Blast Off to Rocket City! Things to Do in Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville, Alabama totally took us by surprise. We knew “Rocket City” had NASA’s largest space flight center and the beloved Space Camp, but we had no idea their music, art, and food scene would also be out of this world. The city has one of the highest concentrations of PhDs in the country, and they are using their wicked smarts in lots of fun ways. Huntsville has transformed a cotton mill into the nation’s largest privately owned art center, an old high school into a brewery and entertainment complex, and built an amphitheater so acoustically perfect and sustainable that it has been named one of Billboard’s best venues in the world!

For all of Huntsville’s growth and innovation in recent years, it haven’t forgotten its roots. As Alabama’s first capital and a city spared during the Civil War, it has some of the state’s oldest and grandest architecture. What originally put Huntsville on the tourist map in the late 1800s was its “Mountains of Health.” Monte Sano State Park’s 2,400 acres of wilderness remain within the city limits in the name of conservation and recreation. Huntsville clearly wants to make sure its guests and residents are well taken care of, and it has paid off, earning the city US News & World Report’s “Best Place to Live.”

We spent five days in Huntsville, and couldn’t believe how much there was to explore in this little city. To help you plan an unforgettable trip, we’ve created this list of the best things to do in Huntsville, Alabama. Buckle up, Rocket City, here you come!

Gush Over Big Spring

The best place to start your Huntsville trip is where the town began…Big Spring! In 1805, John Hunt heard tales of a place beyond the Appalachian Mountains with an ever-flowing spring of crystal-clear water. When he saw 20 million gallons pouring out per day, he made it his homestead, and hundreds of settlers quickly followed suit. After 150 years as Huntsville’s drinking source, Big Spring’s pools and canals are now the heart of their central park.

To get a feel for the raw beauty that attracted Hunt to this place, start at the Spring Street entrance to see the water bubbling from the limestone bluff. Meander the canals and take a seat at the expansive pond to admire the reflections of the city’s skyscrapers and Huntsvillians in their happy place.

💡 Huntsville Travel Tip: Come in April for the Southeast’s premier arts festival, Panply, or summer Mondays for Big Spring Park’s weekly concert series.

Constitution Hall, Where Alabama Began!

This unsuspecting cabinet maker’s workshop is where Alabama’s statehood began with the signing of its constitution in 1819. Today, it’s a lovely museum, surrounded by eight historic buildings, including a law office, print shop, post office, cabinetmaker’s shop, and residence, offering a glimpse into Alabama’s earliest days. The charming outdoor exhibit is free, and the museum offers atmospheric lantern tours around the holidays.

The Secret Art & Mural Tour

You can’t help but notice the colorful murals all over Huntsville, but to see the finest and learn about the artists behind them, follow the Secret Art Trail in the Quigley Arts & Entertainment District. While murals make up most of the 16 stops, there are also fabulous sculptures hanging off buildings and stained-glass art for the keen-eyed. We loved the vibrant “This Girl Can” by Kim Radford, celebrating women’s right to vote, and “The Catalyst” mural by Robert Bean for its clever selfie opps, like holding a balloon, riding a bike, or flying away on a Poppins-style umbrella. For more info, check out this detailed guide to the Secret Art Trail.

💡 Travel Tip: In any of Huntsville’s five designated Arts & Entertainment Districts, open-container laws loosen up. Bars pour your drink into a magic purple cup, and it can travel with you on your walk until the next watering hole that calls to you.

Wander the Mansions of Twickenham

Huntsville’s oldest neighborhood is a fairytale-meets-textbook of early American architecture. Dating back to 1814, Antebellum mansions (more than 65!), Greek Revival, and Victorian homes are beautifully preserved here. Williams Ave SE is the grandest thoroughfare, and every intersecting street has swoon-worthy houses.

