Day Trippin' › Alabama › From Birmingham
From Birmingham, the Civil Rights Institute, Railroad Park and Sloss Furnaces are minutes away, Vulcan Park about 5, the Botanical Gardens and the Birmingham Zoo under 10, the Barber Motorsports Museum about 25, Rickwood Caverns under half an hour, and Tannehill Ironworks about 35. The best day trips from Birmingham, by drive time.
141 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
Cave · 29 min north
Guided tours through a living cave about a mile long, plus a big pool fed by cave water.
Swimming · 27 min northeast
A Pinson preserve with creek trails and a popular summer swimming hole at the falls.
Historic site · 35 min southwest
Old stone iron furnaces, pioneer cabins, an iron museum and creek trails in the woods near McCalla.
Waterfall · 59 min northeast
A 90-foot waterfall in Gadsden with a gorge trail, a mini train and a pioneer village.
Museum · 46 min east
Race cars and racing history next to Talladega Superspeedway. A self-guided tour takes about an hour.
Museum · 1 hr 28 min north
NASA's official visitor center for the Marshall Space Flight Center, with a real Saturn V rocket, about 1,100 artifacts and a planetarium.
Hike · 1 hr 45 min northwest
A deep, mossy sandstone canyon with waterfalls and old hemlocks, famous for glowing Dismalites on night tours.
Cave · 1 hr 55 min northeast
A cave with one of the widest entrances in the world and Goliath, a stalagmite about 45 feet tall. It stays about 60 degrees all year.
National park · 1 hr 56 min northeast
A deep canyon on top of Lookout Mountain with a scenic rim drive, overlooks, Little River Falls and spots for paddling and climbing.
Historic site · 1 hr 58 min northwest
The small house where Elvis was born, plus a museum, memorial garden and his childhood church.
Historic site · 1 hr 42 min south
The bridge in Selma where marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday in 1965. Walking across it is a moving experience.
Museum · 1 hr 21 min south
A powerful museum on the history of slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration in America, built on a site where enslaved people were once held.
Wildlife · 1 hr 10 min north
A big refuge near Decatur where thousands of sandhill cranes and some rare whooping cranes spend the winter.
State park · 2 hr 16 min northwest
Rocky hills, a 1938 CCC swinging bridge over Bear Creek and some of the best trails in Mississippi.
Small town · 2 hr 47 min west
College town with a famous square, bookstores, great restaurants and Ole Miss.
State park · 2 hr 7 min northeast
A big canyon on Lookout Mountain with waterfall stairs, rim views and bike trails.
Aquarium · 2 hr 12 min east
One of the largest aquariums in the world, with whale sharks, manta rays, beluga whales and a dolphin show. Easy to pair with other downtown sights.
Family fun · 2 hr 33 min east
A giant granite dome with a walk-up trail, lake loops and family attractions on the east side of Atlanta. The summit views reach the city skyline.
Garden · 2 hr 38 min east
A big garden resort with a butterfly house, a lake beach, a chapel and a 10-mile bike trail.
State park · 2 hr 3 min northwest
Wooded lake park just outside Tupelo.
Historic site · 2 hr 4 min northwest
Small 1864 battlefield site in Tupelo with a monument and cannons.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 35203 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.