Birmingham, Alabama

A pivotal city of the civil rights movement, with the Civil Rights Institute, 16th Street Baptist Church, the Sloss Furnaces industrial site and the Vulcan statue lookout.

Birmingham, Alabama's largest city, lies in Jones Valley at the southern end of the Appalachians. Founded in 1871 thanks to rich deposits of iron ore, coal and limestone in one place, it quickly grew into the 'Pittsburgh of the South.' The 1963 Birmingham campaign—the Children's Crusade, police dogs and fire hoses, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing—made it one of the most pivotal cities in the history of the American civil rights movement, and today it is a core stop on the US Civil Rights Trail. The best times to visit are Mar–May and Oct–Nov; summers are hot and humid with afternoon thunderstorms, and winters are mild with the occasional freeze. By area: the Civil Rights District on the north side of downtown groups together the Civil Rights Institute, 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park and the A.G. Gaston Motel, all walkable in half a day; to the east are Sloss Furnaces and Pepper Place; the Vulcan statue atop Red Mountain overlooks the whole city; the southern suburbs have the Botanical Gardens, the zoo, Red Mountain Park and Oak Mountain State Park; and the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in the eastern suburbs is worth a special trip. Birmingham is also a Southern food city where barbecue, fried chicken and New Southern cuisine are well worth trying. Getting there: Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport has flights from Atlanta and elsewhere, and Atlanta is about 2.5 hours away by car; public transportation is limited, so renting a car is recommended. Plan on 2 days, and you can continue south along the Civil Rights Trail to Montgomery and Selma.

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