Group tours come to Birmingham from across the country for the year ‘round menu of special events. The calendar is packed with outdoor art shows, ethnic and regional food festivals, and music events showcasing bluegrass, country and symphony pops performances. Other events spotlight independent film, locally-crafted beer and wine, and historically significant events from Birmingham’s storied past.
Tours should stay an extra day to spend in the city’s Civil Rights District, recently named a National Monument. The district includes the moving and memorable Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and historic Kelly Ingram Park, ground zero for civil rights activities in Birmingham in the 1960s. Across the street from the park is Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, site of the 1963 racially-charged dynamite blast that killed four little girls.
Many tours come to Birmingham with the intent of enjoying the nationally-acclaimed cuisine. Chef-owned restaurants are plentiful, giving visitors an organically local dining experience. Birmingham also serves up some of the world’s best barbecue. Media giant Zagat recently called Alabama barbecue “America’s Best Kept Secret.”
Other dining options that are tour pleasers include cafeteria steam tables laden with Southern favorites such as fried chicken, meatloaf, turkey and dressing, black-eyed peas, fresh corn, okra, sliced tomatoes, peach cobbler and Lane cake.
After a memorable dinner—or supper as we call it in the South—tours can explore a variety of inviting taprooms. Local brews are drawing national attention for their flavors and carefully crafted brewing methods.
Theme tours introduce groups to Birmingham’s religious pilgrimage, to the city’s primary attractions and to the massive iron and steel industry that powered the early days of the city. All these tours give visitors a look at a city like no other. This is a city of superlatives. Group tours love the panoramic view from Vulcan, the world’s largest cast iron statue. With the world’s largest collection of vintage and contemporary motorcycles, tours of Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum are eye-candy for visitors. And at the Birmingham Museum of Art, groups find the largest museum collection of Wedgwood outside of England.
Group travel to Birmingham also finds fun in the great outdoors. Hiking, biking and ziplining at Red Mountain Park takes visitors into the rolling foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Less strenuous outdoor fun is at Railroad Park, sometimes called “Birmingham’s living room.”
Whatever your tour’s interests, you’ll find multi-faceted itineraries to make special memories…in Birmingham.
Contact:
Tourism Department
Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau
800-458-8085
Zagat recently called Alabama barbecue “America’s Best Kept Secret.”
Vulcan, the world’s largest cast iron statue. 
enjoy a tour of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum
