Top 12 Most Beautiful Places To Vacation In Alabama
Alabama is a voyage through history, southern culture, and food, with a lovely dispersion of stunning natural areas, and it has many interesting places to visit.
The Civil Rights Movement thrived in its historic cities, from Birmingham to Montgomery. Through museums, galleries, and historic neighborhoods, where the United States reached a crisis point only a few generations ago, they now relate the significant tale.
Away from the big towns, Alabama offers a ton of activities because to its untamed interior and magnificent coastline. Discover the breathtaking areas that nobody is talking about by visiting state parks and the Gulf of Mexico.
12.) Ivy Green
Ivy Green, a historic residence in Tuscumbia, served as the famous Helen Keller’s childhood home. Helen was born deaf and blind, yet she overcame her disabilities to become a renowned novelist and a source of inspiration for many.
She was examined by Alexander Graham Bell and is thought to have contracted scarlet fever. Yes, it was Mr. Bell, the telephone’s creator, who arranged for her to meet Anne Sullivan. Teacher Anne, who was 20 years old, taught Helen for approximately 50 years till Helen’s passing.
The historic childhood house of Helen Keller, constructed in 1820, is now open for tours. Discover everything about her extraordinary life, including her books The Miracle Worker and The Story of My Life.
11.) Little River Canyon
Little River Canyon is a location for camping, hiking, and fishing and features the longest mountaintop river in the United States. The river, which flows over Southern Appalachian mountains and is a national preserve, offers waterfalls, bluffs, and gorgeous uplands covered in forests.
In 1992, the Little River Canyon was designated as a protected preserve in order to preserve its distinctive landscape. Little River cut into the sandstone over millions of years, forming stunning cliffs that are gradually eroding the flat-topped Lookout Mountain.
There is a huge variety of plant and animal species around the river that are not found elsewhere in Alabama. All of this may be experienced on the hiking trails and scenic drives that take you to breathtaking views and cool bathing spots.
10.) Sloss Furnaces
Entrepreneurs and big dreamers built a new city in central Alabama on the strength of the region’s abundant natural resources. Colonel James Sloss was one of the initial residents of Birmingham when it was founded in 1871; his furnaces were put into service 11 years later, in 1882.
Sloss Furnaces became a National Historic Landmark and later a museum after just a century. The blowing engines from 1902, which are currently the oldest element of the museum, are located there together with two 400-ton blast furnaces.
You can take a guided tour of the Sloss Furnaces museum to discover more about the various ages’ technological advancements.
9.) The museum at Dexter Parsonage
Martin Luther King, Jr. and his family resided in the Dexter Parsonage Museum from 1954 to 1960. The original occupants of the house, 12 pastors from the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, joined him.
The house, which is now listed on the Register of Historic Places, endured numerous bombings during the Civil Rights Movement. The museum’s fascinating displays examine Martin Luther King’s time as a preacher and the location of his first protest.
Before going to the King-Johns Garden for Reflection, you can discover more about each of the pastors and the neighborhood. Six issues that MLK and the pastors frequently preached on are covered in the garden.
8.) State Park Cathedral Caverns
The Cathedral Caverns State Park was formerly known as Bat Cave and is home to enormous caves and one of the world’s largest columns. Before becoming into a state park in 1987, the cave spent 37 years as a private tourist destination southeast of Woodville, Alabama.
The cave’s imposing entrance gave rise to its present-day appellation, Cathedral Caverns. The cave’s great entrance, which is 126 feet wide and 25 feet tall, is the biggest in the state. The fascinating caves and Goliath, a 45-foot-tall stalagmite column, may also be explored by tourists.
You can explore farther with a cave tour, and there are also opportunities for gem mining and tent camping.
7.) The Center for Unclaimed Baggage
The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, which is the sole national retailer for misplaced luggage, can also boast of being one of the most unusual tourist destinations. even more justification for going! You’ve heard the saying, “One man’s unclaimed garbage is another man’s treasure.”
