Three Good Stops

Kansas City to Birmingham: where to stop

686 miles, about 10 hr 46 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Kansas City, MO and Birmingham, AL, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Bolivar, MOStretch your legs in Bolivar, MO · mile 128

The other 5 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

W•••••, MOstretch, meal · mile 258
T•••••, MOfuel · mile 320
O•••••, MSstretch · mile 445
N•••••, MSstretch, overnight, meal · mile 555
J•••••, ALfuel · mile 640

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
15558 hr 50 minNew Albany, MS
21321 hr 55 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Kansas City to Birmingham your way →

Questions

How far is Kansas City, MO to Birmingham, AL?
About 686 miles, roughly 10 hr 46 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Kansas City to Birmingham in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 2 days, with a night in New Albany, MS.

Where is a good place to stop between Kansas City and Birmingham?
Bolivar, MO is the first one on this route.