For my birthday, John and I decided to take a quick (and much-needed) getaway. We heard that Birmingham was fun and had been planning to visit with some friends. Unfortunately, we were never able to line our schedules up to go. A year (or more) goes by and I keep hearing more and more wonderful things about Birmingham so that’s where we decided to go: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. It was more fun than I ever thought it would be and I’m very excited to share my Birmingham weekend guide today!

Y’all. Birmingham was so good to us. I don’t know if John and I were just in desperate need of a weekend getaway or if Birmingham was really that much fun. I’m going to say it was a mixture of both. Prior to this trip, I’d been to Birmingham before but for a food conference. I didn’t really get to explore, though. Since that conference, I’ve read a lot about the city as a whole and how much it’s growing. It has a bustling food and drink scene and doesn’t seem to be stopping.

In fact, we loved Birmingham so much, we went back this summer with our friends Jennifer and Walter. This time, for John’s birthday.

Birmingham weekend guide: what we loved

So there’s a lot to explore (i.e. eat and drink) in Birmingham and we couldn’t get to everything but we tried to maximize our time there. One thing I learned about B’ham is that they have a pretty cool mayor. Any city that has a fun and active mayor, I’m always interested in learning more about it.

Sometimes when John and I travel, we love sitting at a bar and making friends. At one bar, we chatted with the bartender and he ended up writing us a list of recommendations for our visit (shoutout to Wild Bill at The Collins Bar).

I’ll admit, I had a few preconceived notions about Birmingham and we were both pleasantly surprised at our stay. I would highly recommend traveling to Birmingham if you’re looking for a really quick, weekend getaway. As usual, you can download my travel guide below and if you have any suggestions or tips for our next visit, let me know.