Memphis: from Sun Studio to Graceland

On the Mississippi's banks, Memphis claims the title of rock and roll's birthplace and remains inextricably linked to Elvis Presley and the civil rights movement.

The center can be explored on foot; Graceland requires a car or taxi.

At Sun Studio, where Sam Phillips recorded Elvis Presley's first sessions in the 1950s, the studio continues to function as an active recording studio as well as a museum.

Walking toward the center you reach Beale Street, the road that gave birth to the city's blues thanks to musician W.C. Handy, still today full of live music venues.

A few blocks away, the National Civil Rights Museum, built around the former Lorraine Motel, preserves intact room 306 where Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.

Toward evening it's worthwhile to reach Graceland, Elvis Presley's mansion open to the public since 1982, among the most visited private homes in the United States.

The Lorraine Motel ceased to function as a hotel after King's assassination: the façade and vintage cars parked in front of Room 306 have been preserved exactly as they appeared that day.

At Sun Studio visitors can still hold the same microphone used by Elvis Presley for his first recordings, preserved in the original room that has remained practically unchanged.