University of Alabama

One of Alabama’s foremost academic institutions is not only a center of learning but also a thriving cultural hub with museums, parks and festivals.

On the University of Alabama’s sprawling campus, classrooms and laboratories sit alongside museums, sports stadiums and art galleries. Wander the leafy campus grounds, soak up the academic atmosphere and admire the elegant architecture.

Join a student-led tour of the 1,000-acre (400-hectare) campus to learn about its colorful history. Founded in 1820 as a seminary, the university later opened as an academic center in 1831 in the then state capital of Tuscaloosa. At the time of its opening, the school had just 52 students. Several of the buildings were destroyed during the Civil War, though the university has recovered and grown rapidly since then.

Inspect fossils, skeletons and wildlife specimens at the Alabama Museum of Natural History. The museum also hosts talks and events that are open to the public and often free. Also of note is the Gorgas House Museum, the oldest building on the campus. Discover what life was like in the 19th century by exploring the rooms, which include authentic period furniture.

Browse work by contemporary artists and university students at the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art. Additional work is displayed in the University of Alabama Gallery, which is located in central Tuscaloosa.

Cheer on a sporting team at one of the university’s stadiums. Bryant-Denny Stadium hosts the college’s football games. Elsewhere on the campus are venues for soccer, baseball and athletics. For more insight into the university’s sporting history, stop at the Paul W. Bryant Museum.

Take a break from city exploration in the colorful Arboretum. The university-owned park grows a diverse selection of plants, maintained for study by biologists at the college.

Tours of the campus are available. Arrange your spot in advance to guarantee a place on the tour bus. Reach the University of Alabama, which is east of the Tuscaloosa city center, by bus services, which run all around the site. Many of the attractions are not open during university holidays.