For a chance to go inside a historic home, the Weeden House Museum is a great choice. In addition to admiring its 19th-century stylings, the paintings and poems of lifelong resident Maria Howard Weeden offer a deeper look into Huntsville life, particularly that of African Americans. Guided tours depart at 10:00 a.m., Monday-Friday, with additional tours on Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00 p.m.

💡 Travel Tip: Pull up HuntsvilleHistoryTours.org on your phone to follow the Huntsville History Tour’s audio guide to dive into the history of the city’s most impressive buildings.

Travel Back in Time at Harrison Brothers Hardware

Operating on Huntsville’s historic Courthouse Square since 1897, Harrison Brothers is a handyman’s, antiquarian’s, and art lover’s dream. After the Harrison family stocked its wooden shelves and knobbed drawers for nearly a century, the Historic Huntsville Society happily took over the inventory and froze this place in time. Peek into the creaky cabinets of forgotten wares. Marvel at the rope-pulley freight elevator and go around the six-foot-tall safe until you reach the Harrison Brothers Gallery. It features the works of more than 50 regional artists and local purveyors for your souvenir-shopping pleasure. Use cash, and the clerk will ring you up on the bronze register from 1907.

Frolic in Huntsville Botanical Garden

Explore 118 acres of manicured gardens and native habitat, including a trail of 3,000 azalea bushes, a butterfly house with monarchs fluttering around you, an Aquatic Pavilion to catch the water lilies’ reflections, and a Garden of Hope for cancer patients and their families. And don’t miss the most exciting permanent exhibit…Mama Zelda, a giant troll created by world-renowned recycled artist Thomas Dambo.

We came to the Huntsville Botanical Garden specifically to see this troll, whose hair of twigs and vines forms a whimsical labyrinth to reach her, but quickly realized there was so much more going on at the garden. On the day of our visit, there was the “Global Rhythm & Blooms” concert series, a scarecrow art exhibit, and a medieval fencing tournament. Check their calendar of events for what fun they have in store for your visit!

Play Hooky At Campus 805

@honeytrek What was a high school for 60 years is now every naughty student’s dream. At Campus 805, the gymnasium is a brewery, the English classroom is a tattoo parlor, a row of lockers hides a speakeasy, and the sports fields are now festival grounds, for adults to run wild across their 13-acre schoolyard. Bending the rules a bit further, the Huntsville Arts & Entertainment District lets you walk outside and between bars with your purple open container, without getting detention. As they say at Campus 805, school will never be the same again. #campus805 #visithuntsvilleal #partner #iHeartHSV @Huntsville, AL @Straight to Ale ♬ ACDC style hard rock(1021726) – Canal Records JP

What was a high school for 60 years is now every naughty student’s dream. At Campus 805, the gymnasium has become a brewery, the English classroom a tattoo parlor, a row of lockers perfectly hides a speakeasy, and the sports fields are now festival grounds, for adults to run wild across this 13-acre schoolyard. We loved Straight to Ale’s beer, food, and self-guided brewery tour through the old gym and wandering the halls of lockers looking for cool businesses, like Ronnie Raygun’s vintage pinball arcade and Rocket City Laser. Unlike a normal school, you’re going to want to come on a weekend when all these quirky classrooms are open and everyone is playing hooky.

Be an Astronaut for the Day at the US Space & Rocket Center

No matter if you are super into science or space exploration, this NASA & Smithsonian-Affiliate museum will blow your mind. It’s the official visitor center for the Marshall Space Flight Center—the rocket makers that sent man to the moon and the geniuses literally propelling the future of space exploration. The US Space & Rocket Center also dives into the fascinating history of Huntsville, going from a floundering cotton mill town to a driving force in the Space Race.

It’s where you can see the actual Saturn V rocket that sent Neil & Buzz to the moon, a life-size replica of the Pathfinder Space Shuttle, and countless artifacts and 21st-century prototypes of space travel. This museum is incredibly hands-on, letting you hop aboard an international space station, climb into capsule cockpits, and even drive an FS-VC dual system flight simulator that will have you doing barrel rolls. 

