Smack-dab in the middle of Alabama is where the “Magic City” has come to rise. Right in a valley, surrounded by forested mountain ridges, Birmingham is riding an alluring evolution. Young people are flocking home to open up restaurants, bars, hotels, shops, and startups—and it’s as if this Southern city has been waiting just for them.

The day and night whistle of trains dashing through the city is its signature sound—since the days of mineral mining in 1861. And two statues, an iron Vulcan on the city’s Red Mountain ridge, and a gold Electra on one of the city’s tallest buildings, are its icons. Its signature smell? Smoky barbecue, of course. Birmingham is exactly the “Sweet Home Alabama” delight you would expect. Throw in some extra Southern charm, mix that with all this new entrepreneurial spirit, and the upshot is a perfect weekend combination of sunshine and fun.

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Here’s a quick guide on how to fully enjoy the city with some pizazz.

Where to Feast

Ovenbird, from chef-owner and James Beard Award–winner Chris Hastings, is where to get your small plate fix—a burning beef fat candle on your lemon cream table side sets the tone. Inspired by grill and live fire pit cooking from all over the world, the restaurant pays some homage to the iron ore history of Birmingham, dating back two centuries.

Photo: 205 Photography / Courtesy of Ovenbird

If you’re ready to brunch, sit out in that Southern sunshine at downtown Feast and Forest. With Bandit Baking Co.’s buttermilk biscuits and Dapper & Wise coffee, you’ll be sated here.

The famous—and gorgeous—1925 Pizitz building downtown recently opened its ground floor as a food hall with international cuisine market stalls and restaurants, plus an incubator space for up-and-coming chefs to come play. Stylish apartments are located upstairs, in case you decide to move here.

Woodlawn Cycle Cafe is where the coffee is pored over and you’d be sure to make friends over soft brownies at the communal tables.

Where to Shop

Etc… is the city’s answer to all things fashionable. From local designer Liz Legg’s jewelry to carefully selected items from Rodarte and Golden Goose.

Photo: Courtesy of Etc…

Open Shop, a clothing-slash-music room is part of the Woodlawn neighborhood revitalization. It carries a small selection of interesting clothes for women and their gentlemen—like 1.61 (cofounder is Alabamian Kimberley Wesson) and Libertine. Owner Armand Margjeka is one to watch in this town as he quietly scoops up more real estate.

Club Duquette is a real young mom-and-pop store, with Great Bear Wax Co. candles handmade in the back and a lounge space if you want to just hang out and listen to music. They also sell Olo fragrances, Clary Collection skin-care products, and secondhand records.

Lose yourself for a few hours in Church Street Coffee and Books, a space for true literary connoisseurs. Also stock up on its cult-following chocolate chip Breakup Cookies.

The maker’s space, MAKE BHM, is where to come see what this city’s really cookin’ up, from the urban mill Alabama Sawyer producing furniture to the modern general store Winslet and Rhys specializing in home goods and custom designs.

What to Do

See blooming lilies while canoeing on the urban Cahaba River that runs all around the city. Pack a picnic basket filled with takeout treats from the Pizitz food market and watch the birds and deer.

Zelda is the word. Inspired by the great Alabama dame Zelda Fitzgerald, The Marble Ring is not to be missed. It’s a 1920s look-alike speakeasy serving cocktails and nibbles, entered through a phone booth in Hot Diggity Dogs.

For late nights, Saturn has a surprise every night. From burlesque, to crazy bingo nights, all the way to live blues, the venue can’t stop won’t stop.

Where to Sleep

Dubbed the “heaviest corner on earth” in the 20th century, this corner on 20th Street and First Avenue North downtown featured the tallest and most glamorous buildings in the South. Today, two of these buildings are gorgeous hotels. The newly opened Elyton Hotel is in one of the city’s most iconic buildings downtown—it dates back to 1909. Now this 16-story hotel has opened with 337 rooms, a farm-to-table restaurant, a brand-new gym, and also a rooftop space, Moonshine, where both summer and temperate fall nights are best spent.

Photo: Courtesy of The Elyton Hotel

The old American Trust and Savings Bank Building across the street, built in 1912, today is a private club and hotel. Dubbed the John Hand building, its recent renovation delivered just seven chic suites. If you’re looking for a no-fuss invisible service–style stay, this is ideal.