Getting There

By Plane -- Most tourists flying into Montgomery do so via Birmingham. By car, it is about 90 miles south along Interstate 65 from Birmingham to Montgomery. However, three carriers serve Montgomery Regional Airport, 4445 Selma Hwy. (tel. 334/281-5040), located 15 minutes from downtown on U.S. Highway 80 West. Northwest Airlink (tel. 800/225-2525) offers daily flights to Memphis; Atlantic Southeast (tel. 800/221-1212) to Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth; and US Airways Express (tel. 800/428-4322) to Charlotte, NC.

By Car -- The major routes into Montgomery are I-65 from the north (Birmingham) and southwest (Mobile), and I-85 from the northeast (Atlanta).

Visitor Information

Contact the Montgomery Area Visitor Center, 300 Water St., Montgomery, AL 36104 (tel. 800/240-9452 or 334/262-0013).

Getting Around

The nation's first electric streetcar system began in Montgomery in 1886. Motorized replicas of those cars (they're actually buses) make up the fleet of the Lightning Route Trolley (tel. 334/262-0013), which provides daily service from the visitor center in Historic Union Station to major downtown points of interest, including Old Alabama Town, the Civil Rights Memorial, and the Rosa Parks Museum. All-day passes cost $1. For exact hours, call the visitor center .

If you want to explore outlying areas, such as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival or Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, you will need a car.

Fast Facts -- A major local hospital is Jackson Hospital, 1725 Pine St. (tel. 334/293-8000). Although there are no drugstores with 24-hour pharmacies in the metro area, there's a CVS pharmacy at 1525 Forest Ave. (tel. 334/263-9272). In downtown, you'll find Adams Drug, 934 Adams Ave. (tel. 334/264-3496). Sales tax is a whopping 10%; hotel tax is 12.5%.

Special Events & Festivals

The city's premier music festival, Jubilee CityFest (tel. 334/834-7220), features nationally known entertainers on several stages throughout the downtown area each Memorial Day weekend.