Tag: roadtrip

Date Published: April 28th, 2025 | Last Updated: April 28th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: April 14th, 2025

Graceland is a 13.8 hectare property in Memphis, Tennessee, and was once the home of the one and only Elvis Presley. He lived here with his parents Gladys and Vernon from 1957 until his death in 1977. Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark and is open as a museum that houses everything Elvis, from grade school report cards to his massive collection of beaded shiny jumpsuits. This is Memphis’ top tourist attraction and has everything you need to know about the King! For die-hard fans, you can even stay the night in the “guest house” behind the property which is done up like a resort.

Toby and I came in the middle of April and although it was busy, it wasn’t insane. I’d recommend coming early in the morning to get ahead of the crowds and to go through the exhibit without too many people squeezing around you. Even if you’re not a big fan, Graceland is still a neat place to visit to immerse yourself in Rock n’ Roll history and learn about the icon himself.

How much time do I need?

You’ll need at least 3-4 hours here to get through most of it, but if you want to read through the description of every piece of memorabilia or artifact, then expect to be here for much longer. We got here at 9am when they opened and didn’t leave until 1pm, and we still didn’t have enough time to see his planes! We were going at a moderate pace, reading most things, but not everything. You could seriously spend a whole day here if you add on dining at one of his restaurants on site.

To break it down:

• The star attraction is the mansion itself, which wasn’t as big as I was expecting (however, we did just recently come from visiting the Biltmore Estate in Knoxville, TN 😂). The self-guided tour of the home took about 1.5 hours. You go through the house in groups, so there can be a bit of a wait to get into the actual house depending on how busy it is.
• The majority of the Elvis memorabilia and artifacts are inside the Entertainment Complex, which is the building that’s connected to the visitor’s centre. You get access to this area after coming back from the mansion. This took us 2 hours to get through. The exhibits just kept coming and coming!
• There are a couple of themed restaurants and multiple gift shops around, so add on another 30 minutes to 1.5 hours if you plan on staying for a meal and doing some shopping.
• To see the planes, you’ll need at least another 30 minutes or so.
• *Allow for even more time if you decide to get an upgraded ticket package!

Getting Here

Getting here by car is the best way to reach Graceland. There’s plenty of parking here and it’s only a short 15-minute drive from downtown Memphis. You can also Uber/Lyft here to save on driving.

There are also options of public transport, tourist busses, and shuttles, however from my research none of them seemed straightforward and I struggled to find costs and timings for these services. Best to just drive or ride share to get a better sense of timing (you should arrive 15 minutes before the start of your timed ticket).

Cost of Tickets

There are a few options for ticket packages that I’ve screenshotted from their website below.

We went for the standard admission (“Elvis Experience“), it’s $84 per adult. Pretty steep, but it includes the self-guided tour of the mansion, the “entertainment complex” (where all the Elvis items are on display including his car collection), and his custom jet plane. These 3 alone will take you at least 4 hours and will give you more than enough everything Elvis.

Entertainment Complex/Visitor’s Center – the start of the journey

Get here 15 minutes prior to the start of your timed ticket to have enough time to find parking, walk up to the massive building that is the Entertainment Complex, and join the line to watch a short intro video that wasn’t all that exciting. Our tour time was 9am, so there was plenty of parking when we arrived at 8:45am.

They didn’t seem to check ticket times, so don’t stress too much if you’re running late. The times are only to ensure there’s not a massive rush of people all at the same time. When you show up, you just join the line to go into the intro video theatre and when it’s full, they’ll close it and open the next one. They’ll scan your ticket right before going into the theatre.

After the short intro video, you’ll get herded out the back door and into another line to collect your iPad for the self-guided tour (audio guide by John Stamos!) and the line to get on the shuttle bus to take you to the mansion that’s located across the road (see map above to get your bearings). You can only access the mansion through their shuttlebus.

The Mansion

The short shuttle bus ride will drop you off directly in front of the mansion. Here, they’ll usher you to the front door and go over some brief rules before entering the house and instructions on how to start your audio guide.

First Floor of the Mansion

Entryway

You’re immediately greeted by a set of white stairs when you enter the front door. The entire second level was Elvis’ private space and only his closest confidantes were allowed in this space. They’ve kept the upstairs closed off to the public out of respect for him. Too bad, it sure would’ve been cool to see how he would’ve decorated his own bedroom given his eclectic taste for the rest of the house!

If you look closely, there’s a mirror at the top of the stairs to the left. One of the guides said that it was Elvis’ way to look down the stairs without actually coming down to see who was here and if he wanted to hang out with them. 😂

Living Room/Music Room

This is the living room/music room where they would gather, entertain, and sing gospel songs on the white grand piano. The beautiful stain glass peacocks are the Christian symbol for eternity and resurrection.

Gladys & Vernon’s Bedroom

Elvis’ parents Gladys and Vernon had their bedroom on the main floor. Gladys was largely involved in decorating this room, including choosing the poodle wallpaper in the bathroom!

Dining Room

This is the formal dining room where Elvis would sit at the head of the table by the window and entertain guests. Behind him would also be where they would set up their Christmas tree. It was common to have dinner served at 9-10pm at night!

