Alabama destination makes Conde Nast Traveler's 'friendliest cities' list

Every year, Conde Nast Traveler asks readers to vote on the friendliest cities in the United States for its Readers’ Choice Awards. For 2024, one Alabama city made the Top 10 alongside destinations such as Chicago, Charleston and Santa Fe.

Readers piped up for a spot on Alabama’s “beautiful, underrated Gulf Coast:” Mobile.

Alabama’s Port City came in at No. 5 on a list topped by Chattanooga, Tenn. There’s a slight glitch here, as Mobile allegedly “fell onto many travelers’ radars in 2024 when Amtrack unveiled its Gulf Coast service, connecting Mobile to New Orleans.”

Hold up there, Casey Jones: It’s not “now easier than ever to visit this slice of Alabama,” at least not quite yet, because they just held a groundbreaking for the service in late October. Even U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg couldn’t say with certainty when the “all aboard” call will come. (Spring 2025 seems likely.)

That said, the larger point stands. As the Traveler piece puts it, the rail connection comes at a time when Mobile “has begun respectfully highlighting its past through cultural moments such as the Isom Clemon Civil Rights Memorial Park and Clotilda: The Exhibition, a landmark show telling the story of the last ship carrying enslaved people through the lens of its survivors.”

According to the article, this is Mobile’s first time to make the list, which featured nearby Pensacola in 2023. The full gallery can be found at www.cntraveler.com.