Heading there for the first time in September

Any recommendations on where to stay withing walking distance of everything?

Is September a good month as far as not being as busy?

Here's where we stayed last year. Right on the beach. Loved it.

 

LOCATION!LOCATION!LOCATION! 1ST BLDG WEST O... - VRBO

Here's where we stayed last year. Right on the beach. Loved it.

 

LOCATION!LOCATION!LOCATION! 1ST BLDG WEST O... - VRBO

 

What month did you go?

What month did you go?

 

End of March

That appears to be on a nice quiet beach.

My family stayed at Surfside Shores last July. It was nice, but I'm sure most of the oceanside condos are as well. I don't think anything is really in walking distance of everything. Some of the more popular restaurants are quite several blocks from the beach.

 

Lulu's was pretty good, especially the open faced blue crab sandwich. But I'd recommend going for lunch as we tried to go one night and they were on a 3 hour wait.

 

If you are into beer, than Big Beach Brewing had some really good beers on tap.

 

The beach at Gulf Shores is really nice. Seemed really laid back and mostly families when we were there.

We’ve stayed all over the place in Gulf Shores and have been there at least 10 times over the last 20 years. Gulf Shores isn’t really a place where everything cool is centrally located...there is no one place you can stay that puts you in walking distance of everything, especially if you plan on eating out. You’re going to need your car. We usually stay in Fort Morgan or Orange Beach. Orange Beach is much closer to all the action and a short drive to pretty much anywhere you’d want to go.

We’ve stayed all over the place in Gulf Shores and have been there at least 10 times over the last 20 years. Gulf Shores isn’t really a place where everything cool is centrally located...there is no one place you can stay that puts you in walking distance of everything, especially if you plan on eating out. You’re going to need your car. We usually stay in Fort Morgan or Orange Beach. Orange Beach is much closer to all the action and a short drive to pretty much anywhere you’d want to go.

 

I second Orange Beach. We went for the first time back in October, and we are hooked. My wife had been before, but I nor our girls had.

 

As far as food; both Flor-a-Bama joints across from the main place are top shelf.

 

Doc’s Seafood in town a bit is solid, but you risk waiting a long time just about any night you go. Shrimp Basket is pretty good, too.

 

Flor-a-Bama yacht club is my top choice. We could have eaten there every night (don’t be fooled by the “yacht”; it’s not upscale- which we prefer). It’s not rowdy either. A great family atmosphere on the bay.

 

“Sittin’ here at the Flor-a-bama....”

That appears to be on a nice quiet beach.

 

It was. That was why we chose it.

I don't think anything is really in walking distance of everything.

 

Gulf Shores isn’t really a place where everything cool is centrally located...there is no one place you can stay that puts you in walking distance of everything, especially if you plan on eating out. You’re going to need your car.

 

This is true, but we really enjoyed our time there. Beach was especially quiet compared to your more commercialized places.

This is true, but we really enjoyed our time there. Beach was especially quiet compared to your more commercialized places.

 

I didn't mean to imply that everything not being centrally located was a problem. We go down about every other year, and really do enjoy it. Despite not being a place where you can walk everywhere, everything is still a quick easy drive. 10 minutes in a car gets you to pretty much anywhere you want to be if you stay in the Orange Beach area.

It has been a while since I've been to GS, but nothing was quite like the Redneck Riviera.

We went about 5 or 6 years ago. We stayed in a condo a couple buildings down from Sea n Suds. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a smaller building. I think we went through VRBO. One tip for dinner, go around 4:00 local time and there isn't much of a wait. If you wait until 5 (or 6), then plan on waiting. In September, the wait times might not be nearly as bad.

Another restaurant I'd recommend is Bill's by the Beach. We had a large group go their last summer after my brother in laws wedding. The food and service were wonderful.

We've gone to Gulf Shores / Fort Morgan every year for the last 11 or so years. If you are wanting to stay somewhat close to everything in Gulf Shores you need to stay in a condo close to where 59 dead ends into Beach Blvd...basically where Randy said they stayed. However that will be probably the busiest beach. If you stay at a condo unit they should have a private beach for you but right behind the Hangout is the main public beach. Another really good option, probably better than Gulf Shores is Orange Beach. The Phoenix has several really nice condo units there and Orange Beach has a lot of food options. Plus you are only a few miles down from Gulf Shores if you want to drive over. We have started staying in Fort Morgan at the Beach Club. We go every year during fall break with a big group of people. Not much in Fort Morgan and it's about a 15 mile drive outside of Gulf Shores. But the Beach Club has a pretty good restaurant in the front and there are a couple of local places to eat. We've only ever been during the Summer (June and July) and the fall (October) so I can't say what the crowd will be like in Sept. I would assume very similar to Oct so not too crowded.