Montgomery is in the heart of the state of Alabama. Famous for its history in the Civil Rights Movement and the Legacy Museum sites, these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to appreciating all that Montgomery has to offer!

My first trip to Alabama started in Montgomery. I’ll admit, as a Canadian with a fair amount of knowledge about the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, I don’t think I realized just how significant of a role Montgomery and its residents played in the movement in the 1950s and ‘60s.

On top of coming here to learn more about this history, Chris and I quickly learned that the focus of this city is also firmly rooted in its presence and future—where do we go from here, and what are we celebrating based on what we’ve learned from the past? A timely question to consider nowadays.

The people we met in Montgomery are proud, warm, welcoming, and looking forward to their future. The city has seen a lot of growth and regeneration in recent years, thanks in large part to investments in the city by the Equal Justice Initiative. EJI has helped to bring a sense of renewal to the city and attract more visitors, and the citizens of Montgomery are helping to lead this charge.

Chris and I spent two full days in Montgomery, but I feel like we only scraped the surface of all there is to do here. For this reason, Montgomery is a great place to head to for a weekend getaway, or to spend a little more time checking out other cities in the heart of the state, like Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.

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Getting to Montgomery & Where to Stay

Depending on where you’re visiting Montgomery from, you’ll likely drive or fly here. Montgomery Regional Airport is a small airport with connections to major hubs like Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington.

No matter where you’re coming from, you don’t need a car in Montgomery, but it will likely come in handy. The city centre is walkable, but a few spots on this list are found outside of the city centre.

Our Stay at the Trilogy Hotel Montgomery

There are several different hotels worth staying at in Montgomery, including the newly opened Elevation Hotel. Chris and I stayed at the Trilogy, and it deserves to be highlighted here!

Our stay at the Trilogy Hotel Montgomery Autograph Collection was perfect for its downtown location, thoughtfully designed rooms and historic significance. The hotel consists of two restored early 20th century warehouses which have been converted into just over 100 guest rooms, and a Greek Revival mansion from 1851, which is now the Kinsmith restaurant on site.

The staff here are beyond friendly and welcoming, and our sleep was extremely comfortable after a long day of travel. It’s also an ideal location downtown, within easy walking distances to most places in central Montgomery from here.

Of course, you’re welcome to use this map to help you find the best hotel for your stay!

The Best Things Worth Doing in Montgomery

There’s a little bit of everything in Montgomery—history, culture, nature, and good food. Taking a weekend getaway here means you’ll be able to experience many of these activities during your visit!

Start the Day at Prevail Union Coffee

In my opinion, any good weekend getaway starts with a stop at a great coffee shop, making Prevail the perfect way to start your visit in Montgomery.

Prevail serves up delicious coffees, specialty drinks and pastries at their downtown Montgomery location. They have a warm and welcoming indoor space, with options for outdoor seating looking onto Lower Dexter Park. They’re known for their Conecuh sausage breakfast croissants, which are definitely worth a try!

Prevail is right downtown on Dexter Avenue near the Rosa Parks statue and bus stop. It also faces the urban Lower Dexter Park, which was created behind the facade of the department store Rosa Parks used to work at as a seamstress.

Take some time here to admire the mural at the back of the park, and sip on your coffee before continuing on your walk along Dexter Avenue.

Step Back into Civil Rights History By Walking Dexter Avenue

Dexter Avenue is likely the most famous street in Montgomery. From end to end, it stretches a short half a mile from Court Square to the Alabama State Capitol building. Despite its compact size, it hosts several important sites of both racial oppression and civil rights resistance in the United States.

