montgomery visitors center

I recommend to stop here first if you are in town to learn its history. I was given a couple of maps and I followed them to the historical sites close by. There is a short film but I really did not watch it. A nice gift shop

beautiful place --many spacious rooms--can accomidate many venues--lots of public parking--great place for a meeting of any amount of people

Always a pleasure. The volunteers and staff bend over backwards to make sure each visitor is welcomed and leaves the visitor center with what they need to enjoy the River Region. They keep a well stocked supply of current happenings. They don't mind picking up the phone to check out a venue before sending someone out to view it. While in the VC you can watch a nice video about Montgomery. They have a nice, affordable gift shop. The building, in the old train shed, is beautiful. The biggest drawback is parking. It is hard to park at the VC. If you know in advance you can park at the parking garage a block away. But this isn't obvious and is not convenient if someone has mobility problems. Under the train shed there are Two handicap parking places but you would only know that if you were familiar with the area. Also, there are only two. But, believe me. This needs to be your first stop in Montgomery.

This place was great, street map and when i said we'd parked in the public pay parking, we were told there was 4 free tourist spaces behind their building...saved me $$$$.The big letdown was the trolly tour. $3 pp hop-on, hop-off. The guide gives you times to be at the pick up points if you decide to hop off....don't take these as being written in stone...we waited outside the State Capitol building 5mins before the allotted time and 15mins later still no bus. I phoned the MVC and having sent the bus for us, the driver was unapologetic and argued with us that she was early by 5mins and she saw nobody at the designated spot where we were waiting....not good PR

The visitor center really catches the flavor of Montgomery. Located right on the river you can stroll the river front while there. There is a nice little movie that you can watch to get your plans laid out. There is a tour bus that leaves form the front door and a Segway tour that leaves out the back. It really should be the first stop on your tour of this historic city.

This is a definite stop for anyone new to Montgomery They have lots of information on the local sites and attractions They have a gift shop with unique, affordable items for sale They also have Free coffee for you There is a very informative trolley tour that lasts around 40 minutes and only costs $3.00 (they only take cash for trolley admission) It stops at 5 different locations (the driver lets you know the exact locations) so you can tour the area and it picks you up at the same drop off point in an hour and you can ride the trolley all day long for one admission price There is plenty of metered parking but also a parking lot across the street for $5 a day The entrance to the Riverfront is very close by and there is a big Hotel right across the street Again, not sure about Sundays but parking is Free on Saturdays on the metered parking spots

If you have only an hour or so to spend in Montgomery, or better yet, you want an introduction to what you can discover more in depth, take the trolley around this capital city from the Visitor's Center. Past reviews (maybe out-of-date) have conflicting information on the trolley. Here's what we learned during our visit in spring of 2014. There is only one trolley and it leaves on the hour from the visitor's center. It takes a 40 minute tour around Montgomery with the bus driver pointing out historic government buildings, sites of slave and Civil War history, and landmarks of the Civil Rights Era (not to mention some popular restaurants). The trolley cost $3 for adults with discounts for seniors and children. You can get off or on the trolley at 5 different places and reboard an hour later. You can ride the trolley as many times as you want for the single ticket price during one day. So if you see something interesting and you want to go back to it, just circle around on the trolley a second time. All of the historic sites were interesting, but here are some of the highlights for us: 1. The fountain in the square which was adjacent to the old slave auction market and the tunnel that led from the square to the riverfront where Africans were unloaded. 2. The old greyhound bus station where Freedom Riders arrived in Montgomery. 3. The church where Martin Luther King was a pastor, the parsonage where he lived, and the barbershop where he got his last haircut before the assassination. 4. The old abandoned Kresge and Woolworth's where blacks staged their sit-downs at the lunch counters (talk about making history come alive!). And there's lots more to see about Rosa Parks, Jefferson Davis and civil rights activists. As one of the presenters in the short video at the visitors center says, "Montgomery is a capital of the South," - meaning the first capital of the Confederacy and the capital of the Civil Rights movement. The trolley ride is the best thing you can do if you don't know what your want to do in Montgomery. And it's a godsend for those who can't walk a lot.

