Here are the places to visit while in Birmingham, Alabama
The Magic City is a traveler’s dream. (Getty Images)
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Location: 520 16th St. N.
Contact: 205-328-9696
Website: bcri.org
Open: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) opened to the public Nov. 16, 1992. Located across from Kelly Ingram Park, in Birmingham‘s Civil Rights District, it is one of the most popular attractions in the state. It reaches more than 150,000 individuals each year though award-winning programs and services. Exhibits include The Building, Human Rights Galley, Movement Gallery, Confrontation Gallery, Barriers Gallery and more. BCRI is part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument and an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
Location: 1530 6th Ave. N.
Contact: 205-251-9402
Website: 16thstreetbaptist.org
The city’s first house of worship for African Americans was established in 1873 as the first Colored Baptist Church. It moved to its present location in 1880 and, in 1911, the church’s current building was constructed. The church gained national attention during the civil rights movement as the staging ground for African American activism in the city and as the target of a racially motivated bombing by the Ku Klux Klan that killed four black girls in 1963. In January 2017, President Barack Obama signed legislation creating the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, which includes the church. Tours are booked here.
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was bombed on Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963, as an act of white supremacist terrorism. The explosion at the African American church, which killed four girls, marked a turning point in the United States’ 1960s civil rights movement and contributed to support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (ArchWorks)
Bethel Baptist Church
Location: 3233 29th Ave. N.
Contact: 205-322-5360
Website: thehistoricbethel.org
The historic church, built in 1926, served as the headquarters for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), which the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth founded in 1956. The Bethel Baptist Church complex was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on Nov. 13, 1996. It was included in the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark April 5, 2005. With Bethel as its center of operations, the ACMHR played a pivotal role in the 1961 Freedom Rides that desegregated public transportation on a national scale, as well as the 1963 civil rights campaign that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The church buildings were bombed Dec. 25, 1956, June 29, 1958 and Dec. 14, 1962. Church tours are booked here.
Bethel Baptist Church. (Phil Free / Alabama NewsCenter)
Topgolf
Location: 1111 24th St. N.
Contact: 205-847-5757
Website: topgolf.com/us/birmingham
Open: Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Golf enthusiasts will enjoy the climate-controlled hitting bays with high-definition TVs in every bay throughout the sports bar and restaurant. Use complimentary clubs or bring your own. Amenities include bar and restaurant, free Wi-Fi and more.
Topgolf opened in Birmingham in late 2017. (Michael Baxter, Baxter Imaging LLC)
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum
Location: 6030 Barber Motorsports Parkway
Contact: 205-699-7275
Website: barbermuseum.org
Open: Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
The museum is a motorcyclist’s dream come true. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum was created by George Barber in 1994.The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of motorcycles and Lotus race cars. There are more than 1,000 motorcycles and more than 60 Lotus race cars on display.
(Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum)
Oak Mountain State Park
Location: 200 Terrace Drive in Pelham
Contact: 205-620-2520 or 800-252-7275
Website: alapark.com/parks/oak-mountain-state-park
Open: Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
See stunning views at Alabama’s largest state park. With more than 50 miles of trails, visitors have plenty of options. The park features mountain biking, hiking, a pump track and BMX course, Flipside Watersports cable skiing, boat rentals, nature programs, an 18-hole golf course and driving range, beach and swimming area, fishing lakes, boat rentals, picnic areas, demonstration farm and horseback riding facilities. Certain portions of the park will be closed July 10-17 for The World Games. Anyone who has purchased a ticket to the Games will be allowed to watch the competitions.
Alabama Peanut Company
Location: 2016 Morris Ave.
Contact: 205-538-7422
Website: alabamapeanut.com
Open: Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Peanut lovers will enjoy roasted, boiled and flavored nuts at one of America’s last surviving peanut merchants, on Birmingham’s historic Morris Avenue. The Alabama Peanut Co. pioneered the flavored boiled peanut bringing Craft Boiled Peanuts to the marketplace with more than 100 homemade recipes.
Alabama Peanut Company is keeping roasting alive on Birmingham’s Morris Avenue and adding Southern favorite boiled peanuts. (Brittany Faush / Alabama NewsCenter)
Southern Museum of Flight
Location: 4343 73rd St. N.
Contact: 205-833-8226
Website: southernmuseumofflight.org
Open: Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visit one of the largest aviation museums in the Southeast. The museum is dedicated to presenting civilian, military and experimental aircraft and memorabilia from the earliest history of powered flight. The 75,000-square-foot facility houses more than 100 aircraft, engines, models, artifacts, photographs and paintings. The Southern Museum of Flight is home to the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame with more than 70 biographical plaques presenting Alabama aviation history through collective biography.
Alabama Theatre
Location: 1817 Third Ave. N.
