Plan the Perfect Summer Vacation on the Gulf Coast of Alabama

May 22, 2025

If you’re looking for gorgeous sand beaches without international travel or the high-traffic of Florida’s shores, then the Gulf Coast of Alabama is the perfect place for your next summer road trip. From wildlife nature retreats to coastal shoreline to historic sites, this has the perfect blend of relaxation, exploration, and tourism to make a top tier vacation spot!

Can’t Miss Destinations: Nature Conservation, Wildlife Spotting, Historic Tourism and More!

Take the ferry out to Dauphin Island to visit several local tourism spots. Fort Morgan is a national historic landmark from the Civil War and both World Wars. You and your family will be fascinated on the thorough guided tours highlighting the fort’s historical importance, historic artifacts on display, gorgeous architectural details, and the detailed accounts of soldier’s lives. While you’re there, there’s a fantastic spot for fishing along Bon Secour Bay for fish such as speckled trout, redfish, and blue crab. You can also do some birding at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge while you’re there, as the area is also home to endangered species and plentiful migratory birds, as well as a protected habitat for local wildlife.

Just a short drive away is the Alabama Aquarium, formerly known as the Estuarium, which highlights the four beautiful habitats of coastal Alabama – Tensaw River Delta, Mobile Bay, the Barrier Islands, and Northern Gulf of Mexico; check out the exhibits, feeding time demonstrations, or book an excursion for an all-ages, hands-on experience about aquatic life on the gulf! Then you can swing on over to Fort Gaines, Mobile Bay Battlefield, Fort Pickens, Fort Barrancas, and Historic Blakeley State Park and check out even more historic buildings.

Just a short drive away is Gulf State Park and Gulf State Park Pier. Visitors can grab a fishing pass to fish off the 1,500+foot pier, or sightseeing pass to enjoy 3 miles of sandy beaches, 28 miles of hiking and biking trails, geocaching, paddling, boating, parasailing, kayaking, and so much more! Lake Shelby is a beautiful 600-acre freshwater lake located inside the park, perfect for kayaking, canoeing, paddling, and fishing. The Gulf State Park’s Nature Center is an impressive conservation museum of live plants and animals native to the gulf coast. Visitors can enjoy weekly guided nature walks, beach walks, and pier walks at the center, and learn more about the Gulf Coast wildlife. The facility also has numerous animal ambassadors including owls, turtles, snakes, gators, and many more.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo is open daily and offers hands-on experiences like the Sloth Adventure, Lemur Adventure, Sulcata Tortoise feedings, Giraffe feedings, South American Adventure, and Madagascar Adventure. There’s also a Zip Line, Carousel, Safari Cars, and a Kiddie Train! The Zoo also offers a wide array of special events such as Summer zoo Camp, meet and greets, and rotating exhibits.

Make Memories with Unforgettable, Unique Experiences only on Alabama’s Gulf Coast!

Want to experience the Gulf in a whole new way? flyBama helicopter tours and Skydive the Gulf both offer unique perspectives from a birds-eye view of the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach! And we can’t forget recommending you stop at the vintage Gulf Bowl Bowling Alley & Captain’s Choice Seafood Restaurant – a retro bowling alley with an arcade, sports bar, and grill in one!

Alabama’s Coastal Connection Scenic Byway makes a great mini-road trip within your road trip. This 130 miles long roadway travels along the Gulf of Mexico and between two counties, Mobile and Baldwin, and takes you along beautiful beaches, charming downtowns, nature reserves, and some of the best seafood eateries you’ve ever enjoyed.

The Hot Shop and Clay Studios at Coastal Arts Center offer demonstrations and hands-on workshops and classes to throw clay on a pottery wheel, learn to blow glass, and make your own sculpted works of art. Need a little inspiration, why not peruse the fine arts gallery of Gulf Coast artists or check out the Coastal Arts Center’s Annual Festival of Art!

FlightWorks Alabama is an innovative aerospace museum and education center with 15,000 square feet and more than 40 exhibits! The museum is only open Tuesday through Fridays, so plan accordingly so you don’t miss out on this unique opportunity. The Airbus Foundation Discovery Space aims to teach the past, present and future of aviation, and visitors can experience the Cockpit Simulator Challenge, Drone Fly Zone, Flight Control Basics, the Aerodynamics Arcade, FlightPath Career Center, and then some.

Foley Railroad Museum and Model Train Exhibit is a free museum featuring a humongous remote-controlled model railroad, real historic train cars you can ride through Foley Heritage Park, and other interactive hands-on exhibits for the whole family! The exhibit has different hours than the museum itself – Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10AM to 2PM, and train rides are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in the Summer and Saturdays the rest of the year.

Oak Hollow Farm in Fairhope is a family owned and operated working farm, and site of a historic farm from the 1800s that once grew cotton, sugar cane, potatoes, corn and livestock on over 300 acres. Book a tour of the grounds, try your hand a little Skeet Shooting, attend a special seasonal event, attend a silent auction, or just spend the week resting and relaxing on the farm grounds.

The Wharf at Orange Beach is an exciting, bustling waterfront area offering one-of-a-kind entertainment, plentiful shopping, amusement rides, and an amphitheater with live entertainment. We bet you’ll love the SPECTRA Laser Light Experience or the Wharf Express Train experience! If that’s not exciting enough, you may want to check out Arena the Next Level Arcade or Outer Limits VR.

The Eastern Shore Art Center has a stunning array of fine art exhibits across its 5 galleries as well as 4 art studios offering year round classes, workshops, and lectures, a creative gift shop, annual outdoor art show, and an autumnal Plein Air painting event.

As you can see, there’s no shortage of fun and excitement on the gulf shores of Alabama!