Photo: Gary Bridgman, for Bridgm…, CC BY 2.5 on Wikimedia Commons
Four days through the history of Mississippi, south by car. Start in Oxford with a university campus and the house of William Faulkner, then drive to the Delta for the blues and the Emmett Till story, on to Jackson and the siege park at Vicksburg, and end in Natchez on the Trace. Hard history is told plainly here.
From average weather, 2021 to 2025: days that are warm but not hot, with few rainy days, score highest. Crowds and prices change through the year, so check them before you book.
How much walking? On foot, about 1.3 miles a day, and 322.1 miles by car in all across 4 days. Distances are straight-line estimates, so allow extra for the streets.
Oxford on foot and by a short drive. The old circle of the University of Mississippi, the shaded green beside it, the house where William Faulkner lived, then the courthouse on the town square.
A split buttermilk biscuit with a thin gravy made from ham drippings and coffee, often with a slice of country ham, a salty Southern start to the day.
Local tip Ask for the gravy on the side if you want to taste it before you pour.
The old heart of the University of Mississippi, eight buildings and several monuments around a circle, with the Lyceum among them. The district is tied to the civil rights movement. In 1962 a riot broke out here when segregationists tried to stop James Meredith, an African American applicant, from enrolling, and marshals sheltered in the Lyceum. Read the markers slowly.
Go when Morning, before the campus fills.
Local tip Walk the circle and read the markers about 1962 and James Meredith. This is a working campus, so keep to the paths and be considerate of classes.
A shaded green of about 10 acres at the center of the campus, named for its oak, elm and magnolia trees. It is the tailgating area on football weekends, and an easy place to sit between buildings on any other day.
Go when Morning or late afternoon (about 7:29 PM), under the trees.
Local tip On a football weekend the green is a crowd of tents and food, so on any other day it is a calm place to sit. Look up at the oaks and magnolias that give it its name.
Slices of firm green tomato, dipped in cornmeal and fried until crisp, served hot as a side or a small plate, often with a dipping sauce.
Local tip Eat them while they are hot, since they go soft as they cool.
The home of the author William Faulkner from 1930 until his death in 1962, a Greek Revival house built in 1844 on four landscaped acres beside woods. Faulkner wrote the outline of his novel A Fable on the walls of his office. A slave dwelling remains on the grounds from the antebellum years. Check ahead on visiting.
Go when Midday, once the campus walk is done.
Local tip Walk the cedar alley to the house first, then the grounds and the woods behind. The slave dwelling on the grounds is part of the place, so read the signs. Check ahead on visiting.
The county courthouse on the town square, built in 1872 to replace an earlier building burned during the Civil War. The square around it is the center of Oxford, so walk a loop, read the plaques and sit on a bench.
Go when Afternoon, as the square wakes up again.
Local tip Walk one loop of the square, read the plaques around the courthouse, and sit on a bench. The building replaced one burned in the Civil War.
A tangy, lightly spicy sauce made with mayonnaise and chili sauce, served with crackers, a green salad, fries or fried fish, a Mississippi table sauce.
Local tip Taste a little on its own first, then decide what to dip.
A long day by car into the Delta, the flat cotton country of northwest Mississippi. A restored courthouse that tells the Emmett Till story, a blues museum in an old depot, a former plantation tied to the start of the Delta blues, then a museum for B.B. King. It is a long road, so check the road and the weather before you go.
Eggs cooked to order with a bowl of grits, ground corn simmered until creamy, and buttered toast, a plain and filling start before the drive.
Local tip Add butter and a little salt to the grits.
In Sumner, the Tallahatchie County courthouse where the trial took place in September 1955, restored to hold the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. Emmett Till, a boy of 14 from Chicago, was abducted and murdered in August 1955 while visiting relatives in the Delta, and an all-white jury acquitted the two men tried for it. Come ready for a serious visit, and check ahead on how to go in.
Go when Morning, with time to go slowly.
Local tip This is a serious visit about a murder and a trial, so allow time and keep your voice low. Check ahead on how to go in, and check the road before the drive north into the Delta.
