Downtown Mobile

A great way to enjoy a new destination is to become familiar with its history, whether you seek out a group tour or opt for a brochure (Mobile offers these brochures for free) leading you on a self-guided walking tour. Mobile is best seen by the latter and is easily traversable by foot, with most sites located within a 17-block area. Begin your exploration on Dauphin Street, where mixed architectural styles of Victorian to classical revival and art deco combine seamlessly in a splendid visual palette of rich brick and cast iron. This scenic avenue is an excellent representation of Mobile’s fascinating heritage and a view into the city’s past origins that began in 1702. Along with the beautiful historic buildings on Dauphin Street, visitors will find dozens of quaint shops, the Bienville Square City Park, the scrumptious Three Georges chocolate shop founded in 1917 and the wonderful Mobile Arts Council.

Mobile’s grand, historic homes and famous neighborhoods reside within roughly eight historic districts. The Oakleigh District is especially interesting with gorgeous homes and neighborhood parks interspersed with Cajun shotgun homes (steep roofs) and Creole cottages (larger and with gabled roofs). This area is lovely with multitudes of live oaks and mansions featuring sprawling lawns in an unmistakably southern graciousness. And, the beautiful Oakleigh Period House Museum is open daily for tours. Moreover, Government Street is lined with spectacular, historical palatial homes and is perfect for a photographic spree. While this area is traversable by foot, it is a rather large district and a car tour might be a better option.

For a more scientific bent to your travels and one especially geared toward kids, visit Mobile’s Exploreum Museum, located on Government Street. The museum features amazing hands-on interactive educational exhibits, such as a harp with lazar beam strings and an IMAX theater. The BioLab is one of the best exhibits in the museum with a health and biology lab where visitors can perform various experiments and even knee and heart surgeries via virtual real-time simulation. For additional information, visit

One of the most magnificent gardens in the U.S. is the exquisite Bellingrath Gardens, located about 20 minutes from Mobile in Theodore. Walter and Bessie Bellingrath created the stunning 65-acre gardens 75 years ago out of a meek little fish camp. Today, the gardens feature a conservatory with dinner-plate sized tropical Hibiscus and over two-and-half miles of cultivated walking paths that meander through themed landscape designs that incorporate Mirror Lake and Fowl River.

Bright southern azaleas highlight the gardens and glorious water features with European statues grace the grounds next to the Bellingrath’s home that is now a museum. The 10,500 square foot Bellingrath home (completed in ’36) possesses perhaps the most antiques in a southern historical home. Every inch of the brick and cast-iron mansion boasts discriminating and rare period furniture, statues, paintings, china and porcelain treasures to make a duke weep. The surrounding rose gardens, about 75 different varieties, encompass the house with vivid red cardinals chirping in the Spanish moss-accented trees. The mansion also resides on the cusp of Fowl River accented with terraced stone patios and its own covered dock portico, followed by walking paths and fantastic stone waterfalls.

Bellingrath Gardens encompass a wide variety of flora and fauna in sculpted landscaped surroundings that bespeak the allure only a southern environment could create. If you yearn for beauty and nature, visit the gardens anytime of year and you will find blooms and serenity equal to a dream. In addition, the gardens are open at Christmastime with a dazzling display of over three million lights that create an enchanted fantasyland that is unparalleled.

More of Alabama’s Enticing Small Towns And Downtowns: Fairhope Foley, Monroeville and Gulf Shores

For additional information on Mobile, visit MobileBay.org For sophisticated and elegant accommodations in Mobile, visit the historic Battle House Renaissance Hotel with its breath-taking, European interior design, renowned spa and incomparable Trellis Room restaurant.

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