Four tourism regions in Alabama offer experiences that make any trip more than travel but a true adventure.

North Alabama Region – Key cities, Huntsville, Decatur, Florence, Fort Payne

North Alabama is filled with Mountain panoramas, waterfalls, caverns and gorges.  Religious shrines and the Trail of Tears bespeak faith and courage. This area of Alabama is the birthplace of W.C. Handy, Helen Keller and U.S. space rocket engineering. 

In Florence visit the homes of W.C. Handy, “Father of the Blues” and deaf-blind heroine Helen Keller. Tour the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and one of the south’s only fully restored homes by Frank Lloyd Wright.  In Cullman see Ave Maria Grotto, featuring 125 miniatures built by Brother Joseph Zoettl. In nearby Hanceville, visit The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, established by EWTN’s Mother Angelica.  In Huntsville the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is home of Space Camp. Also in Huntsville is Alabama Constitution Village, a living history museum commemorating the place where the state was established in 1819.

Near Fort Payne, tour Little River Canyon, one of the deepest gorges east of the Mississippi.  In Scottsboro, Unclaimed Baggage Center – America’s best-kept shopping secret.

Metropolitan Region – Key cites, Birmingham, Anniston, Tuscaloosa

Alabama’s largest city, Birmingham, anchors the Metropolitan region of Alabama. This vibrant region offers myriad diversions from art studios, to jazz clubs, to legendary fried green tomatoes.  Ponder the secrets left behind by a vanished civilization near Tuscaloosa and discover Alabama’s strange-but-true ties to spies and prisoners of World War II.

In Tuscaloosa art lovers can tour the Westervelt Warner Museum of Art, recognized as having one of the most extensive collections of 19th and early 20th century American Art collections. Also in the area is Kentuck Art Center in historic downtown Northport.

For more information, call 1-800-ALABAMA or visit 800alabama.com.