A museum of the blues in Clarksdale, housed in the passenger depot built in 1926. It holds memorabilia and art, and a shack said to be where Muddy Waters lived in his youth on a plantation near Clarksdale, rebuilt inside. Check ahead on the opening.
Go when Midday, as an indoor stop.
Local tip Start with the shack said to be where Muddy Waters lived, then follow the rooms through the story of the blues. Check ahead on the opening.
A small tamale of the Delta, a roll of cornmeal dough around seasoned meat, wrapped in paper and cooked in a spiced broth, eaten by hand from the wrapper.
Local tip Open the wrapper and let it cool a minute, and ask what the spice level is.
A former cotton plantation and sawmill on the Sunflower River, started in 1895 and widely regarded as the place where Delta blues was born. Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Howlin' Wolf lived and played here, among workers and sharecroppers. It is now a working farm on private land with some historic buildings, so check ahead on how to visit.
Go when Afternoon, in daylight.
Local tip The land is private and a working farm, so check ahead on how and when you may visit, and keep to the signed areas. The blues story here grew among workers and sharecroppers.
A museum in Indianola dedicated to the Delta blues and to B.B. King, also called the Delta Interpretive Center. Take your time in the rooms, and check ahead on the opening.
Go when Late afternoon, as an indoor stop.
Local tip Go through the rooms in order, from the Delta where B.B. King grew up to the music that followed. Check ahead on the opening before you drive down.
Catfish fillets, coated in cornmeal and fried, served with hush puppies, slaw and lemon, a plain dish of the Delta, where catfish is raised in ponds.
Local tip Squeeze the lemon on while it is hot, and watch for small bones.
A serious day south and west. In Jackson, the home of Medgar Evers and the state museum of the civil rights movement, then a drive west to Vicksburg, where a battlefield park keeps the story of the siege of 1863. Check the road before you set off.
A bowl of creamy grits stirred with cheese, with eggs and toast on the side, an easy breakfast before the first stop of the day.
Local tip Stir well and eat it while it is hot.
The Jackson home of the civil rights activist Medgar Evers and his wife Myrlie, built in 1956. Medgar Evers was shot in the carport here on June 11, 1963, by a white supremacist. The house is now a national monument. Come with care, and check ahead on how to visit.
Go when Morning, before the city warms up.
Local tip This is the home of a family and the place where Medgar Evers was shot in 1963, so come with care. Check ahead on how to visit, since the house is a national monument and not a walk-in museum.
A state museum in Jackson that documents the civil rights movement in Mississippi between 1945 and 1970. It opened in December 2017 beside the Museum of Mississippi History. Some of the stories are hard. Allow plenty of time, and check ahead on tickets.
Go when Midday, as an indoor stop.
Local tip It covers 1945 to 1970, and some rooms are hard. Give it real time, and let the second half of the day be lighter. Check ahead on tickets.
A plain Southern lunch of one meat and three vegetable sides, such as greens, black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese, with cornbread.
Local tip Choose the sides that look freshest, and ask what the vegetable of the day is.
The site of the siege of Vicksburg, from March to July 1863, which ended with the surrender of the city and gave the Union control of the Mississippi River. The park holds monuments and markers, trenches, a tour road, a national cemetery with many unidentified graves, and the ironclad USS Cairo. It is a battlefield and a burial ground, so keep a respectful tone, and check ahead on the road.
Go when Afternoon into evening (about 7:29 PM), as the light softens on the hills.
Local tip Drive the tour road with the windows down, stopping at the markers that catch your eye. It is a battlefield and a burial ground. Carry water, and check ahead on the road and the weather.
A rich dessert of chocolate cake or custard on a crumb crust, topped with chocolate and whipped cream, named for the dark mud of the Mississippi River.
Local tip Share a slice, since it is heavy after a long day.
A day on the Mississippi River bluff. A stop on the old Natchez Trace, then two mansions built on slave labor and told as such, and last the landing below the bluff where the Trace began. It is a long road from Vicksburg, so check the road and the weather before you go.
