The French Quarter, or Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighbourhood of New Orleans, founded in 1718. It is famous for wrought-iron balconies, jazz clubs and lively Bourbon Street. Jackson Square, with St. Louis Cathedral, is the heart of the area, and Café du Monde serves its famous beignets.

The Garden District of New Orleans is known for its grand antebellum mansions surrounded by lush gardens. Built in the 19th century, the houses showcase Greek Revival and Italianate styles. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and the historic St. Charles streetcar are nearby highlights.

Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana, is famous for its avenue of 28 live oak trees, planted in the early 1700s, leading to a Greek Revival mansion built in 1839. The site also tells the story of the enslaved people who lived and worked there.

Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi commemorates the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, a key Union victory in the Civil War that gave control of the Mississippi River. A 26 km tour road passes over 1,300 monuments and the restored ironclad gunboat USS Cairo.

Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, was the home of Elvis Presley from 1957 until his death in 1977. The mansion is preserved with its famous Jungle Room and is the site of his grave in the Meditation Garden. The complex includes museums displaying his cars, costumes and jets.

Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville is the heart of Music City, lined with honky-tonk bars where live country music plays from morning until late at night. Neon signs, boot shops and famous venues such as Tootsie's Orchid Lounge make it one of America's liveliest streets.

The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, opened in 1892 as a tabernacle, is known as the Mother Church of Country Music. It was home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974 and is renowned for its acoustics. It still hosts concerts and offers daily tours.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border is the most visited national park in the United States. Known for its misty blue ridges, it has diverse forests, waterfalls and historic cabins. Clingmans Dome is its highest point, and Cades Cove is popular for wildlife viewing.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta preserves the birthplace of the civil rights leader, the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where he preached and his tomb at The King Center. Exhibits explore his life and the civil rights movement.

The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is one of the largest aquariums in the world. It is home to whale sharks, manta rays, beluga whales and dolphins. Its Ocean Voyager exhibit features a huge underwater tunnel. It opened in 2005 next to Centennial Olympic Park.

Savannah's Historic District in Georgia is famous for its grid of 22 leafy squares, laid out by founder James Oglethorpe in 1733. Live oaks draped in Spanish moss shade streets lined with antebellum homes. Forsyth Park, with its grand fountain, and the cobblestone River Street are popular highlights.

Rainbow Row is a series of 13 brightly painted Georgian row houses along East Bay Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Dating from the 1700s, they were restored in the 1930s and 1940s in pastel colours. They are among the most photographed sights in Charleston's historic district, near the Waterfront Park.

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is one of the largest space museums in the world. It displays a Saturn V rocket, a Space Shuttle and many artefacts from NASA's history. It is also home to the famous Space Camp programme.