Things to Do in Memphis

The hard part of planning a Memphis day isn't finding the big names — it's finding what anything costs, when it's open, and which museums are free this week, all in one place and actually current. Prices change, hours shift, and whole attractions have opened just this year.

So here's the version we'd hand a friend: the icons with their 2026 prices and hours verified at each venue's own site, what's genuinely new this year, and the deep guides we keep current for every lane — free, kids, food, outdoors, and the suburbs. For what's happening *this week*, our events page updates from a verified pool every weekday — and if you've sworn off Facebook, we mapped every way to find Memphis events without an account.

The icons — with real 2026 prices and hours

The places everyone asks about, minus the guesswork. All verified July 2026 at the venue's own site — free days included, because those are the easiest wins in town.

• GracelandWhitehaven

  Elvis's home, open daily 9am–4pm (last mansion tour at 4). The full Elvis Experience mansion tour runs $85 adult; the exhibits-only ticket is $53. Book ahead in summer.

• National Civil Rights MuseumDowntown, at the Lorraine Motel

  The essential Memphis museum. $25 adult / $22 kids 5–17, open 9am–6pm, closed Tuesdays — and Tennessee residents get in free Mondays from 3pm. Give it a half day.

• Sun StudioMarshall Ave

  Where Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis cut their first records. Tours run hourly on the half hour, daily 10am–5:15pm, $20 adult / $15 kids 5–11, first-come — arrive early on weekends.

• Stax Museum of American Soul MusicSoulsville

  Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and the sound of Soulsville USA. $20 adult, $16 for 62+ and kids 7–12, 6 and under free. Tue–Sun 10am–5pm, closed Mondays.

• Memphis ZooOverton Park

  Day-based pricing ($20.95–$30.95 adult), a new zipline in the 2026 Total Experience package — and Tennessee residents are free on Tuesdays with a reservation. One heads-up: closed Sept 11, 2026 for a private event.

• The Peabody Duck MarchDowntown

  Five ducks, one red carpet, 11am and 5pm daily, free to watch in the lobby. Arrive 30 minutes early for a spot — it's the best free show in town. The ducks hold the fountain 11–5.

• Beale StreetDowntown

  Live blues pouring out of open doors, neon, and 150 years of history — free to walk by day. Night rules and the smart plan are in our downtown guide.

• Sky High at the Bass Pro PyramidDowntown

  Ride the freestanding elevator to the glass overlook on top of the Pyramid — $8 adult / $5 kids 5–12, Mon–Sat 11am–8:30pm, Sun 11am–6:30pm. The river view at sunset is the move.

• Shelby Farms ParkEast Memphis

  4,500 acres, free, dawn to dusk — buffalo herd included — plus the Greenline rail-trail, 12.94 miles since its October 2025 extension. Our full Shelby Farms guide has every corner mapped.

New in 2026

Memphis's whole riverfront is having a moment — here's what's opened just this year.

• Baron Von Opperbean's ExpeditionMud Island

  The immersive adventure-fantasy attraction that opened May 1, 2026 on Mud Island — 8,000 square feet open now of an eventual 33,000. Closed Tuesdays; tickets and walk-up availability at their site. Full context in our Mud Island guide.

• The Memphis FlywayTom Lee Park, Downtown

  A 220-foot elevated walkway that opened June 12, 2026 — free, ADA-accessible, and billed as the only free accessible observation deck on the entire Mississippi. Sunset here costs nothing.

• Memphis Art Museum (the Brooks moves downtown)Riverfront

  The Brooks Museum becomes the Memphis Art Museum downtown in December 2026. Until then it's still open in Overton Park — free Saturdays 10am–noon — so this is the last year to see it in the 1916 building.

Free Memphis — the days nobody aggregates

The free-day calendar is real and nobody publishes it in one place: the Brooks is free Saturdays 10am–noon, the National Civil Rights Museum is free for TN residents Mondays after 3pm, the Memphis Zoo is free for TN residents on Tuesdays (reserve first), and the Overton Park Shell runs free concerts all season. That's a full week of free culture if you time it right.

It goes much deeper — our free things to do in Memphis guide runs about 40 verified items, from the Crystal Shrine Grotto (a crystal cave in a cemetery, always free) to the riverfront's nightly bridge light show.

Pick your lane — the deep guides

With kids: our Memphis with kids guide has 41 verified stops organized the way parents think — including which museum days are free and where the splash pads are.

Outside: Shelby Farms and Overton Park are the two great city parks; Mud Island is the riverfront wander; Meeman-Shelby Forest is the wilderness escape 30 minutes north; and when you want to leave town, 13 verified day trips.

Food and drink: start with where we'd actually eat, then what just opened, verified happy hours, food trucks, and every farmers market with 2026 dates.

Beyond the city line: the whole-metro guides nobody else writes — Germantown, Collierville, Southaven, and Olive Branch.

Treasure hunting: antique stores by district, verified so you don't drive to a shop that closed in 2024. A night out: Candlelight concerts in historic venues, live music any night of the week — this is still Memphis — and downtown after dark.

The honest answers