Looking for things to do near Biloxi? One of the best parts of visiting the Mississippi Gulf Coast is that you do not have to stay within one city. Biloxi puts you within easy reach of barrier-island beaches, museums, boat trips, coastal history, downtown Ocean Springs, local food experiences, and family attractions in neighboring Gulfport. With so much packed along the Coast, some of the most memorable experiences are only a short drive away.
Biloxi itself has plenty to fill a weekend, but it also makes a practical base for exploring the surrounding Mississippi Gulf Coast. Ocean Springs sits just across Biloxi Bay, Gulfport is a short drive west, and Gulf Islands National Seashore brings an entirely different side of the Coast within reach.
These are some of the best things to do near Biloxi when you want a mix of history, food, art, beaches, wildlife, and experiences that feel specific to Coastal Mississippi.
1. Visit the Biloxi Lighthouse and Visitors Center
The Biloxi Lighthouse is the natural place to begin, both geographically and historically. Standing in the median of Beach Boulevard, the cast-iron lighthouse has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Directly across the road, the Biloxi Visitors Center is worth more than a quick brochure stop. Its exhibits introduce Biloxi’s history, architecture, hurricanes, seafood industry, and cultural heritage, making it a useful first stop before exploring the rest of the area.
The city currently notes that tours to the top of the lighthouse are temporarily unavailable because of repairs to the upper decking, so check current conditions before planning around the climb itself.
2. Take the Ferry to Ship Island
If your idea of the Gulf Coast includes clear water and a barrier-island beach, make time for Ship Island. Part of Gulf Islands National Seashore, the island sits roughly 11 miles offshore and feels considerably more removed from the mainland than the short distance suggests.
Public ferry service currently operates seasonally from Gulfport, generally from spring into fall. The boat ride itself becomes part of the experience, with open-water views across the Mississippi Sound before reaching the island’s undeveloped shoreline.
Plan this as a substantial portion of the day rather than trying to squeeze it between other attractions. Bring sunscreen, water, beach gear, and enough flexibility to simply enjoy being away from the mainland for a while.
3. Explore Downtown Ocean Springs
Just across the Biloxi Bay Bridge, Ocean Springs offers a completely different pace. Downtown is compact, walkable, and lined with independent restaurants, galleries, boutiques, bars, coffee shops, and historic buildings beneath live oaks.
It is the kind of place that rewards wandering rather than rushing from attraction to attraction. Start around Washington Avenue and Government Street, browse local shops and galleries, stop for lunch, and leave enough time to follow whatever catches your attention.
Ocean Springs is especially useful when you want a break from the larger resorts and casino environment of Biloxi without driving far. Coastal Mississippi actively promotes its downtown, museums, art, shopping, restaurants, biking, and outdoor recreation as some of the region’s primary visitor experiences.
For more ideas, see our full guide to the top things to do in Ocean Springs.
4. Experience Ocean Springs on a Walking Food Tour
If you would rather experience downtown than simply walk through it, the Original Downtown Ocean Springs Food Tour from Savor the Coast combines several parts of the city into one guided experience.
Guests walk through downtown while sampling food from multiple local establishments, with stories about Ocean Springs history, architecture, art, culture, and community between tastings. Instead of choosing one restaurant for lunch, you get an introduction to several local flavors while also learning why the town looks and feels the way it does.
It works especially well near the beginning of a Gulf Coast visit because the tour doubles as an orientation to downtown Ocean Springs. You finish with a better sense of which restaurants, shops, galleries, and streets you may want to revisit later on your own.
5. Visit the Walter Anderson Museum of Art
You do not have to be an art expert to appreciate the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. The museum introduces visitors to the distinctive work of Walter Inglis Anderson and the wider Anderson family’s creative legacy, much of it deeply connected to the landscapes, wildlife, and rhythms of the Gulf Coast.
That connection to place is what makes the museum especially valuable during a Coastal Mississippi trip. Anderson’s work can change the way you notice the marshes, birds, barrier islands, trees, and water you see elsewhere during your visit.
The museum sits in downtown Ocean Springs, so it pairs naturally with lunch, shopping, a food tour, or an afternoon walk through town.
6. Discover Biloxi’s Maritime and Seafood History
Seafood is everywhere on the Gulf Coast, but the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum helps explain why. The Biloxi museum preserves more than 300 years of maritime history and explores commercial fishing, seafood processing, boatbuilding, shrimping, hurricanes, and the communities built around the water.
