Missouri Rhythms: Jazz, Lakes & the Ozarks

Fly from the UK to Kansas City, USA.

Kansas City means it when it comes to music and barbecue. Head to the 18th & Vine Jazz District to hear it before you see it, and make time for a rack of ribs, something of a rite of passage here. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is worth an hour too, if only for the giant shuttlecocks on its lawn. Your Kansas City 3 Day Attraction Pass has the city's best sights covered.

From Kansas City, the road rolls south to Branson, a city that still calls itself the Live Entertainment Capital of the World, and mostly backs up the claim. Catch a theatre show, ride the rails on the Branson Scenic Railway, or, if you like your thrills bigger, spend a day at Silver Dollar City. A 4X4 Ozark Mountain Crawl gets you off the strip and into the hills for a proper look at the scenery, and Table Rock Lake is right there too, for an evening on the water once the lights go down.

The Lake of the Ozarks is where everything slows down and the water takes over, two days of boats, bass fishing and parasailing, depending on how brave you're feeling. Evenings come with a drink by the water and a bit of Jimmy Buffett drifting through the air, pure lakeside easy living. There's a golf course and lakeside trails too, if you'd rather keep your feet dry.

St. Louis brings it all home under the Gateway Arch, three nights to properly explore. Go up for the view, or take it in from the river on a cruise, either way it delivers. Save room for gooey butter cake and toasted ravioli, and let the St Louis Trolley Tour do the hard work of getting your bearings.

Fly from St. Louis to the UK.