Location: Birmingham
Top Things to do in Birmingham
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What to do and see in Birmingham, Alabama (AL): The Best Things to do Good for Big Groups
It has been said that Birmingham is the last major Southern city in America, where a friendly "How y'all doin'," a hearty meal of country-fried steak with butter beans and a true taste of Southern hospitality await visitors. Whether you're into the history of the Civil Rights movement, a fan of jazz music or just looking for culture and a few fun activities for the family, Sweet Birmingham is the place for you. Spend the morning at the Birmingham Museum of Art, then have lunch at a traditional Southern tea room. Outdoor enthusiasts can tee off at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail or pack a lunch and spend the day hiking and enjoying the vistas at Ruffner Mountain. A world-class zoo, the innovative McWane Center and VisionLand, Alabama's first amusement park, are sure to keep families entertained and on the go. In the evening, listen to a blues show at an outdoor cafe and then spend the night at a small cozy inn or splurge for an elegant hotel.
Restaurants in Birmingham
1. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,251 reviews
This historic museum traces the journey of the civil rights advocates of the 1950s and 60s, who changed the course of American history. The struggle for equality for Black Americans is chronicled here, from the Jim Crow laws in the 1800s to the freedom rides, sit-ins and demonstrations of the 1960s.
Reviewed By vault101_overseer - Newark, United States
The museum had interesting content. The target market seemed to be families with young children or people with less understanding of Jim Crow or the Civil Rights era. It was worthwhile though and the highlight was touching the bars of the jail cell MLK Jr was in and seeing the effects that were donated by Denise McNair's family.
2. The Birmingham Historic Touring Company
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 388 reviews
The Birmingham Historic Touring Company is a boutique tour company devoted to strange, dark and unusual tours of Birmingham, Alabama and the surrounding area. Our unique tours are meticulously written and researched one-of-a-kind creations led by expert guides. We are a locally-owned, independently operated business.
3. Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,251 reviews
A motorcyclist's dream, this museum has 750 vintage and modern motorcycles displayed on walls, two-tiered platforms and just about everywhere you look. The bikes are displayed randomly, rather than by date and year, adding an element of unpredictability to the viewer's experience.
Reviewed By jwtraveller2015
If you have a love of motorcycles do not miss this. 900 on display. Wonderful day. Norton’s! Vincent’s! Broughams! Ariels! And a plethora of the usual suspects. Several mint Goldstars and some awesome sidecar setups. Plus “The Porsche Experience “.
4. Locked In: The Birmingham Escape Game
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 568 reviews
A fun and challenging real life adventure for groups of 2-8 people. Your team works together finding clues, solving puzzles, and cracking codes to escape from a locked room. You only have 60 minutes! Can you escape in time?
Reviewed By Wisemayne
I think the man who ran the game while we were there was Wesley. He was amazing, some of the best service I’ve ever received. The game was fun and challenging with a slightly different take on the game than other breakout games.
5. Red Clay Tours
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 343 reviews
RCT aspires to be the premier tour company in Birmingham, providing curious residents and visitors to the Magic City with the opportunity to learn, taste, and experience Birmingham in exciting, new ways. RCT is preparing tour itineraries for various guided tours around the city: historical, cultural, and culinary. Each tour highlights the food, drinks, and history that make Birmingham special. Whether you are in town for a long weekend or lived here your whole life, a tour with RCT is for you.
6. Birmingham Pedal Tours
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 39 reviews
Birmingham Pedal Tours is the Magic City's premier pedal powered tour company. We offer 2 distinct Birmingham Routes and have several party bikes to chose from. We are committed to transporting our riders to the best breweries, bars, and food spots in Birmingham. Pedal tours are perfect for any occasion, whether it's a birthday, wedding, bachelorette, anniversary, team outing, catching up with friends, sunday-funday, pub crawl or something else.
7. Birmingham Taste Tours
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 22 reviews
We offer 3 hr walking, food, drink, and historical tours to visitors and locals alike. Customers will sample eclectic tastings from 4-5 of Birmingham's most authentic locally-owned restaurants while walking through our neighborhoods. We will show how Southern culture and cuisine go hand in hand through telling colorful stories of our city and the people who helped shape it.
8. 16th Street Baptist Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 329 reviews
Four young girls were killed when a Ku Klux Klan bomb exploded in this church in 1963. The girls are remembered with a shrine in the crypt where they died, and a vibrant stained glass window donated in sympathy by the people of Wales adorns the historic church.
Reviewed By charisma2015 - Wantage, United States
Very sad that four young innocent lives were lost for no reason by a bomb planted by the KKK. Unwarranted hatred. The visit was very well done with information and detail of a very disturbing event. The tour of the church was very nice and the guide very welcoming. The beautiful stained glass window donated by Wales is quite stunning. Across the street is the Kelly Ingram park which has powerful statues of the Civil Rights movement and some of the tragedies - including a beautiful statue of the four sweet young girls that lost their life in the 16th Street Baptist Church. A must if visiting this area.
9. Kelly Ingram Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 281 reviews
Home to vivid sculptures of the Children's Crusade.
Reviewed By wombat1223 - Charlottesville, United States
This park is exceptionally moving. It's easy to navigate the monuments and to pay tribute to the many people and groups who made the Freedom Movement possible in Birmingham. Anywhere you enter you can pick up the thread of the difficult path that was taken by the various actors in the movement. Especially affecting is the memorial to the four girls killed in the 16th St. Baptist Church: Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Carol McNair, and Addie Collins, the youngest at just 11. The statue is Susan Collins' last memory of that day before the bomb blinded her. Addie holds between her up stretched hands 6 doves: 1 for each girl and two for the boys also killed that day, Virgil Ware and Johnny Robinson. In addition to their memorial are installations remembering the Children's Crusade including water cannon replicas and a scene of two children against a wall. It's difficult to imagine but that water pressure was so high it could throw a 160 lb man in the air. The youngest of the child protesters was 6 years old. There is also a narrow dog lunging pathway to go through that simulates what it might have felt like to have dogs lunging at you. Another monument is dedicated to three local pastors (one if MLK's brother Andrew) who were instrumental in organizing various other aspects of the movement and voter registration campaigns. It was Porter (one of the three) who saved the life of a White Episcopalian minister who was being threatened by the Klan. He had him come to a funeral home and they smuggled him out in a coffin after having a full funeral. Memorials to Martin Luther King (statue) and his wife Coretta Scott King (roses) are also there. There is, in addition a small stage on which people still protest today. Kelly Ingram Park hasn't stopped being a place of protest for change. Its legacy continues.
10. Civil Rights District
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 142 reviews
The neighborhood that was the center of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement is now a historic district with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute at its center.
Reviewed By latishan2018
an amazing history location we as adults loved the place we walked in the path of Dr martin Luther king jr saw amazing photos and visited the 16tth street Baptist church