Kitchen

As a foodie and an avid cook, I was quite disappointed by the kitchen. I expected it to be grand with elegance! This kitchen was last redone in the mid-70s. Elvis had cooks and maids on staff at all hours of the day in 8-hour shifts so meals are usually cooked to order! Common dishes would be simple Southern cooking including: fried chicken, steaks, pork chops, meat loaf, and many cheeseburgers. Elvis also loved homemade banana pudding so it was always made available.

The Jungle Room/Den

In 1974, Polynesia/Tiki furniture was popular and Elvis decorated this room with these furniture pieces to remind him of his favourite Hawaiian vacation. Check out the floor to ceiling green shag carpeting in this room. The immersive carpeting resulted in fantastic acoustics in this room and Elvis recorded 2 of his records with RCA in this very room!

Basement Level of the Mansion

The stairs leading to the basement was lined with mirrors!

TV Room

Elvis loved football and would watch 3 different games at the same time on 3 TVs. There’s also a pull down projector screen where he could play movies and a jukebox that could hold 100 singles with speakers wired throughout the house.

Pool Room

This is my favourite room of the house due to its beautifully colourful interior and unique wall and ceiling panelling!

Back of the Mansion

As you finish touring the main house, the trail leads out the back of the house over to the unattached smaller buildings on the property grassy areas where they could ride their horses. There’s also a kidney-shaped pool.

Vernon’s Office & the Smokehouse

Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father managed Elvis’ personal affairs including all of his fan mail and the running of Graceland. He had his own office on the property in the back. There’s also an old smokehouse that was once used as a firing range.

Trophy Building

This building was built as an expansion to the home and was also where Elvis and Priscilla had their wedding reception. It has since been renovated to tell Elvis’ personal story and contain artifacts from his family and youth. Here you’ll find old family photos, his first bicycle, a police badge collection (Elvis would have been a policeman if his music career didn’t take off!), and even his grade school report card! The items on display here is in contrast to the memorabilia on display at the Entertainment Complex that focuses on Elvis’ music career rather than personal life.

Interesting fact: Did you know that Elvis was born as the second twin? Unfortunately the first twin Jesse Garon Presley was a stillborn. Gladys and Vernon didn’t even know they were expecting twins until Elvis showed up just 30 minutes later. John Stamos’ character ‘Jesse’ in the show Full House was named as a tribute to Elvis’ brother.

Racquetball Building

Elvis enjoyed racquetball so much that he had a racquetball court built on his property. This was the last room that he was seen alive after playing a game with some friends and singing his last songs on the piano in this room. He retired upstairs to his comfort room and was later found dead.

Meditation Garden

The Meditation Garden was said to be one of Elvis’ favourite places on the property. It was a place for meditation, reflection, and quiet contemplation. Gladys and Elvis was originally buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, but for security purposes, Vernon had them moved here on Graceland. The Meditation Garden is the final resting place for Vernon, Gladys, Elvis, and Minnie Mae (Elvis’ maternal grandmother). There’s also a small plaque here for his brother, Jesse. Lisa Marie (Elvis’ daughter) and Benjamin (Elvis’ grandson) are also buried here.

The self-guided tour of the mansion ends after the Meditation Garden but there’s still TONS to see. You’ll line up to get back on the shuttle bus to go back across the street to the Entertainment Complex, where the visitor centre was.

Back to the Entertainment Complex

The Entertainment Complex is a HUGE building with seemingly endless exhibits on Elvis. It starts off with his car collection and continues on to more artifacts from his personal life including his passion for karate, his army years, his influence on other celebrities, his television and film work, awards, and of course his many MANY bejewelled jumpsuits.

Cars, Motorcycles, and Boats

Elvis’ Army Days, Karate, and the Graceland Archives

Despite being a rockstar, Elvis received no special treatment while in the army (according to the posters, anyway 🤫). This exhibited highlighted his time in the army and his duties.

Elvis was also really into karate. He trained and competed, and earned an 8th degree black belt. I know nothing about the karate world, but it sounds impressive.

There are over 1.5 million items in the Graceland Archives and on display or just a few of these items of Elvis memorabilia. For an upgraded ticket package tour, you can speak to an archivist!

Elvis’ Influence on Other Celebrities

It’s insane how much influence Elvis had to the music industry. This exhibit highlights some of the biggest stars that have drawn inspiration from Elvis in one way or another.

Music and Film Memorabilia

The famous million dollar quartet piano that was at Sun Studio!

Costumes and Accessories

The Glorious Jumpsuits!

Awards

Giftshops

There are many gift shops sprinkled throughout the Entertainment Complex, some are between exhibits. Each one is a little different and annoyingly they don’t all carry the same things. The largest gift shop that will carry most things will be the one at the entrance to the right of the ticketing area, so I wouldn’t bother going through each one unless you really want to.

Check out this replica jumpsuit you can buy for $5000!

Dine, Shop, Check out the Planes, or Back to the Parking Lot

Once you’ve finished going through the exhibits in the massive Entertainment Center (congratulations on your legs for lasting this long), you’re done the majority of it. There are a couple of Elvis themed restaurant options and a few more gift shops before you head back to the parking lot.

But before you get into your car, you’ll see a walkway that leads to his custom planes. Unfortunately we were on a time constraint (who would’ve guessed that 4 hours wasn’t enough?! 😜) and had to leave to make it on time for our Memphis tour so we couldn’t see the planes. I took a quick snapshot photo of the planes from the outside below:

I hope you enjoyed my picture-filled recount of our visit to Graceland! It’s definitely worth a visit!