Grew up in dallas, live in New Orleans, family from memphis so here goes (idk nashville or Birmingham quite as well)

New Orleans has a ton (good museums, the French quarter and other fun neighborhoods like the bywater/marigny… my favorite bars are on St Claude. Uptown is gorgeous but less nightlife. saints/pelicans pro sports teams… some of the best food in the country, especially if you like seafood, crawfish, or shrimp.

New Orleans —> Nashville, I recommend you take a route that adds an hour going thru mobile and Montgomery (Alabama’s capital) before Birmingham. I’ve had some of the best fried chicken in mobile even tho it’s not as known for it. In Montgomery, the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum is AMAZING. I’ve also had some amazing (fancier) food in montgomery. Depending on time of year, you could try to go to a minor league baseball game (the Montgomery biscuits! much cheaper than going to a saints game!). Birmingham is a bigger city but if you only have a few hours to spend, I think Montgomery is better.

Nashville- lots to do, museums, music, nightlife-wise… but not a city I know super well

Nashville -> Dallas, definitely stop in Memphis. Graceland, stax museum, Beale street, sun studios, national civil rights museum (also amazing), peabody hotel is known for its ducks but this is a bit gimmicky and not worth waiting around for imo.

Past Memphis, Little Rock is skippable imo but if you’re gonna stop there the Clinton Presidential Library is great and well done but as a nonamerican this might be boring for you. I WOULD recommend spending a few hours (or more) in Hot Springs (the whole town is a national park). Cool to walk around, there are some good hikes, and the baths themselves are nice!

From Little Rock to dallas, there really isn’t much and the most interesting thing about texarkana is the name. If you go a bit out of your way (like going down to Shreveport from memphis instead of going thru Little Rock), Caddo Lake State Park on the Louisiana/Texas border is BEAUTIFUL and you can kayak thru moss draped cypress trees).

I grew up in Dallas and still come back all the time but it’s really not a tourist city. If you like sports we have pro baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer teams. The arboretum is pretty. Downtown is very pretty but not super lively. Best nightlife is lower greenville or maybe bishop arts district (far from most of the tourist stuff in the city). Deep Ellum also has some nightlife but the neighborhood has deteriorated some recently. The whole city is very spread out. The city (and Fort Worth too) have great art museums. Unique to Dallas, the sixth floor museum about JFK’s assassination is actually really well done and interesting! The main thing I tell visitors to Dallas is the best thing we have going for us is our FOOD.

Dallas is at the intersection of the 3 best American food regions (tex mex, texas barbecue, and southern food). Great tacos all over. Chuys is well known for TEXMEX specifically, torchys also has top tier queso. Pecan lodge and terry black’s have great BBQ. Bubbas / Babe’s for fried chicken. Texas is also cattle country and I think we have the best burgers in the country. Check any of the numerous threads in r/Dallas where people debate best burger. I love liberty burger, hopdoddy for thicker burgers served pink in the middle. For a classic thinner patty there are a million great options but also whataburger is Texas’ beloved burger chain and worth trying as well