Things to do in Jackson
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Jackson
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weather, gardens and patios at their best, and the year's biggest events.
Mild winter, camellias at the Welty House, quietest museums and lowest rates outside rodeo dates.
Hot and humid. Outdoors before 10am or on the reservoir, museums as midday refuges.
What's on
- Hal's St. Paddy's Parade Saturday in March
Downtown street party anchored by Hal & Mal's, the city's biggest parade day.
- Mississippi State Fair Usually early to mid October, about ten days
About ten days at the downtown fairgrounds, a genuine local institution that fills hotels.
- Dixie National Rodeo February
Major regional rodeo at the Mississippi Coliseum. Book hotels ahead if dates touch it.
Best things to do in Jackson
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum
The essential Jackson sight, telling the Mississippi freedom struggle in eight galleries around a lit central sculpture.
Museum of Mississippi History
The full sweep of Mississippi history in the same building, best done first for context before the Civil Rights Museum.
Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument
The preserved family home where Medgar Evers was assassinated, made vivid by ranger led tours booked ahead.
Eudora Welty House & Garden
Welty lived here most of her life and the house stays intact, books, typewriter and garden plantings included.
Mississippi Museum of Art
The state art museum is strongest on Mississippi and Southern artists, with a sculpture garden locals actually use.
Hal & Mal's
Jackson gathers here for blues, soul and touring acts in a converted freight depot running since the 1980s.
Duling Hall
A restored school auditorium in Fondren, Jackson's best mid size listening room for touring Americana and blues.
Mississippi Children's Museum
A hands on museum locals rate among the best in the South for under tens, with a big playground next door.
Where to stay in Jackson
Belhaven
splurge and food focused trips
Historic, leafy and home to the best restaurants, with the Fairview Inn as the one luxury base.
Fondren
evenings, families and longer stays
The one district where dinner and a show on foot feels normal, with a suite hotel by the medical district.
Downtown
museum first trips
Closest to the museum core in the named full service hotels, but streets empty at night so evenings mean driving.
Ridgeland
safety first and road trips
Dull, well lit suburbs with reliable chains and walk to dinner shopping centres, 15 to 20 minutes from the museums.
Think twice about
- Highway 80 and I-20 motel strips
Unnamed budget motels here repeatedly draw safety and condition complaints. Sleep in a named hotel in Ridgeland, Fondren, Belhaven or downtown instead.
- Downtown and Farish Street after dark
Streets empty out and feel deserted at night. Visit as planned daylight stops and drive between them.
- Coliseum area as a walking base
Use a named hotel and its lot if you stay here, and do not treat the surroundings as an evening walking district.
Best restaurants in Jackson
Elvie's
French technique meets Gulf seafood and Mississippi farms in the all day cafe leading Jackson's dining revival.
Pulito Osteria
Handmade pasta and wood fired pizza through a Mississippi lens, Jackson's splurge dinner a block from Elvie's.
Walker's Drive-In
Fondren's fine dining standard trusted for milestones, famed for Redfish Anna and prime steaks.
The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen
Mediterranean leaning wood fire cooking and a serious bar, the reliable Belhaven dinner when Elvie's is full.
Saltine
A modern oyster bar in a converted schoolroom, built for oysters, po boys and a Duling Hall show after.
The Pig & Pint
Award winning barbecue and one of Mississippi's largest craft beer selections on a dog friendly Fondren patio.
Mayflower Cafe
Jackson's oldest restaurant, restored by the Elvie's team for Greek influenced Gulf seafood and comeback sauce.
Bully's Restaurant
An acclaimed meat and three serving oxtails, smothered chops and blackberry pie at lunch only.
Outdoor things to do in Jackson
LeFleur's Bluff State Park
Nearly 500 acres of bluff, swamp and lake trails improbably inside the city, best before the heat builds.
Museum Trail
A paved greenway linking Belhaven to the LeFleur's Bluff museums, the closest thing Jackson has to an urban trail.
Natchez Trace Parkway and the Ridgeland Multi-Use Trail
The scenic Trace passes Jackson's northern edge, with a parallel paved trail for cycling and walking by the reservoir.
Ross Barnett Reservoir
A huge Pearl River lake for boating, fishing and sunset dinners on the Ridgeland shore, the classic local summer evening.
Capital City Kayak Adventures
Guided and rental paddling on the slow, tree lined Pearl River, beginner friendly but worth confirming directly first.
The Refuge Golf Course
The metro's best public golf, a wetland course redesigned by Nathan Crace with consistently strong local ratings.
Pete Brown Golf Facility
A historic, inexpensive municipal course named for Pete Brown, the first African American to win a PGA Tour event.
Vicksburg National Military Park
The outstanding day trip from Jackson, a siege battlefield tour road plus the raised Union gunboat USS Cairo.
Best hotels in Jackson
Fairview Inn
Jackson's one true luxury stay, a 1908 mansion inn with gardens, a spa and a restaurant in Belhaven.
The Westin Jackson
The city's flagship modern hotel near the museums, with pool, spa and wine bar, best used as a drive from base.
Old Capitol Inn
A small boutique inn by the Capitol with themed rooms, a courtyard and a complimentary Southern breakfast.
Hilton Garden Inn Jackson Downtown
A solid chain hotel inside the landmark King Edward building, a safe downtown base for price or points.
Homewood Suites by Hilton Jackson Fondren Medical District
All suite stays with kitchens in Fondren, the best in city base for families who want dinner on the doorstep.
Hyatt Place Jackson/Ridgeland
A modern hotel at Renaissance at Colony Park where you can walk to dinner, then drive to the museums.
Hampton Inn & Suites Jackson Downtown-Coliseum
The named budget chain near downtown, serviceable for a sleep and leave overnight on a road trip.
Drury Inn & Suites Jackson Ridgeland
Cheap and cheerful suburban value with hot breakfast and evening food included, off I-55 in Ridgeland.
Is Jackson expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $95 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $185 a person |
| Splurge | $340 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument: a few days ahead
- Eudora Welty House & Garden: a few days ahead
- Duling Hall: a few days ahead
- Capital City Kayak Adventures: a few days ahead
- The Refuge Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Fairview Inn: weeks ahead
- The Westin Jackson: a few days ahead
- Old Capitol Inn: a few days ahead
- Elvie's and Pulito Osteria need days ahead, weeks for weekends.
- Welty House tours, Evers Home tours and Duling Hall headline shows need days ahead.
Is Jackson safe?
- Base only in Belhaven, Fondren, the named downtown hotels or Ridgeland and Flowood.
- Check for a city boil water notice on arrival and use bottled water if one is in force.
- Keep valuables out of the parked car and use hotel or venue lots after dark.
Jackson travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Unnamed budget motels on Highway 80 and I-20 chosen on price alone.
- Planning an hour for the Two Mississippi Museums. They take half a day and they are the trip.
Getting around Jackson: public transport and more
- A car is essential. Rent at Jackson Evers International Airport, about 15 minutes east of downtown.
- Rideshare thins out late at night, so drive or order a car before a show ends.
Who Jackson suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Jackson your trip
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