Here are a few sites worth stopping at on your walk along Dexter Ave.:

Beginning from Prevail Union Coffee, head down to the end of Dexter at Court Square.
- Court Square was the central trading post of enslaved people during the height of domestic slave trade. After the international slave trade was abolished in the United States, the enslaved population of Montgomery grew from under 50,000 people in 1820 to over 400,000 enslaved people by 1860.
- Court Square is also the site of Rosa Parks’ infamous bus stop. In 1955 when she was on her way home from work, Parks refused to sit at the back of the bus as a Black person, which started the Bus Boycott during the Civil Rights Movement. Today, there’s a statue here in her honour.
Walking east and uphill along Dexter Avenue, you’ll pass a few more stops, including:
- The Winter Building. Directly across from the Rosa Parks statue, this building was the site from which a telegram was sent to start the American Civil War.
- Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. This was a hub for primarily Black parishoners, and was where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as a pastor from 1954 to 1960.
End at the State Capitol Building. This building was both the birthplace of Confederacy, and the ending point of the march for voting rights which began in Selma.
- Chris and I just observed the Capitol from outside and its grounds, but it’s possible to arrange a tour for groups of 15 or more by appointment in advance.

Visit the Legacy Museum and Sites

I prefer to avoid being overly superlative when I talk about travel. It’s easy to say something is “the best” or “the most moving,” and throw these ideas around unnecessarily when it comes to talking about experiences on the road.

But when I say that the Legacy Museum was quite possibly one of the best and most emotionally stirring museums I’ve ever been to, I mean it.

This immersive museum originally opened in 2018. The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) raised and funded an estimated $20 million for the Legacy Museum and its subsequent sites in Montgomery.

The museum shares a detailed, chronological history of Black Americans “from enslavement to mass incarceration.” It takes visitors through 400 years of history in several exhibits, beginning with the trans-Atlantic slave trade and ending with the present day. The thoroughly researched, detailed, uncensored and at times graphic accounts depict an accurate history of racial discrimination and Black excellence in the face of adversity in the United States.

No photos are allowed in the museum, which provides space to digest and be present with its teachings. It is a heavy yet powerful museum, and is really a must-visit for anyone coming to Montgomery, along with the other connected sites in town, which can be accessed on the free shuttles provided by EJI:

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. In the words of EJI, this is the first memorial “dedicated to the legacy of Black Americans who were enslaved, terrorized by lynching, humiliated by racial segregation and presumed guilty and dangerous.” It is a powerful memorial located on six acres, with over 800 hanging steel monuments representing each county where lynchings took place.
Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. Located on 17 acres on the banks of the Alabama River—where tens of thousands of enslaved people were trafficked—art, sculptures and artifacts honour the lives and legacy of enslaved people in the United States. You can access the park from the road, or take a free shuttle by boat on the river to retrace the footsteps of enslaved people.

To learn more about the Legacy Sites in Montgomery, you can head to their official website to plan your visit before you go.

Take a Civil Rights Tour with Montgomery Tours

Chris and me with Jake Williams of Montgomery Tours

Owned and operated by tour director Jake Williams, Montgomery Tours has a variety of tours you can take within and around the city.

Jake was born and raised just outside of Montgomery, and was a child of the Civil Rights Movement who participated in the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. He was also involved in all of the Civil Rights mass meetings and was a foot soldier in the protests that organized and enabled Black Americans to vote.

Jake takes his tours around on a dedicated tour bus, and will share information about significant sites from the Civil Rights Movement both within and just outside of the city. On top of being an extremely kind and compassionate man, Jake’s firsthand perspective of Civil Rights here in Montgomery makes his tours one-of-a-kind. Chris and I really appreciated getting to know Jake, and hear his stories.

To look into booking a three-hour tour with Jake, you can find more information here.

Have an Unforgettable Meal at Perennial

A relatively new restaurant to Montgomery, Perennial offers a modern Southern dining experience with plenty of familiar local flavours and an emphasis on sustainability. Located in a charming, restored historic home, their rotating menu features Alabama-sourced everything, right down to the spirits in each crafted cocktail.

Most of the ingredients here at Perennial are sourced directly from Alabama farms. From the appetizers to desserts, each dish is thoughtfully put together. Chris and I enjoyed Southern staples like homemade deviled eggs and roasted and spiced Tucker pecans to hearty dishes like homemade pastas and seared pork chops.

