Getting Around Memphis

Full Memphis Travel Guide »    Memphis Interactive Map »    Print This Article »

Skyline of Memphis as seen from the Hernando de Soto Bridge

• Driving - Travel by car is really the only way to get around Memphis if you want to do anything other than see Activitieswntown.
• Public Transit - Bus service provided by the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) www.matatransit.com is available across the city. Some routes are very poorly served in the evenings. At nights and weekends some buses take a different route than during the day which can be a trap for visitors.
  • A trolley operates downtown and into Midtown, mostly for the benefit of tourists.

Memphis is laid out in a more or less east/west fashion. Roads primarily go east/west and north/south. The expressway fortunately cuts directly through the city.

Downtown is on the west; it sits atop the bluffs, overlooking the mighty Mississippi River. (It is referred to as Downtown, not as West Memphis, which is a town just across the river in Arkansas.) Moving east you'll come to Midtown, a charming part of the city thought by most as the best part of Memphis. Beyond that, you will find the suburbs of Germantown, Collierville, Cordova, and Bartlett. The area between downtown and Midtown, referred to by locals as "Crosstown," is coming to life slowly but surely. There is a movement to turn it into an artist community. Members of this movement call the area "the Edge". However, most of the "art district" is on South Main.

• www.matatransit.com