Day Trippin' › Alabama › From Birmingham › Within 2 hours
54 places are worth the drive within 2 hours of Birmingham, counted by road time from ZIP 35203: 5 under 1 hour and 49 1 to 2 hours.
The mix leans toward history, hikes and wildlife, mostly to the south and north. Two hours each way is the sweet spot for a day trip: you can leave after breakfast and be home for dinner.
The headline places are The Legacy Museum, U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the closest real day trip is Turkey Creek Nature Preserve (27 min).
Under 1 hour 1 to 2 hours
Photo: Matthew Gordon, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cave · 29 min north
Guided tours through a living cave about a mile long, plus a big pool fed by cave water.
Photo: Eric in SF, CC BY-SA 3.0
Swimming · 27 min northeast
A Pinson preserve with creek trails and a popular summer swimming hole at the falls.
Photo: Greg McCallister, CC BY-SA 3.0
Historic site · 35 min southwest
Old stone iron furnaces, pioneer cabins, an iron museum and creek trails in the woods near McCalla.
Photo: Thejammer (talk), Public domain
Waterfall · 59 min northeast
A 90-foot waterfall in Gadsden with a gorge trail, a mini train and a pioneer village.
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0
Museum · 46 min east
Race cars and racing history next to Talladega Superspeedway. A self-guided tour takes about an hour.
Photo: RBharris, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hike · 1 hr 45 min northwest
A deep, mossy sandstone canyon with waterfalls and old hemlocks, famous for glowing Dismalites on night tours.
Photo: Richard A. Weaver, CC BY-SA 4.0
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.
Photo: Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0
Historic site · 1 hr 58 min northwest
The small house where Elvis was born, plus a museum, memorial garden and his childhood church.
Photo: Chris Pruitt, CC BY-SA 3.0
Wildlife · 1 hr 10 min north
A big refuge near Decatur where thousands of sandhill cranes and some rare whooping cranes spend the winter.
Photo: Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 3.0
Small town · 2 hr northwest
Elvis's hometown, with a lively downtown, music venues and the Natchez Trace at its edge.
Photo: Wayne Ruple, CC BY-SA 3.0
Bike trail · 1 hr 9 min east
A paved rail trail from the Anniston area through Jacksonville and Piedmont toward Georgia, where it links to the Silver Comet.
Our picks, by drive time, include Rickwood Caverns State Park (29 min), Turkey Creek Nature Preserve (27 min), Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park (35 min), Noccalula Falls Park (59 min) and International Motorsports Hall of Fame (46 min). The full list on this page has 54 places, each with its drive time and direction from Birmingham.
54 places within 2 hours, 133 within 3 hours and 217 within 4 hours of Birmingham, by road from ZIP 35203.
13 of the 54 places need no pass or fee, such as Edmund Pettus Bridge, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. Fees and passes change, so check each place before you go.
48 places are marked good for kids, including Lake Lurleen State Park, Moundville Archaeological Park and Rickwood Caverns State Park.
They are by real roads on a typical day, from the middle of ZIP 35203 to each place (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Traffic, weather and closures can change them. Places under 25 minutes from the city center count as in town, not a day trip, so they are left out.
Yes. Type your ZIP code into Day Trippin' and it shows everything by drive time. Your ZIP is used for that one search and is not saved.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP <class 'zip'> (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.