Driving from Kingsport to Memphis

[El Passeaux]

That is probably why it says 6 hours. You are moving from East to Central time zone so its 7 hours of driving but you deduct an hour with the time zone. It would be 8 then going from Memphis to Kingsport because you would add an hour a little before Knoxville.

[Bones]

I take I-40 straight through Nashville....

Nevermind what the maps say..."Average" 60 mph for 8 hours = 480 miles...

[md21722]

I-40, I-65, and I-24 come together in downtown Nashville to create the "downtown loop". Back in 1999 or early 2000 TDOT even changed the signing of the roads. There used to be I-265 that was the NW portion of the loop and both I-65 and I-24 were routed on the East side.

So the maps show you a couple of different ways because the roads are somewhat interchangeable.

I-440 used to take the same time as I-40 before they lowered the speed limit to 55 MPH on I-440. Its actually longer.

It easiest thing to do it take I-40 W straight through Nashville. This will put you on the South side of down of downtown. Just follow the signs and make sure you stay on I-40. The road splits a few times. The first split is I-40 W / I-24 W and you'll need to keep left. The second split is I-65 S / I-40 W and you'll need to keep right. The third split is I-40 W / I-65 N and you'll need to keep left. As one OP mentioned, stay in the middle lane and you'll do fine.

[RSMTN]

We drive to Memphis from Cookeville fairly often and I will avoid Nashville like the plague. I find taking the southern (soon to be by-pass I 840) loop SR 840 takes all the stress out of the trip for me. It does add probably an hour to the trip but it's well worth it.

You have to get off 840 and go thru Franklin because it has not been completed all the way back to I 40. Take 31 into Franklin then 96 over to 46 thru Leapers Fork and you will see some of the most beautiful horse farms and homes (big time Music City money here) Tennessee has to offer. You get back on 840 from 46 fourteen miles from I 40 east of Jackson.

[the_commuter]

In my experience, Memphis' morning rush hour is nothing like Nashville's. You could stay in Cordova (in one of the hotels off Exit 18) and get all the way through downtown to the bridge within 35-40 minutes during rush hour. That's about 10 minutes longer than it would take any other time. I did it for many, many years. I wouldn't recommend staying in West Memphis to my worst enemy.