The best things to do in Memphis, TN come down to five things this city does better than almost anywhere: live music (free concerts at the Overton Park Shell, museums up and down Beale), slow-smoked barbecue worth planning a day around, civil-rights and music history, two enormous city parks, and a downtown built for game nights.
We run Craft Axe Throwing Memphis at 344 Floyd Alley, down the alley across from AutoZone Park — so unlike the travel-site lists, this guide is written from a fixed downtown address. Every distance below is approximate and measured from our front door, and about half the picks are the Midtown spots the national roundups skip entirely.
Memphis by interest: the quick answer
| If you’re into | Top pick | Neighborhood | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free live music | Overton Park Shell concert series | Midtown | Free |
| Music history | Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum | Beale Street | $16 adults, $12 youth |
| The blues | Blues Hall of Fame Museum | South Main | Paid admission |
| Dinner with a band | Lafayette’s Music Room | Overton Square | Cover varies |
| Barbecue | A three-shop, three-neighborhood crawl | Downtown to Midtown | $–$$ |
| Big-park days | Shelby Farms Park | East Memphis | Free entry |
| A forest in the city | Old Forest, Overton Park | Midtown | Free |
| Animals | Memphis Zoo | Overton Park | Paid admission |
| Kids’ museums | Children’s Museum of Memphis | Central Ave | Paid admission |
| NBA basketball | Grizzlies at FedExForum (Oct–Apr) | Downtown | Ticketed |
| Time-capsule shopping | A. Schwab Trading Co. | Beale Street | Free to browse |
| Throwing sharp things | Craft Axe Throwing Memphis | Downtown | From $20/thrower |
Hours and prices change — confirm on each spot’s own site before you build a day around it.
Where can you hear live music in Memphis besides Beale Street?
Blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll all ran through this city, and the best ways to hear that story today aren’t limited to the neon street you already know about.
The Overton Park Shell (1928 Poplar Ave, Midtown — about a 10–12-minute drive) is the pick we give everyone. The 1936 WPA-built amphitheater is where Elvis Presley played his first paid concert on July 30, 1954, opening for Slim Whitman — and today it runs the Orion Financial Free Concert Series plus free wellness classes on the lawn. It celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2026, with an anniversary weekend September 10–13. Check the calendar at overtonparkshell.org before you go; when a free show lines up with a warm night, there’s no better evening in the city.
Lafayette’s Music Room (2119 Madison Ave in Overton Square, about a 10-minute drive) is the dinner-with-a-band answer: a live-music room and restaurant open Thursday through Sunday — closed Monday through Wednesday — with a cover on non-ticketed shows and a Sunday brunch with music. Show calendar at lafayettes.com.
The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum (191 Beale St, about a 10-minute walk, sharing its address with FedExForum) is the Smithsonian-affiliated telling of the whole story, from 1930s field hollers through the soul era. Open daily 10–5; adults $16, youth $12 — memphisrocknsoul.org.
The Blues Hall of Fame Museum (421 S Main St, about a 15-minute walk) is the Blues Foundation’s own museum, with a new hologram exhibit and a fresh class of 2026 inductees. Open Tuesday through Saturday 10–5, closed Sunday and Monday; admission details at blues.org.
The bigger pilgrimages — Sun Studio, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Graceland — are covered with hours, prices, and the closed-day traps in our guide to indoor things to do in Memphis.
Where do locals eat barbecue in Memphis?
Treat barbecue as an activity, not a meal: three shops, three neighborhoods, one afternoon. Memphis style means slow-smoked over hardwood, dry rubs taken seriously, and sauce as a choice rather than a default.
- Central BBQ, downtown (147 E Butler Ave — about a 15-minute walk or 3-minute drive from our door). Pork smoked over hickory and pecan with a “no sauce in the pit” philosophy, next to the civil-rights district; there are four locations around the city, but downtown is the one you can walk to. Hours at eatcbq.com.
- Cozy Corner BBQ, North Parkway (735 N Parkway — about a 5-minute drive). Family-run since the 1970s under co-founder Desiree Robinson and famous for ribs and barbecued Cornish hens, with national press from Bon Appétit to Southern Living to prove it. Open Tuesday through Saturday 11–8, closed Sunday and Monday — cozycornerbbq.com.
- The Bar-B-Q Shop, Midtown (1782 Madison Ave — about a 10-minute drive, under a mile from Overton Square). Open since 1987, originators of Bar-B-Q Spaghetti and the Texas Toast Bar-B-Q Sandwich, with their Dancing Pigs sauces on every table — and ribs a Food Network “Top Five Restaurants” episode ranked number one in America, a claim they’ll happily repeat. Hours at thebar-b-qshop.com.
