Fly to Austin, meet your tour manager and transfer to your hotel in San Antonio for your first overnight stay in the USA.

San Antonio, capital of Tex-Mex culture and one of the USA's most attractive cities, is yours to explore, today. Relive the siege of The Alamo - when Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie held out heroically for almost two weeks before finally succumbing to the overwhelming forces of Mexican general Santa Anna, and discover the famous River Walk that snakes its way across the city.

Journey to Houston to visit NASA's world-famous Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre. This was the heart of the moon landings 50 years ago and remains a working base for the International Space Station. The site offers an incomparable taste of modern history, with its restored Mission Control and the sight of the towering Saturn V rocket that fired the Apollo astronauts into orbit. Continue to your downtown Houston hotel for the night.

Board the coach and head east into Louisiana and Creole Country to the great city of New Orleans, the unmistakable ‘Big Easy’. In the evening, perhaps join an optional Steamboat Dinner Jazz Cruise.

This morning's optional guided city tour introduces the ‘Big Easy’ and will include the famous French Quarter's time-warped, iron-balconied buildings, which radiate out from Jackson Square. 

This afternoon, join our optional Louisiana Swampland excursion to explore the surrounding countryside, and later head back to the Quarter to enjoy the night-time atmosphere of the place that gave the world jazz. 

Head north, today, through sleepy Alabama to our next stop, Muscle Shoals. This town is home to Rick Halls' Fame Studios, which put the likes of Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin on the map, as well as the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, where Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and the Rolling Stones all recorded. 

Discover the musical legacy of the Muscle Shoals studios on two included visits, before we head to Nashville, the undisputed capital of country music, and home to “1352 guitar-pickers” and songwriters. 

An optional excursion will introduce the legendary Studio B - where countless country standards and a galaxy of Elvis's RCA hits were recorded - and the Country Music Hall of Fame. This afternoon, we'll journey to the great city of Memphis on the bank of the Mississippi. Elvis's hometown boasts a musical heritage to match any world city and a host of historic landmarks.

This morning, you’ll journey to the great city of Memphis on the bank of the Mississippi. Elvis' hometown boasts a musical heritage to match any world city and a host of historic landmarks.

Today's full-day Memphis Sounds excursion will include a visit to legendary Sun Studio and to Elvis’ beloved Graceland, home and final resting place of The King. 

Enjoy a free morning exploring the heritage of Elvis’ hometown, perhaps visiting the Stax Museum of American Soul Music or the more sombre National Civil Rights Museum, then soak up the atmosphere of famous Beale Street. Later, we'll travel west from Memphis to Little Rock, Arkansas, home to the William J Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, which honours the work of the state's most famous son. This evening, why not visit the restaurants and bars of the colourful River Market District? 

Journey west, today, into the Lone Star State and to the cattletown of Fort Worth, the starting point of the famous Chisholm Trail, and still home to authentic Western culture. The famous Stockyards are the focal point of the Historic Quarter, where wooden boardwalks and old-fashioned store fronts recreate the days of the Old "Wild" West. 

Spend this morning at the Stockyards – don’t miss the daily Texan cattle drive. This afternoon, you’ll visit glittering Dallas, forever associated with the tragic events of November 1963.  You'll return to Fort Worth via Southfork Ranch, and tonight you'll have the chance to further explore the Stockyards' area or venture into downtown Fort Worth. 

Today you'll make your way to the Texan State Capital, Austin. Here, the city's thriving music scene has given rise to a wealth of great clubs and bars, including the famous Broken Spoke. After some time here, we'll continue to the airport to catch your overnight flight home.  

Arrive back in the UK, after a wonderful journey through America's fascinating Southern heartland.