Contact: 205-252-2262
Website: alabamatheatre.com
For decades, the Alabama Theatre was known as the “Showcase of the South.” It was built in 1927 by Paramount Studios as an Alabama showcase for Paramount films. The new Alabama Theatre for the Performing Arts hosts live events and films. Each year the theatre hosts more than 150 events attended by 150,000 Birmingham-area citizens. Click here for upcoming shows.
Alabama Theatre. (Michael Tomberlin / Alabama NewsCenter)
McWane Science Center
Location: 200 19th St. N.
Contact: 205-714-8300
Website: mcwane.org
Open Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Millions of visitors have explored the McWane Science Center since it opened its doors in 1998. Parents, educators and children value McWane’s hands-on, science-learning experiences. McWane Science Center inspires children through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Click here for a listing of permanent exhibits that are a regular part of the science education experience.
McWane Science Center, Birmingham. (Alabama NewsCenter)
Birmingham Zoo
Location: 2630 Cahaba Road
Contact: 205-879-0409
Website: birminghamzoo.com
Open: Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Visitors flock to the Birmingham Zoo’s 122-acre site year-round to see the red pandas, lions, giraffes, orangutans, rhinos, bears, elephants, sea lions, zebras, jaguar, hippopotamus and more. The zoo is home to about 550 animals of 180 species and endangered species from six continents.
The Birmingham Zoo (contributed)
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Location: 2612 Lane Park Road
Contact: 205-414-3950
Website: bbgardens.org
Open: Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Garden Center Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is one of the most visited attractions in the state. It is Alabama’s largest living museum with more than 12,000 different plants in its living collections. The gardens’ 67.5 acres contains over 25 unique gardens, over 30 works of original outdoor sculpture and miles of serene paths. The gardens features the largest public horticulture library in the U.S., conservatories, a wildflower garden, two rose gardens, the Southern Living garden and Japanese Gardens with a traditionally crafted tea house. See what’s blooming here.
(Birmingham Botanical Gardens)
Railroad Park
Location: 1600 First Ave. S.
Contact: 205-521-9933
Website: railroadpark.org
Open: Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Take a stroll through 19 acres of beautiful green space in the middle of downtown Birmingham. With more than 600 trees planted on-site, visitors will be mesmerized by the mixture of hardwoods, evergreens and flowering trees. Railroad Park offers 9 acres of open lawn with a beautiful lake, a stunning rain curtain, a bio-filtration wetlands area and ponds and streams. Railroad Park is monitored around the clock by a state-of-the-art security system and by rangers on patrol.
Take a stroll through 19 acres of beautiful green space in the middle of downtown Birmingham. (Railroad Park)
Birmingham Museum of Art
Location: 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Blvd.
Contact: 205-254-2565
Website: artsbma.org
Open: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art is one of the finest regional museums in the country. It houses a diverse collection of more than 27,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and decorative arts dating from ancient to modern times. The collection presents a rich panorama of cultures, featuring the museum’s extensive holdings of Asian, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian and Native American art. Follow this link for visits during The World Games 2022. Follow this link for #BMA from home.
(Birmingham Museum of Art)
Ruffner Mountain
Location: 1214 81st St. S.
Contact 205-833-8264
Website: ruffnermountain.org
Open: Tuesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Nature Center is open intermittently on Saturday and Sunday based on staff capacity.
Ruffner Mountains comprises 1,038 acres of biodiverse urban forest and connects the communities of East Lake, Irondale, Roebuck Springs and greater Birmingham through 14 miles of trails, nature education and EcoArts programs and wilderness and wildlife.
Vulcan Park and Museum
Location:1701 Valley View Drive
Contact: 205-933-1409
Website: visitvulcan.com
Open: Observation Tower, Sunday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Park Grounds, Sunday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Museum, Sunday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and The Anvil Sunday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Vulcan is the world’s largest cast-iron statue and considered one of the most memorable works of civic art in the country. Vulcan has overlooked Alabama’s largest city from atop Red Mountain since the 1930s. Designed by Italian artist Giuseppe Moretti and cast from local iron in 1904, link here to book a tour.
Vulcan Park is the suggested starting point for the Historic Red Ore Express walking or biking tour. (Bob Farley)
Red Mountain Park
Location: Southern Park Entrance, 2011 Frankfurt Drive and Northern Park Entrance, 2019 Venice Road.
Contact: 205-202-6043 or 205-266-6000
Website: redmountainpark.org
Open: Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Experience Red Mountain Park’s beautiful hiking trails and dog park. Red Mountain Park is a 15-mile trail system that spans more than 1,500 acres. The Dog Park has three separate fenced section for small, large and special-needs dogs. Dogs are welcomed anywhere in the park, but must be on a leash. All trails are multiuse trails for bicycles and mountain bikes. There are no paved trails. Along the trail, visitors will also see historic iron ore mining features. Admission and parking are free. Donations are welcomed.
(Red Mountain Park)