All luggage is delivered to the charity shop after waiting 90 days for a traveler to pick it up. The Unclaimed Baggage Center then buys these things so we can look through them. Over the years, the store has seen some bizarre products and has been in business since 1970.
Among them are an Egyptian burial mask, a camera from a NASA space program, and an aluminum fire suit.
6.) Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
The Bon Secour National Animals Refuge, which runs along the southernmost edge of Alabama, was created in 1980 to save wildlife and migrating birds. Visitors can find a variety of habitats in this breathtaking region of the state, including scrub forest, marshes, swamps, and sand dunes. The wildlife reserve serves as both a crucial sea turtle nesting ground and the home of the critically endangered Alabama beach mouse. More than 370 different bird species stop by year while traveling through. Ospreys and hummingbirds are examples of common species.
Before exploring any of the half-dozen lengthier paths, you can get a flavor of the park on the one mile Jeff Friend Trail. You can paddle a kayak out into Little Lagoon and fish from the water.
5.) National Peace and Justice Memorial
The National Memorial for Peace & Justice, a solemn and noteworthy location, honors the memory of African Americans who were either enslaved or lost their lives as a result of lynching.
The first of its sort, the memorial debuted in 2018. It’s a significant area that has provided the Equal Justice Initiative the chance to bring attention to the many untold stories of the American South. The six million people who fled to the north as a result of the sad events are also examined by the National Memorial for Peace & Justice, along with the terror that persisted after the lives were lost.
The area features an arresting piece by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo and a sculpture honoring the Montgomery Bus Boycott that invites tourists to congregate and ponder on the past.
4.) Gulf State Park
Gulf State Park is a stunning natural area with a variety of activities in southeast Alabama. The park provides its own golden sand beach and is only a short drive from Pensacola, Florida.
Young and old will have the chance to participate in a variety of guided excursions starting at the Nature Center. Naturalists and rangers will lead you on a hike around the trails to see the local fauna, and they’ll even give you some advice on how to catch fish while you’re out fishing.
Gulf State Park offers a variety of activities for the whole family to enjoy, including a sizable pool, tennis courts, and horseshoes. On a SUP or kayak, you can even go further out into the ocean. Set up camp at the campground and spend the night surrounded by nature to avoid the commute home.
3.) The USS Alabama (Battleship)
The USS Alabama was a battleship that served in the Second World War and is now a US National Historic Landmark. The cruiser made more than a dozen patrols in the Pacific and assisted in the Japanese retaking of a number of islands. 15 Japanese ships were sunk by the USS Alabama as well.
However, the famous battleship was destined for the scrap yard little over 15 years after World War II before finding a permanent home in Mobile. The WWII submarine USS Drum is another feature of the park. You can take a tour of the ship today to see how life was on the USS Alabama, from the mess hall to the captain’s bridge.
Many planes, tanks, and weapons can be found at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park as additional attractions.
2.) Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Here in Birmingham in the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement had one of its focal points. In fact, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing by KKK members in 1963 marked a crucial turning point in the campaign.
The Civil Rights Act was eventually passed the next year by President Lyndon Johnson as a result of the four deaths that followed that year. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a great place to learn more about this incident and the historic struggle. Discover a variety of ongoing and one-time exhibits that take you behind the scenes and illuminate themes that are still relevant today.
In addition to landmarks like the Carver Theater and Kelly Ingram Park, the institute is a significant component of Birmingham’s Civil Rights District.
1.) United States Space & Rocket Center
The US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is brimming with interactive exhibits for both young and elderly. The center is an excellent destination to visit to learn about the history of the United States in space because it houses one of the largest collections of spacecraft on the planet.
The Smithsonian Institute’s relationship with the US Space & Rocket Center allows for excellent insight into NASA’s evolution. Additionally, you’ll study about the historic space race and the orbiting space stations.
Visiting Rocket Park, where 27 missiles and spacecraft are on exhibit, is one of the highlights of the trip. From there, you can tour the International Space Station in the Spacedome IMAX or feel four Gs by taking turns in the launch simulators.