The Intuitive Planetarium is a separate ticket, but so worth it to see the latest findings of the James Webb Space Telescope (the most powerful ever built) and witness the evolution of galaxies, the lifecycle of stars, and a kind of beauty we never knew existed. And if the US Space & Rocket Center really gets your engines firing, sign up for Space Camp! Not just for kids, family, and all-adult sessions are available. Dozens of the grads have become actual astronauts, and everyone we know who’s participated continues to talk about it, even decades later.

Paint the Town Red at Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment

From a cotton mill to a shoe factory to the largest privately-owned art center in the USA, Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment has got staying power and so much fun on tap. When we saw this series of century-old warehouses, with their gritty bricks and wonky windows, we couldn’t believe what was inside…a labyrinth of 153 working art studios, 4 performance spaces, a meadey, vintage arcade, and many more creative spaces. Not some pretentious museum, Lowe Mill wants everyone to find their inner artist, offering open classes in everything from comic book-making, to cigar box guitar lessons, ceramics, and Celtic dance.

As not-so-good painters, we were a little intimidated to sign up, but with beloved local artist Yuri Ozaki hosting a 1-hour class for a mere $20, we had to give it a go! We learned a ton, had a blast, and actually came away with a painting we’re proud of. To make the night even cooler, we caught Lowe Mill’s Friday night concert series, danced to a five-piece band until closing time, and had a late-night dinner party at Chef Will The Palettes’ plant-based food truck. Watch the video (above) for the magic of Lowe Mill.

Play Disc Golf Like a Pro

Disc golf might be a fringe sport in some places, but not Huntsville! The city is home to one of the world’s first courses and just got the bid for the 2027 PDGA Amateur World Championships. There are 11 courses in town; die-hards should head to the OG Tom Monroe Memorial Disc Golf Course or the John Hunt Park to get to the greens before the championship players do.

Or if you’re disc-golf dabblers like us and enjoy a walk in the park just as much, rent a set of discs for $5 at the Outdoor Recreation Center, then head to Monte Sano. This state park is beautiful, and we loved that its course goes through the North Alabama Japanese Garden, with its bamboo forest, tea house, and Haiku Path with inspirational poems along the way.

💡Travel Tip: Have extra energy after your round of disc golf at Monte Sano? Hike the Sinks Trail to Stone Cuts Loop for northern Alabama’s impressive limestone formations. 

Catch a Concert (or any event!) at The Orion

How do you create one of Billboard’s Top Music Venues in the World? Pair a Grammy-award-winning rockstar, who understands what artists and fans want, with one of the savviest cities in the American South. With the Mumford & Sons keyboard player and venue guru at the helm, Huntsville’s Orion Amphitheater is where music meets community, sustainability, and a helluva good time.

We came to The Orion to see Blink-182 (one of Mike’s all-time favorite bands!), but quickly realized it was so much more than an 8000-person music venue. The exterior has a big-art park, food trucks, a dive bar, and multiple spaces for community events throughout the week. Inside, you won’t find your average hot dog and Bud Light beer stands, but rather 15 bespoke bars, mixing cocktails with herbs grown on site and pouring all-Alabama brews that benefit environmental nonprofits. Sustainability is at the core of The Orion, with its no-single-use-plastic policy and commitment to send zero waste to landfills. In fact, the week we visited, their reusable cups program celebrated its 1 millionth reuse!

The Blink-182 show was as awesome as expected, but the fun we didn’t see coming was the after-party! The Orion threw in an extra band for free at The Dome, and we danced until midnight on a Monday with hundreds of stoked locals…what a night!

Best Huntsville Bars & Restaurants

Domaine South

In front of Big Spring’s waterfall sits one of the best restaurants in town, with a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence to back it up. Love the vibe at Domaine South, with their art-packed walls and ceilings dripping with plants. With a focus on local and seasonal ingredients, the menu changes weekly, and you can always count on their gorgeous charcuterie boards (with multiple vegan cheese options!). Go for happy hour (11-5pm) to enjoy their fine wines and admire the waterfall in the sunshine.

