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Alabama contains a broad range of attractions and pursuits within its borders, whether urban, cultural, or outdoor.

Numerous museums preserve and interpret Alabama's unique cultural heritage. The Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham showcases over 21,000 works of art ranging from ancient to modern times, emphasizing European, American, Asian, African, Pre-Columbian, and Native American art, as well as changing exhibits. The Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville features over 2,500 pieces in its collection of artwork and includes traveling exhibits and the work of both nationally and regionally known artists. The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery collects and preserves works of art as a primary venue in Central Alabama. The Edith Culver Memorial Museum in Waterloo is a town museum featuring Native American artifacts and Civil War paraphernalia. The Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa interprets the state's natural history from the age of Dinosaurs through the Ice Age and modern times, with large collections of geology, zoology, mineralogy, paleontology, ethnology, history, and photography. Natural history buffs will also appreciate the Anniston Museum of Natural History in Anniston, home to one of the nation's oldest exhibits of birds in their habitats, as well as changing exhibit galleries and outdoor nature trails. Moundville Archaeological Park preserves a large Mississippian settlement dating from A.D. 1000 until around A.D. 1450, and is the site of a former 300 acre (1.21 square kilometer or 121 hectare) village along the Black Warrior River; its museum contains artifacts and interpretive exhibits depicting decades of archaeological work. Military buffs will enjoy visiting the USS Alabama in Mobile at the Battleship Memorial Park; visitors can witness relics from World War II to Desert Storm, including the USS Alabama, the submarine USS Drum, and military aircraft such as the B-52D "Calamity Jane", an A-12 Blackbird spy plane, and more. The Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham will thrill aviation fans with its collection of military, civilian, and home-built aircraft preserved at the museum, such as a full-size Wright Flyer replica, as well as aviation memorabilia spanning decades of flying history. Motorsports aficionados should not miss the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum in Talladega, which spans three buildings and pays tribute to motorsports through its collection of racing vehicles and paraphernalia dating from the early 20th century to the present. At the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, visitors can enjoy seeing over 900 vintage and modern motorcycles and a large collection of Lotus and other racecars, considered to be the largest such collection in North America and representing 16 countries. Railroad buffs will appreciate the North Alabama Railroad Museum in Chase, featuring the Chase depot and vintage train rides over the Mercury & Chase Railroad; over 30 pieces of railroad vehicles have been preserved, including three historic locomotives. Country music lovers will want to pay tribute at the Official Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery.

Alabama boasts a wealth of performing arts venues, whether for musical performances or stage productions. Orchestral music lovers have much to choose from, including the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) in Birmingham, with over 70 years of serving Alabama and providing over 150 concerts each season; the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra in Huntsville, providing North Alabama with the oldest, continuously operating professional orchestra in the state; and the Mobile Symphony in Mobile, established in 1970. Opera aficionados will also enjoy performances by Mobile Opera. Alabama's many theatres include the Birmingham Festival Theatre, founded in 1972 as Birmingham's oldest theater, and producing both contemporary and classic productions; the Birmingham Park Players, a nonprofit, outdoor/indoor team; the Virginia Samford Theatre in Birmingham, with new and old productions; Theatre Huntsville, providing six to eight theatrical productions annually; Mobile Theatre Guild, serving Mobile with community theatre since 1947; Playhouse in the Park, also in Mobile; and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, the sixth largest Shakespeare Festival in the world, running from August to November and attracting over 300,000 visitors annually. Lovers of ballet and dance will enjoy performances by any of Alabama's companies, such as Birmingham Alabama Ballet, Mobile Ballet, the Montgomery Alabama Dance Theatre, and Montgomery Ballet.

Alabama's rich history is preserved and memorialized at various historic sites throughout the Yellowhammer State. Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport preserves a cave shelter representing one of the most complete records of prehistoric culture in the Southeast, with the site dating over 10,000 years old. The Natchez Trace Parkway stretches 444 miles (714.5 kilometers) through Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and commemorates an ancient trail to salt licks in modern Tennessee. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in Daviston marks the 2,040 acre (8.26 square kilometer or 826 hectare) site of a battle in 1814 between General Andrew Jackson and an army of over 3,000 men that attacked the native Upper Creek warriors on the Tallapoosa River. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail crosses several states, including Alabama, and commemorates the bravery of the Cherokee people during a tragic chapter of history when they were removed from their Southeastern homelands in the 1840s. The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee commemorates the first African-American military pilots in the U.S., known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery is a National Historic Landmark and the site where Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. first pastored and began his quest for civil rights. The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Montgomery, Lowndes, and Dallas Counties commemorates the events, people, and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama.

