Montgomery earns spot on The New York Times list of top 52 travel destinations for 2024
2024-01-03
At the start of every year, The New York Times publishes a list of its top 52 travel destinations, offering new, interesting inspiration to its readers. This year, Montgomery snagged a top spot.
At No. 28 on the list, The New York Times highlighted Montgomery for its historic roles as the former capital of the Confederacy and the birthplace of the civil rights movement.
A spokesperson from the newspaper said the 2024 list was intentionally curated to focus on sustainable travel, international and cultural events, nature and art.
“When it comes to conversations about race in America, few destinations are as engaged as Montgomery,” journalist Elaine Glusac wrote.
Specifically, the list notes the new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park that the Equal Justice Initiative will open in early 2024. Located on Lafayette Street between downtown and the Montgomery Marina, the park sits on a bluff above the Alabama River. It looks out over the exact areas where the slave trade brought thousands of Black people into the city by boat and train.
Modern art, historic slave dwellings and other artifacts will be scattered around the 17-acre plot, and at the center will be the National Monument to Freedom, a structure standing 43 feet tall and 150 feet long that will be inscribed with more than 120,000 surnames of Black people who were emancipated at the end of the Civil War. The park will be dedicated to these people.
“It’s just really been curating a journey through this area, and we are making good progress,” EJI director Bryan Stevenson said when he announced the park. “I am feeling very hopeful.”
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