Standard Social Market

Part gourmet bodega and part restaurant, Standard Social Market feels like a hip locals’ joint, and they were plenty accommodating to newcomers. We asked for a Southern meal vegan-style, and they put their delicious black bean burger between a biscuit with a side of fried green tomatoes, and we were in comfort-food heaven!

Revivalist

Once a 19th-century tavern, Revivalist is channeling its old-school vibes in the chicest way. This place pulses with date-night vibes and has prices to match your special occasion, but worth it for the tahini cauliflower steak and French onion orzo. 

Mason Dixon Bakery & Bistro

An entirely gluten-free and largely plant-based menu, this bakery and bistro is great for health and planet-conscious diners. Get Mason Dixon’s vegan cookie-dough chocolate cupcake—it’s divine!

Stovehouse

A former stove factory is now a food-court-meets-adult-playground, just outside of downtown. Centered around a yard of lawn games and sunsails, Stovehouse’s 15 eateries and bars let friends follow their appetites in different directions and come together over giant checkers and cornhole. Kamado Ramen and Pourhouse hit the spot!

Catacomb 435

This speakeasy does it right, with clues to get to the front door, a secret password, and truly custom cocktails in a moody, cool setting. Catacomb 435’s menu is just a series of checkboxes to mark the flavors, spirits, and vibes you’re feeling, and their mixologist makes magic from there.

More Vegan Options

We reached out to @HuntsvilleVegans and this group of local plant-based devotees recommended Vujee Vegan, The Veggie, and Hippea Camper for fantasstic 100% vegan eateries.

Where to Stay

106 Jefferson

The Victorian-era Huntsville Hotel is back as a posh Hilton Curio property. Perfectly situated in the heart of downtown and across from lively Jefferson Alley, the rooms are chic, their rooftop bar is a locals hot spot, and their lobby is connected to one of Huntsville’s finest restaurants (read: your Hilton Honors F&B credit gets you breakfast or cocktails!)

Placemakr

In the booming Mid-City neighborhood and just across from The Orion Amphitheater, this apartment-style hotel is a great alternative to Airbnb with the same homey comforts.

Monte Sano Cabins

Sitting on the bluffs of the state park, just five miles from downtown, Monte Sano has eleven 1930s cabins built by the CCC. Recently renovated with modern kitchens and bathrooms, without losing their stone fireplaces, wide-plank ceilings, and screened-in porches of yesteryear. We’re so glad we added this stint in nature to our city stay!

Getting to Huntsville

Being in Northern Alabama and the state’s largest city, Huntsville is more connected than you might think. Just a two-hour drive from Nashville, and 3.5 hours from Atlanta, Knoxville, and Memphis, it’s an easy road trip. If you’re flying in, Huntsville has direct flights from New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami, Denver, Las Vegas, LA, and more major cities. And making travel to Huntsville extra pleasant, HSV has repeatedly been named “Best Small Airport in the USA” for its efficient service and unexpected delights, like an art gallery, live music, and a brewery. Rental cars are plentiful and the best way to get around Huntsville.

Rocket City Rocks!

Clearly, there are plenty of things to do in Huntsville, but the ingenuity and creative spirit behind them is what impressed us most. We marvel at how Huntsville reinvented itself from a defunct mill town to a beacon of NASA technology. Then, when the glow of the Space Race faded, they focused on art and architecture, reimagining old buildings as creative spaces to bring their community together.

Then, what always makes a place so memorable is the people you meet! From catching up with our old buds, Jen & Ed, who made Huntsville their home, to breaking bread with new friends at Lowe Mills’s painting classes and vegan food truck, we saw Rocket City and Alabama in a new and shining light and know you will too.

P.S. Big Thanks to Visit Huntsville for inviting us to town and supporting our work!