Get Ready for New Orleans to Mobile Train

Sunday, Dec 08, 2024 0

International travel companies get ready for Mobile to New Orleans passenger train service.

Amtrak is expected to start a train service twice a day, seven days a week between New Orleans and Mobile in Spring of 2025. With the start of this new passenger train route between these southern USA gulf coast cities, international tour and travel companies are seeing an opportunity to promote a two-city, automobile-free holiday in America.

Mobile and New Orleans are Sister Cities

The shared history, culture and food of the two port cities make them an ideal twin city getaway. Both cities were capitals of the original Colony of French Louisiana in America. Mobile, Alabama was the capital where the first five governors resided and governed. It’s also the first place Mardi Gras was celebrated in the USA. Sixteen years later New Orleans was formed and in 1723 became the last French capital of Louisiana. Eventually New Orleans joined Mobile in celebrating Mardi Gras and today it’s one of the biggest annual celebrations in the two cities.

Both cities would later fall under Spanish rule and eventually become part of the USA.

Mobile and New Orleans, a melting pot of culture

With European culture and Catholic tradition from settlers and the import of West African slaves, Mobile and New Orleans became a melting pot of cultures as rich as the gumbo famously served in their local restaurants. Walk the city blocks of downtown Mobile and you will notice a city street system and similar architecture to that of New Orleans.

Mobile Historic Districts

Mobile’s downtown and midtown are divided into seven National Register Historic Districts, each with its own unique character and history. The city’s LoDa district is where you will find arts, entertainment and nightlife. The Church East district includes many museums and the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate while the Oakleigh Garden district has southern homes and neighborhood restaurants.

Africatown

Another important district is Africatown, the only surviving community in the United States founded by Africans who survived the Middle Passage. The community was founded in 1866 by survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to land in the U.S. Many of the residents are direct descendants of that voyage.

Bellingrath Gardens

Bellingrath Gardens and Home in the Mobile area is a 65-acre, year-round blooming garden and southern estate. Since opening to the public in 1934, the Bellingrath Gardens and Home have received numerous awards and accolades such as the 2016 Alabama Tourism Hall of Fame Award, the American Horticultural Society’s 2015 Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, and has placed multiple times in the USA Today’s “10 Best Public Light Displays in America.”

Mobile-Tensaw Delta

The Mobile-Tensaw Delta sits just north of the city and is one of the most eco-diverse places in the world. A National Natural Landmark and often referred to as America’s Amazon, The Mobile Delta is 30 miles long and 12 miles wide of swamps, river bottomlands and marshes to be enjoyed by airboats, kayak and boat tours to see alligators and other wildlife.

Dauphin Island

Mobile also has its own barrier Island south of the city. Dauphin Island is a birding paradise with an incredible 350 species having been reported here and the entire island is recognized as a Bird Sanctuary. The island has three large white sand public beaches. The island is only 37 miles (60 km) from downtown Mobile, an easy taxi or uber ride.

Mobile also included on popular Southern Road Fly-Drive Trip

While the new passenger train service between Mobile and New Orleans allows a non-car holiday, many international travel and tour companies have added a Nashville through Alabama to New Orleans fly-drive package. This popular road trip starts in Nashville and routes south through Alabama.

In Muscle Shoals, clients can tour the recording studios where The Rolling Stone, Aretha Franklin and others made hit records. Just a few miles away is Huntsville, known as Rocket City USA and home to the world’s largest space museum. Visitors can explore the talent at the Orion Amphitheater or dive into the city’s culture, music, and arts scene with theaters, art galleries, and museums.

In central Alabama cities of Birmingham and Montgomery, the echoes of history resonate as those on the fly-drive visit the U.S. Civil Rights Trail sites where Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and everyday citizens changed the world before arriving in Mobile to experience one of America’s oldest cities and first capital of the French Louisiana Territory. Birmingham is known as “The Dinner Table of the South” with award-winning restaurants and home to the world’s largest collection of motorcycles at Barber Vintage Motorsports. The city’s Civil Rights District is designated a National Monument.

Amtrak also offers a return service from Birmingham to New Orleans.

Multiple Attraction Passes

The Alabama Tourism Department developed multiple attraction packages for each of the major cities in the state. The All-In-One Tickets are sold on many websites and offered through the trade by American Tours International (ATI) and other providers.