The Mississippi River is America’s defining waterway — a 3,730-kilometre river that drains over 40% of the continental United States and has shaped the nation’s history, culture, music and economy since long before European settlement. A river cruise along its lower reaches, typically between New Orleans and Memphis or Minneapolis, is an immersive journey through the deep American South and the cultural landscapes that produced blues, jazz, gospel, rock and roll and country music. New Orleans is the natural start or end point of any Mississippi cruise — a city of extraordinary cultural exuberance, extraordinary cuisine (gumbo, jambalaya, po’ boys, beignets) and a music scene that pours out of every bar and restaurant on Bourbon Street and Frenchmen Street. The historic French Quarter, Garden District, the National WWII Museum and the remarkable Lafayette Cemetery are all essential. New Orleans is widely considered one of the world’s great food cities. Upriver, Natchez is the oldest city on the Mississippi and home to some of the finest antebellum plantation houses in the South — their complex history now more honestly interpreted than in previous generations. Vicksburg’s Civil War National Military Park is a deeply moving and historically significant site. Memphis — home of Elvis Presley, Graceland, Beale Street and the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel — is one of America’s most musically and culturally significant cities. Mississippi River cruises are operated by a small number of specialist lines — including the famous American Queen paddlewheel steamboats — in a style that pays homage to the great river travel tradition of Mark Twain’s era. Best sailed March to November.