For the low price of $3.00, you get a fun, personality filled trolley ride tour that gives a nice overview of the downtown area as well as a fun history lesson. Our group included small children to great-grandparents and everyone enjoyed it.

I take all out of town visitors on the trolley ride. It's a great value for seeing downtown attractions and *used* to be a good, entertaining lesson on downtown Montgomery history. I say it used to because the past six or so tours I have taken were driven by Ray. He brings life to the tour and seems to know everyone along the route, waving at passerbys, and apparently, sought out new interesting tidbits of info to introduce to the tour (he always mentioned something new on each tour I've taken). Fast forward to today. I bring my parents. No Ray. I ask the ladies who work at the front where Ray is. They tell me he no longer does the trolley tour. WHAT?! I give the new driver a chance but she's nothing like Ray. No personality, just driving by buildings, mentioning restaurants. No history lesson. What used to be a solid 45 minute info packed tour has dwindled down to 30 minutes where you don't have more than a few seconds to look at the buildings she's talking about. Don't get me wrong, for $3 ($2 for seniors) it's something to do. It's just not a 'definitely do' thing in Montgomery anymore. Sad.

Highly recommend the trolley tour of downtown Montgomery. Very nice job of packaging all of the sites and making it all accessible. Our trolley driver and guide, Ray-Ray, was extraordinary. He was very knowledgeable and approachable. Well worth the time and nominal fee.

We have been living in Montgomery for the past 2 years but didn't know that you can get a Trolley Tour of the downtown. I had a friend visiting from Texas so we decided it will be a prefect time to take the tour. Cost was $3 per person. We had our 15 month old son and were able to put the stroller in front of the trolley. I was pleasantly surprised with the tour. Even though I did not really like our guide (she was not very informative) but loved the history and the beauty of the downtown. I saw landmarks in the city which I did not know existed after living here for 2 years. The tour is every hour on the hour and takes about 45 minutes. Will definitely recommend to any one visiting Montgomery.

We stopped in at the Montgomery tourist center at the old Union Station to reserve a spot on their $2 historical trolly tour of the city of Montgomery. What a deal! Our trolly first drove past the Rosa Parks Museum before passing the Court Square Fountain at the end of  Dexter Ave. If you stand facing the Capitol Building at the imposing Greek statue and fountain, on the left you can see the area where slaves were traded (a building now occupies this site.) Across the street from the former slave trading site is the Winter House where the telegram was sent that issued the order to fire on Fort Sumpter, beginning the Civil War.  From the Court Street Statue you can look up the short distance of Dexter Ave to the Capitol Building. During the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement that short street must have seemed a very long way to the seat of government that imposed its rules on so many who felt the unwelcome weight of its iron hand.This tour was informative and a great way to pull the history of this city together from the First White House of the Confederacy to Dexter Avenue where the Civil Rights Marches were held.

The visitor's center is in the old train station which has lots of history and charm. The folks working there are very helpful and there are lots of great kiosks that give good information about the history of Montgomery. The tour buses that carry visitors around the city and drop them off at historical sites leave and return to this location.

Very interesting town to visit. Be sure to take the trolley from the visitors center. Tickets were only $3/eac. They take you all around town showing lots if landmarks, historical sights and our driver Ray was so informative! He made the tour enjoyable with his great personality, knew so much history & knew how to make it fun too! Highly recommend you take the trolley!

The visitor's center is located in front of the Montgomery River Walk in the old Union Station train depot. It is free to visit. I did not take a trolley ride that departs from here, but they are available. There are lots of free brochures and a friendly attendant. The architecture is nice and there is a large covered shed area behind the center that houses an original electric streetcar. If you are visiting Montgomery, you gotta stop here.