Gulf Shores, Alabama America’s Best Beaches

Summer and beach trips go hand in hand. I grew up less than 3 miles away from the beach and enjoyed the beach vibes all year long. Living in Alabama since 1999, I’ve grown very fond of our Alabama coastline and nearby beach towns.

I was super excited to see that our beloved Alabama beach towns made the 2021’s Best Beach Towns to Live in from WalletHub. The list was determined by “comparing 191 cities across 62 key indicators of livability.” Also, I was thrilled to know I have visited many of the beaches on the list.

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Here is the great news there are 8 beach options that are less than 5 hours away from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The only Alabama beach to make the WalletHub list was Gulf Shores.

(Source) Click here for more details from WalletHub.

You Can Drive 5 Hours Or Less to Visit 8 of the Best Beaches in America

Gallery Credit: Mary K

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton