How to spend 3 days in Fairhope, Alabama

An incandescent sun dropping toward the horizon turns the sky above Mobile Bay into a pastel gradient of pinks, oranges, and dusky blues. Couples and trios stroll the shoreline, settling along the pier and on benches under spreading mimosa trees. It’s the same show that plays here every evening, and it never fails to draw a crowd.

The diminutive city of Fairhope has an outsize knack for drawing people together with its seaside charm, eclectic history, and meals around communal tables.

But it isn’t some magic blowing in on the sea breeze or even the quaint flower baskets dotting every downtown intersection, says innkeeper Dana Maloney. 

“The beauty attracts you, but the people are what make you want to stay,” says Maloney, who opened the Jubilee Suites atop the bluffs here 6 years ago. “A lot of us love real connections. Those happen here all the time.”

Our weekend getaway to this bayside Eden offers travelers world-class wine and fine-dining options, coastal adventures, boutique and antiques shopping, and a casually buzzy nightlife scene.

Fairhope began in the late 1800s as a social experiment by Midwestern idealists seeking to build a utopia. Since then, barefoot hermits, daring nudists, eccentric artists, and other colorful characters have called it home. Learn about the town’s quirky backstory—and about the jubilees that occasionally bring teeming fish, shrimp, and crabs to its waters’ surface—with a free self-guided tour of the Fairhope Museum of History.

Keep learning over cocktails and small bites with a 3-hour Taste of Fairhope Cocktail Tour (21 and older; $99 per person). Or head to Fly Creek Marina, where guests and residents alike toast the daily light show at the marina’s aptly named restaurant, Sunset Pointe.

The Spanish and pan-Latin dishes at Fairhope’s newest fine-dining destination, Plane & Level Coastal, are imbued with personal touches. Six-month-aged chimichurri sauce accompanies flaky Wagyu empanadas.

The tres leches cake comes straight out of the recipe box of culinary director Orlando Amaro’s Venezuelan grandmother. A dinner service might find Amaro tableside, carving a rosemary-spiked rack of lamb for 2 or expertly shaving slices from an impressive haunch of suckling pig. The restaurant’s variety of small plates, fresh seafood, and a wine list starring Spanish varietals makes for an adventurous and eminently shareable meal.

On temperate evenings, the back porch of downtown’s funky restaurant Bone & Barrel is the place to enjoy live music and dancing with an eclectic crowd.

With wrought-iron curlicues and flickering gas lamps, nearly every corner of downtown Fairhope enchants visitors—and no place more so than its French Quarter. Step through a verdant alley and into an oak-shaded courtyard framed by boutique shops to find a breakfast spot favored by residents. Panini Pete’s leans into the New Orleans vibe with freshly fried beignets topped with classic powdered sugar or served with grilled chicken and maple syrup.

Many noted writers have called this town home, among them Fannie Flagg of Fried Green Tomatoes fame and novelist Sonny Brewer. His book about the town’s most famed hermit, Henry Stuart, remains a must-read among locals nearly 20 years later. Celebrate this literary legacy at fourth-generation bookstore Page and Palette.

A leisurely pedal along the flat walk-bike Eastern Shore Trail offers striking views of Scenic Highway 98’s waterfront and wooded corridor. Sixteen miles south, the historic Grand Hotel in Point Clear boasts panoramic vistas and garden-fresh fare at the Bayside Grill. Make an afternoon of it by booking a treatment at the resort’s spa. Spa day pass, $100.

Or visit The Fairhope Store downtown for bike rentals (rates start at $10 an hour). Take in the same fresh air without the legwork by renting a golf cart at Sportsman’s Marine Rentals. (Reserve at least 2 weeks ahead, and stick to streets with speed limits of 35 mph or less; rates start at $60 for 2 hours.)

Drink in Fairhope’s laid-back coastal aesthetic from a new angle aboard one of Eastern Shore Charter’s electric vessels. The company, which launched in 2023, offers various private cruises at sunset with optional add-ons like locally catered picnics on board. Rates vary.

At The Hope Farm, a bounty of greens, herbs, and mushrooms are grown on-site and taste fresh in the hands of Executive Chef Adam Stephens. A 2024 James Beard nomination for Outstanding Wine Program is the latest triumph for an endeavor first envisioned as a hydroponic farm. It has evolved into a culinary compound of restaurant, cellar, café, event space, and—yes—hydroponic gardens.

Guests can tour the operation, but for a truly educational experience, time a visit for one of the monthly wine-tasting dinners or family-style Sunday suppers, when Stephens showcases flavors from around the globe.

Only at a bookshop-turned-bar will you find drinks with deliciously punny names like “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margarita.” Stop into Book Cellar, Page and Palette’s offshoot, after dinner for live music, craft cocktails, and an enthusiastic crowd. 

It’s no surprise that a place dubbing itself a “creative colony” boasts a downtown chockablock with galleries, boutiques, and deftly curated antique shops.Start your shopping spree at artist-run The Copper Column, where Suzanne Davis shows original artwork, handmade accessories, and upscale boho finds in a vibrant, bazaar-like atmosphere. From there, explore the commercial blocks around Fairhope Avenue and Section Street as much as your credit card allows.

Go big one more time before you go home at one of Baldwin County’s oldest restaurants. Open since 1945, the diner-style Julwin’s Restaurant remains a go-to breakfast destination thanks to epic pancake stacks and Southern favorites like creamy Gouda grits topped with Gulf shrimp. 

Spend your last hours in town soaking up the coastal vibes with a final stroll along the Fairhope Municipal Pier, where locals shoot the breeze and cast nets for mullet. Or marvel at the town’s creative riches with a look at the private Fairhope Storybook Castles, built by a family of local artists, some of whom still live on-site. Perhaps you’d prefer to embrace Fairhope’s innate eccentricity at the cement hut that hermit Henry Stuart built in the woods in 1926. Dubbed Tolstoy Park, it stands today in a parking lot.

The 7 stylishly appointed 1- and 2-bedroom units at the Jubilee Suites feature waterfront views, locally sourced in-room treats, and enough space to luxuriate for a weekend.

Nestled in a residential neighborhood near downtown, the property’s private beach and expansive grounds give guests epic sunset opportunities and the option to explore Mobile Bay by kayak or paddleboard. But the upscale inn’s biggest asset just might be its communal breakfast table, where guests devour fluffy omelets alongside recommendations from owner and host Dana Maloney. Rates start at $385.

Trip host, Instagram personality, and travel writer Jessica Fender never misses a chance to visit Fairhope. Follow her adventures from the Deep South to South America on Instagram @travelerbroads.