And yes, Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous is legendary — we cover it, along with the rest of the group-dinner circuit, in our corporate outing ideas in Memphis guide.
What is Memphis known for besides music and barbecue?
History that actually changed the country. The National Civil Rights Museum, built at the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was assassinated, is the single most important museum visit in the city — plan the practical details through our indoor things to do in Memphis guide, and note that the Blues Hall of Fame sits directly across South Main from it, so the two pair naturally.
Then see Beale Street by day, when the street reads as history instead of nightlife. A. Schwab Trading Co. (163 Beale St, about a 10-minute walk) is Beale’s historic general store — creaky floors, cast iron, old-time candy, records, a working soda fountain, and a small Hoodoo Museum upstairs. Open Sunday through Thursday 11–5 and Friday–Saturday 11–7; details at a-schwab.com. Pair it with the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum up the street and you’ve done Beale before the neon comes on.
Graceland — Elvis’s mansion out in Whitehaven — rounds out the big three, and it’s covered with ticket tiers in the indoor guide above.
What are the best outdoor things to do in Memphis?
Shelby Farms Park (6903 Great View Dr N, about a 20-minute drive) is the one that shocks first-time visitors: 4,500 acres — more than five times the size of New York’s Central Park — with 10.65 miles of urban trail, a resident buffalo herd, boat rentals on Hyde Lake, a BMX track, horseback riding, disc golf, and the Go Ape treetop zipline course. Entry is free, sunrise to sunset, every day — shelbyfarmspark.org.
Overton Park (Midtown, main entrances off Poplar Ave, about a 10–12-minute drive) is the city’s central green space, drawing over a million visitors a year to the Zoo, the Shell, a golf course, and playgrounds. The quiet marvel is the Old Forest State Natural Area — genuine old-growth forest with walking trails inside the city limits, free to wander. Trail maps at overtonpark.org.
For the riverfront — Big River Crossing, Tom Lee Park, and the nightly Mighty Lights bridge show — we’ve already sequenced the perfect evening in our Memphis date night itinerary.
What is there to do in Memphis with kids?
The Memphis Zoo (2000 Prentiss Pl, inside Overton Park, about a 12-minute drive) holds more than 3,500 animals. Pricing varies by day, so check current admission at memphiszoo.org — and if you live in Tennessee, look for the zoo’s current Tennessee-resident Tuesday program while you’re there.
The Children’s Museum of Memphis (2525 Central Ave, about a 12-minute drive) runs more than 30 hands-on exhibits, open Tuesday through Sunday 9–5 and closed Mondays. Admission details at cmom.com.
At Shelby Farms, the Woodland Discovery Playground is the free option that burns an entire afternoon.
And for older kids and teens, axe throwing is the activity they’ll actually brag about — our coaches teach complete beginners, and our guide to how old you have to be to go axe throwing covers the age rules before you book.
What can you actually do in downtown Memphis at night?
From October through April, the answer starts with the Memphis Grizzlies: FedExForum (191 Beale St) is about a 10-minute walk from our door, hosts the NBA’s Grizzlies and Memphis Tigers basketball, and fills the off-season with arena concerts — schedules at fedexforum.com.
Year-round, there’s us. Craft Axe Throwing Memphis runs 14 throwing lanes, a full bar, and a sports-bar floor of ping pong, cornhole, and HDTVs at 344 Floyd Alley — veteran-run, with weekly staff and customer competitions and coaches who get first-timers sticking axes fast. Sessions start at $20 per thrower for 45 minutes, longer sessions add ninja stars and “The Stick All,” and free parking in three lots around the building solves downtown’s one real headache. We’re open Wednesday through Sunday (Wed–Thu 4–9, Fri 3–11, Sat 12–11, Sun 2–8) — book a lane in Memphis, or check the Memphis promotions page for whatever weeknight deals are live this season.
A Redbirds game across the street and the Peabody ducks are the other downtown classics — both are mapped out in our corporate outing ideas in Memphis guide, and if the night is a date, the Memphis date night itinerary walks the whole evening.
Planning a specific kind of Memphis day?
We’ve written the deeper versions: rainy days and museum logistics live in indoor things to do in Memphis, couples get the Memphis date night itinerary, and work groups get corporate outing ideas in Memphis. However the day shapes up — Shell concert, barbecue crawl, buffalo herd — downtown is where Memphis nights land. Reserve a lane at Craft Axe Throwing Memphis and end yours throwing sharp things at wood.