Georgia; Mississippi and Virginia. Where do you start? Here are a few first ideas to get you thinking.
Hit the Alabama Gulf Coast for 32 miles of shimmering white sand beaches and clear seas. A total of 22 state parks, plus several nature preserves , give you the best excuse for playing away from the coast. Alabama is home to the first Mardi Gras in the US, and everyone from Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones has recorded music here. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville is the world’s largest space museum. And if you want to go right to the heart of the American Civil Rights Movement, head to Birmingham or Montgomery to see where Alabama made history.
It’s easy to see why they call Arkansas ‘The Natural State’, you just need to look around. No fewer than 52 state parks are at home here, along with Hot Springs National Park and the Ozark National Forest. It might be landlocked, but there’s no shortage of water between 2,000 lakes, over 90,000 miles of rivers and 100s of waterfalls. Bentonville, Arkansas is the official Mountain Biking Capital of the World™, and OZ Trails in the Ozark Mountain foothills run for over 550 miles. You can even dig for diamonds in Arkansas: it’s finders-keepers. And if you want to stargaze, make for Buffalo National River, it’s an International Dark Sky Park.
Alaska is the only US state with more miles of navigable waters than Kentucky. The state’s also home to the world’s longest cave system, and you’ll find that in Mammoth Cave National Park: one of the six national parks that keep company with 44 state parks here. Not short on woodland either, it’s the place to explore Daniel Boone National Forest. And if you like horses, Kentucky gets you up close to them too, it’s the land of the Kentucky Derby after all. There are family festivals year round celebrating everything from bluegrass to butterflies. You can ride the countryside on electric rail bikes and when you need refuelling, try southern fried chicken on home territory, or take a tour of legendary Kentucky BBQ joints.
Seven genres of music have roots in Tennessee, it’s where you can visit The Grand Ole Opry, stroll through Beale Street Historic District and drop in on Gracelands. This is also the state for Dollywood and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, not to mention Chatanooga and Gatlinburg. You can sail on the world’s largest underground lake here or walk across the longest pedestrian cable bridge in the US. Tennessee BBQ is a legend, just as it should be. And if you want to know where to go, look out for Kid Approved attractions all over the state: scored on the metric of children’s laughter.
You can fill a South Carolina family holiday from end-to-end with original experiences from exploring Gullah culture to watching Synchronous Fireflies under the darkest dark skies. It’s home to Myrtle Beach ‘America’s Beachiest Beach’ but even grand cities like Charleston have more than their fair share of coast. You can explore barrier islands and hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And don’t get us started on the history, enough to say it’s immense, fascinating and all over the place.