The Yellowhammer State is home to abundant scenic beauty, and its natural attractions provide entertainment by trail, beach, river, and nearly any other mode of exploration. At Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne, the Little River wends through forests, over waterfalls and through canyons, providing a wealth of recreational opportunities such as rock climbing, rappelling, kayaking, horseback riding, camping, and other activities. Additional climbing opportunities abound at Hurricane Creek Park, with over 67 acres (0.27 square kilometers or 27.1 hectares) of park set in a 500 foot (152.4 meter) deep canyon; Horse Pens 40, a historic outdoor nature park atop Chandler Mountain in the Appalachians, and one of the best boulder venues in the U.S.; and DeSoto State Park, atop Lookout Mountain, with over 3,500 acres (14.1 square kilometers or 1,416 hectares) of park, including hikes along waterfalls and riverside. Canoeing and kayaking can be enjoyed near Blountsville on the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River; or along the Coosa River, with class II rapids; or on the Escatawpa River, to name a few spots. Sea kayaking can also be enjoyed from Dauphin Island to the nearby barrier islands. Numerous caverns reside beneath Alabama as well, and many can be toured. Among these are DeSoto Caverns Park in Childersburg; Cathedral Caverns State Park in Grant; Three Caves in Huntsville; Sequoyah Caverns in Valley Head; Rickwood Caverns in Warrior; and Sauta Cave, at Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge near Scottsboro, which is home to hundreds of thousands of gray bats. Alabama also offers many locales for bird watching and wildlife viewing, such as the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, which is arranged in six loops winding through two counties; the North Alabama Birding Trail, along the Tennessee River; the Upper Cahaba River Birding Trail near Hoover and Birmingham; Dauphin Island; the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge; and the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge along the Gulf Coast, with 7,000 acres (28.3 square kilometers or 2,833 hectares) providing habitat to nesting sea turtles, migratory birds, and other members of coastal dune ecosystem. Additionally, the Weeks Bay Preserve is home to over 6,000 acres (24.3 square kilometers or 2,428 hectares) of coastal wetlands, marshes, bogs, and forests, where many animals and rare plants can be observed.

Alabama boasts family-friendly attractions for any age. Animal lovers will enjoy the Birmingham Zoo, with over 750 animals of 250 species from six continents; the Montgomery Zoo in Montgomery; and the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores, home to nearly 300 animals. Those who want to see alligators up close will enjoy Alligator Alley, where alligators roam freely and visitors can watch from boardwalk paths. At the Estuarium at Dauphin Island, visitors of all ages can enjoy interactive learning about the habitats of coastal Alabama, with a 10,000 square foot (0.001 square kilometer or 0.092 hectare) Exhibit Hall and Living Marsh Boardwalk, with plants, animals, and other natural resources. The McWane Science Center in Birmingham offers family fun with hands-on activities, science exhibits, aquariums, laboratories, fossil and artifact collections, and an IMAX Dome Theater. Space buffs should not miss the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, site of NASA's Official Visitor Information Center for Marshall Space Flight Center, where future astronauts train at Space Camp and Aviation Challenge, and where visitors can learn about space flight at the interactive Spacedome Theater, Rocket Park, Shuttle Park, and NASA's Educator Resource Center. More educational fun can be had at children's museums such as the Children's Hands-On Museum in Tuscaloosa, Children's Museum of the Shoals in Florence, Earlyworks Museum Complex in Huntsville, and Imagination Place in Gadsden. With so many opportunities for children, Alabama offers ample fun for all.

While Alabama does not host major league professional sports teams, its denizens enjoy other sports. Talladega Superspeedway is billed as the biggest, fastest, and most competitive motorsports facility in the world, with over 3,000 acres (12.1 square kilometers or 1,214 hectares) including track site and parking, and an infield area of 212 acres (0.86 square kilometers or 85.8 hectares. Talladega boasts a 2.66 mile (4.3 kilometer) tri-oval course, with north and south turns banked 33 degrees and the grandstands tri-oval banked at 16.5 degrees, providing plenty of excitement for NASCAR racing fans. Golfers know Alabama especially for the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a collection of championship golf trails with over 400 holes at ten sites.

With so many choices for recreation, whether outdoor or urban, Alabama offers something for everyone to enjoy.

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