From the vintage-sourced decor and tablewares to the entire meal, Perennial is a dining experience you must prioritize on a trip to Montgomery!

Appreciate the Great Outdoors at Montgomery Whitewater Park

Opened in the summer of 2023, this park is home to one of only four Olympic-standard artificial waterparks in North America. During the summer months, people come from far and wide to train and paddle along the rapids here (which visitors can experience, too!) but there is so much more going on in the park.

Chris and I enjoyed checking out the ropes and zipline course at the back of the property along the Alabama River. There are also some walking and cycling trails throughout the park, and there’s even an outdoor skating rink set up during the cooler months. This makes it a great place to come for outdoor activities for all ages.

Don’t be fooled by the gates—the park is free to enter for all! Rentals and guided activities are available for a fee, which can be arranged in the Outfitter and Guest Services building. For more details, you can visit their website.

Catch a Biscuits Game

You heard that right—the mascot for Montgomery’s Minor League Baseball team is the Biscuits! Their games take place at Riverwalk Stadium, which is just a short walk from downtown Montgomery. Their season is from April to September, and outside of the baseball season you can keep an eye out for events taking place throughout the year.

I’ve loved learning about unique mascot names and niche mascot activities at Minor League Baseball games ever since I went to a Bisons game on a trip to Buffalo. (During the 7th inning stretch, a chicken wing, blue cheese, a sandwich, and other mascots race.) On the Montgomery side of things, I’m told that there was once a time when they fired buttered biscuits out of a t-shirt cannon to fans! Unfortunately that tradition isn’t around anymore, but it’s still a fun experience for all ages.

On top of their games, the Biscuits mascot is great, and they sell some fun merchandise in their gift shop. Definitely pop into the store while you’re in town.

A Few Final Things to Do

Walk through The Alley. This series of shops, restaurants and bars in the alleys between Coosa Street, Tallapoosa Street and Commerce Street is a great place to come for a meal and take in the architecture and water towers.
Admire street art downtown. There is some great street art worth checking out throughout Montgomery. You can find the details about all the locations here.
Check out the Audrey E. Watson 1897 Street Car. This historic street car was one of the first electric street cars in North America, which was part of the Capital City Street Railway. The street car system no longer exists, but you can see the car near Riverfront Park.
Walk through Riverfront Park. The park has a few accessible walking paths and offers nice views of the Alabama River.
Visit more of Montgomery’s museums. If you’re looking for more museums worth visiting while you’re in town, good options are The Rosa Parks Museum and Library, The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, The F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum and the Hank Williams Museum.
Have a meal at other restaurants in town. If you’re looking for a few other spots worth dining at in Montgomery, we enjoyed Capitol Oyster Bar for shrimp and oysters, Bibb Street Pizza for lunch and Hero Doughnuts and Buns for breakfast.

Head to Another City in Alabama After Your Trip!

As I mentioned earlier, if you have a little more time to play with, Montgomery is only the beginning. We really loved our weekend getaway here, but would highly recommend planning to visit some of the incredible restaurants and important civil rights sites in Birmingham while you’re here. Birmingham is less than a two hour drive from Montgomery, making it an easy trip.

We headed to Tuscaloosa from Birmingham during our time in Alabama, and loved the vibes of this college town—especially since we happened to be visiting during an infamous Bama game! But that’s a story for another day.

I’d like to humbly thank Alabama Travel for hosting Chris and me as media for this trip to Montgomery. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Bri Mitchell

Bri Mitchell is a travel writer and content creator from Toronto, Ontario. She loves to highlight all things nature, food, wellness, sustainability and adventure in her work. Bri writes and shares her travel experiences from across Canada, the United States and around the world on Instagram and TikTok (@brimitchelltravels); in her articles for travelingmitch, Ultimate Ontario, and We Explore Canada; and in her weekly travel newsletter, The Weekly Traveller.

The Top Things to Do in Montgomery, AL: Civil Rights History, Legacy Sites and Local Culture Guide