Experience the best of Huntsville

Huntsville lies in the Tennessee Valley of north Alabama, at the foot of Monte Sano mountain, and was settled in the early 1800s as a cotton market town; it was briefly the state's first capital in 1819. Wernher von Braun's German rocket team arrived after the Second World War, and the Marshall Space Flight Center later developed the Saturn V rockets of the Apollo programme, one of which stands on display at the Space and Rocket Center.

Beyond the rockets, Big Spring Park and the downtown square are the heart of the old town, and the Burritt on the Mountain museum sits on Monte Sano with views over the valley. Monte Sano State Park has trails and cabins, and Cathedral Caverns, a large limestone cave with a huge mouth, lies south-east. Lake Guntersville is a wide reservoir on the Tennessee River.

North Alabama is the home of white barbecue sauce, a tangy mix of mayonnaise and vinegar poured over smoked chicken, and meat-and-three plates, fried catfish and biscuits fill the diners. Craft breweries have settled in downtown warehouses. Winters are mild, and spring brings dogwoods and storms.