Mississippi

You don't think inside the box. Why sleep in one? The South is full of unexpected accommodations, from a nineteenth-century castle to a Hobbit hut to the tree house of your dreams. Let us introduce you to sixteen offerings that are anything but ordinary.

Before dawn my wife, Irina, and I set out from Clarksdale, Mississippi, for a paddle trip on the Mississippi River. I’d never been on Big Muddy, much less seen this rarely explored part of the river.

Driving along the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown Natchez, I pass a small, weathered-wood casino. With its signs for slot machines and table games, the Magnolia Bluffs Casino hints at the fact that chance plays at least a small part in shaping some of the fortunes of this town.

Before 2017, Laurel, Mississippi, was rarely, if ever, on the minds of people who didn’t live there. It certainly didn’t attract travelers from around the world. But thanks to Ben and Erin Napier, stars of HGTV’s Home Town, it is now a popular destination.

It may seem odd to call a town of 23,000 a cultural destination. But Oxford, Mississippi, is indeed a place of deep and enduring culture. Square Books, which opened on the historic courthouse square in 1979, is one of the nation’s top booksellers. Vishwesh Bhatt, an Indian immigrant at the helm of Oxford’s Snackbar, was a 2018 James Beard finalist for Best Chef in the South.

When people speak of Jackson, Mississippi, the conversation often turns to the past—the complicated civil rights history that has both shamed and shaped the city. But increasingly, they also talk about momentum.

“I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Among the most memorable lines penned by Southern playwright Tennessee Williams, it also expresses the reception visitors may expect when touring his birthplace of Columbus, Mississippi.

It’s Thursday evening, and the Downtown Fondren Historic District in Jackson is electric. North State Street, the area’s main thoroughfare, glows with boutiques, galleries, and some thirty neighborhood restaurants—the heaviest concentration of eateries in...

Named after the university town of Oxford, England, this north-central Mississippi town was founded in 1837 by three men who wanted to establish a site for the state’s first higher-learning institution. Now, more than 175 years later, Oxford is home to the University of Mississippi (colloquially known as Ole Miss), as well as a rich cultural and literary history.

Since Southbound debuted in 2013, our staff and contributors have logged thousands of miles, consumed millions of calories, and taken countless notes and photos to showcase the very best destinations around the region. Although every place we’ve covered is special, some left a particularly powerful impression. Here, we give you the best of the very best, our favorite spots in the South.