Birmingham, Alabama: The Magic City
Experience a city rich in history and full of contemporary charm. Gaze upon colossal statues and beautiful scenery. Explore remarkable venues and legendary sporting facilities. Step back in time to a period of unrest, a period that changed history. Visit Birmingham, Alabama and witness ‘The Magic City’, a city that offers much more than you might expect.
Birmingham’s Top Picks
First time visitors and those travellers with limited time to spend in Birmingham, Alabama would do best to focus their attentions on some of the city’s more popular sites. Any list of can’t miss attractions is sure to include the Sloss Furnaces. This blast furnace, which produced pig iron from 1882 to 1971, has been meticulously restored and today serves as a museum. In addition to offering an insight into Birmingham’s industrial past, the site also hosts festivals, concerts, and a special Halloween event. Another of the city’s top attractions is the Vulcan Statue. Sitting atop the Red Mountain, this symbolic iron statue stands 56 feet high. Families visiting the city should check out Birmingham Zoo, home to more than 200 different species of animal. Expect to see everything from elephants and zebras to sea lions and pandas. Meanwhile, Birmingham Botanical Gardens offers a picturesque setting, complete with thousands of flowers and plants. Each of these attractions is readily accessible from the city’s hotels.
Learn About the Civil Rights Movement
Birmingham, AL was greatly impacted by the civil rights movement of the 1960s and today serves as a valuable destination for those looking to learn more about that ground-breaking period of time. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, located within walking distance of many city hotels, is a good place to start. Here you’ll find a wealth of information and exhibits explaining what it was like to live in the south as political unrest swelled. Adjacent to the Civil Rights Institute you’ll find Kelly Ingram Park. This well-kept, idyllic corner of the city served as a popular meeting place for demonstrators during the sixties. Today you’ll find a series of statues scattered throughout the park commemorating some of the champions of the civil rights movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Across the street stands the 16th Street Baptist Church. It was here on 15th September 1963 that four girls were killed after members of the Ku Klux Klan set a bomb in the church. The notorious act led to violence across the city and would eventually be one of the catalysts for the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Visit the City’s Museums
Away from the civil rights movement, there’s plenty of other history on display in the city. Birmingham Museum of Art is the largest art museum in the Southeastern United States. The museum houses more than 24,000 exhibits portraying the history of cultures from across the globe. The Southern Museum of Flight is another popular choice, offering visitors the chance to get up close and personal with more than 90 different aircraft. Sports fans making the trip to the city will want to check out the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, which includes exhibits dedicated to the likes of Hank Aaron, Carl Lewis, and Joe Louis. Meanwhile, Rickwood Field is recognised as the oldest baseball stadium in the country. Dating all the way back to 1910, the stadium was home to the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues and saw baseball legend Willie Mays grace its field before segregation in baseball was brought to an end. Other popular museums, all reasonably close to the city’s hotels, include the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, McWane Science Centre, and the Vulcan Museum.
Take in a Show
If you’re into live entertainment, you could do worse than visit Birmingham, AL. The city is home to an array of live performance venues, not to mention a vibrant music scene. Located in the heart of downtown, just steps away from an array of hotels, the Alabama Theatre is the city’s most historic venue. Dating back to 1927, the theatre originally played silent films and still features an original Wurlitzer organ. Today the theatre hosts film screenings, theatre performances, and concerts. Across the street you’ll find the Lyric Theatre, another of the city’s popular performance destinations. Less than five minutes from both stands the Carver Theatre, home to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Here you’ll learn all about the performers that turned the Birmingham into a city of jazz. Pop your head into many of the city’s bars and clubs and you’ll find that jazz is still very much alive in the city, as is country and western, gospel, and a host of other music genres.
Best of the Rest
As well as those attractions listed above, you’ll find a whole host of other enjoyable pursuits and destinations just minutes away from many hotels in Birmingham, AL. Take a stroll around Railroad Park, Red Mountain Park, or any of the city’s other green spaces. Catch a game at Regions Field (baseball), Bartow Arena (basketball), or Legion Field (American football). Visit storied universities in the local area, including Samford and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Explore downtown’s many shopping options, which vary from markets to shopping malls and all points in between. And be sure to tuck into some delicious southern cooking – the food here really is to die for.