Warm biscuits with butter and fruit preserves, with coffee, a light start before the drive on the Trace.
Local tip Ask for fig or peach preserves if they are on the table.
A national parkway of 444 miles from Natchez to Nashville that follows the old Natchez Trace, a trail used for centuries by Native Americans and later by traders and travelers. The road is a two-lane drive with limited access. This stop is at Mount Locust, a restored inn, called a stand, on the old trail near milepost 15.5. Check ahead on the road.
Go when Morning, with no hurry.
Local tip Drive it slowly with the windows down. The road has limited access and no stoplights, so fill the tank before you turn on, and check ahead on the road and the weather. Mount Locust is a restored inn on the old trail.
An octagonal mansion begun in 1859 for a cotton planter and built in part by enslaved people, said to be the largest octagonal house in the United States. Work stopped in 1861 when the craftsmen left at the start of the Civil War, and only the basement rooms were finished, so the upper floors are unfinished. A Freedmen's Picnic was held on the grounds on July 4, 1867. Check ahead on tours.
Go when Midday, as an indoor stop.
Local tip The finished rooms are in the basement and the rest is raw brick and beams, left as the work stopped in 1861. The house was built in part by enslaved people, so read the story as well as the plan. Check ahead on tours.
Gulf shrimp cooked in a savory sauce and served over creamy grits, a dish of the Gulf South that is easy to find in river towns.
Local tip Eat it with a fork and spoon, and add hot sauce a few drops at a time.
A Greek Revival estate built for John T. McMurran, a lawyer and planter who used the forced labor of enslaved people. It is part of Natchez National Historical Park, furnished for the period just before the Civil War, with outbuildings that include one of the last remaining quarters for enslaved people in Natchez. Visits are by guided tour, so check ahead.
Go when Afternoon, on the guided tour.
Local tip Take the tour of the house and the grounds, and look at the quarters for enslaved people among the outbuildings. It is run by the National Park Service, so check ahead on the tour times.
The landing below the bluff, where the Natchez Trace began. It was once a rough river port of gamblers and river pirates, and slave traders occasionally worked here. Above it, a park on the bluff marks the site of the second French Fort Rosalie. Walk it and look out over the Mississippi River.
Go when Late afternoon into evening (about 7:29 PM), with the river light.
Local tip Stand at the river and think of where the Natchez Trace began. Above on the bluff is a park on the site of the second French Fort Rosalie. Mind the steep road between the two.
A slice of pecan pie, a sweet filling of eggs, sugar and pecans in a flaky crust, with hot coffee, a Southern way to end a long day on the river.
Local tip Share a slice, and ask for it warm.
By average weather from 2021 to 2025, March to April and October to November are the most comfortable months for walking around Oxford. This plan is built for april to May, which is one of the best months. Crowds and prices change through the year, so check them before you book.
It covers 4 days in Oxford, planned for april to May. Each day is built around a small number of stops, with room to rest.
It was planned for most travelers. The pace and the places reflect that, so check it fits how you travel.
No. Places marked "book ahead" need a reservation. Hours, prices and availability change, so confirm before you go.
Yes. Archie drafts a day by day plan for your dates and takes your pace, the weather and who is travelling into account. You can start one from the Archie app.
Yes. It is a starting point you can change to fit your own trip: swap a place, add a day or move the pace.
On foot, about 1.3 miles a day, and 322.1 miles by car in all across 4 days. Distances are straight-line estimates, so allow extra for the streets.
6 days in New Orleans for Mardi GrasAbout 220 miles away
4 days on the civil rights trail of AlabamaAbout 230 miles away
4 days of hot springs, lakes and the OzarksAbout 230 miles awayMore Culture & Discovery trips ›More trips in United States ›
Make it yours in a minute, then move days around and add what you want.
A trip idea · Updated November 2026
Want your own days planned like this? Plan your own trip on the web or get the Archie app.
On the trip, Archie keeps your days, your map and your bookings in one place, and keeps it handy when you have no signal.
Already made this plan yours? Sign in with the same email and it is there.
.jpg){kind=link}