It is one of the most useful attractions for understanding Biloxi beyond its beaches and casinos. Exhibits connect the food visitors eat today with the fishermen, boatbuilders, processors, families, and traditions that shaped the region.
The museum is also home to the Hurricane Camille Memorial and maintains Biloxi’s historic schooner tradition through its schooner program.
7. See the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art
Even before you see the art, the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum makes an impression. The Frank Gehry-designed campus sits beneath live oaks near Beach Boulevard and was created around the legacy of George E. Ohr, the famously unconventional Biloxi potter sometimes called the “Mad Potter of Biloxi.”
Inside, exhibitions explore Ohr’s work alongside contemporary art and ceramics. The museum also operates the Biloxi Center for Ceramics and maintains a changing schedule of exhibitions, workshops, and special events.
Pair it with the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum nearby and you can spend half a day exploring two very different pieces of Biloxi’s identity: the working waterfront and its creative culture.
8. Spend a Day at Mississippi Aquarium
For families—and particularly for a rainy or extremely hot day—the Mississippi Aquarium in downtown Gulfport is one of the strongest things to do near Biloxi. The 5.8-acre campus combines indoor and outdoor habitats with more than 200 species and more than one million gallons of fresh and salt water.
Visitors can encounter animals including bottlenose dolphins, river otters, sea turtles, crocodilians, fish, birds, and other species connected to Mississippi and aquatic environments farther afield.
Because much of the experience is educational as well as entertaining, the aquarium works for a wider age range than many strictly children’s attractions. Advance tickets are recommended, particularly during busier travel periods.
9. Explore Davis Bayou at Gulf Islands National Seashore
You do not need to take a boat offshore to experience Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Davis Bayou Area in Ocean Springs gives visitors access to coastal forest, marsh, bayous, trails, boardwalks, fishing, picnic areas, and wildlife viewing on the mainland.
This is a good counterpoint to the more developed portions of the Coast. Spend an hour walking and watching birds, or make it a slower afternoon with a picnic near the water.
Davis Bayou also helps put the rest of the region into context. The marshes and protected waterways here are part of the same coastal ecosystem that influenced local fishing, seafood, art, and settlement patterns throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
10. Make Time for the Beach
It is easy to fill a Gulf Coast itinerary with attractions and forget the most obvious one. Biloxi and the neighboring communities sit along miles of sandy shoreline, and the beach can be as simple as an hour between activities or the main event of the afternoon.
Biloxi’s beaches make the most sense when you approach them as part of the Mississippi Sound rather than expecting an open-Gulf Florida beach experience. The water is typically calmer, and the shoreline works well for walking, picnics, sunsets, and relaxed family time.
For a quieter alternative, cross into Ocean Springs and explore Front Beach or East Beach. Our Ocean Springs beaches guide explains the differences between the two.
11. Drive the Coast Instead of Just the Interstate
One of the simplest things to do near Biloxi is also one of the easiest to overlook: drive along Beach Boulevard and let the Coast unfold gradually instead of treating each city as a separate destination.
The shoreline connects Biloxi with neighboring Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, and beyond, passing beaches, harbors, historic sites, restaurants, casinos, waterfront homes, and long stretches of Mississippi Sound along the way.
You do not need a strict itinerary. Stop when something interests you. Grab seafood, walk onto the beach, explore a harbor, or simply keep driving until sunset. Some of the most memorable Gulf Coast travel happens between the places you originally planned to visit.
Planning the Best Things to Do Near Biloxi
The easiest mistake is trying to pack too much into one day. Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Gulfport, and the barrier islands are close enough to combine, but they each offer enough to deserve some unstructured time.
For a first visit, a balanced itinerary might include one major Biloxi attraction, an afternoon or food tour in Ocean Springs, time along the beach, and one larger excursion such as Ship Island or Mississippi Aquarium. Save a second day for whatever you discovered along the way.
That flexibility is what makes searching for things to do near Biloxi more interesting than simply making a list of Biloxi attractions. Some of the Coast’s best museums, restaurants, beaches, outdoor experiences, and cultural stops are only minutes apart—even when they happen to sit in different cities.
If Ocean Springs becomes part of your itinerary, continue planning with our guides to the best restaurants in Ocean Springs, top things to do in Ocean Springs, and where to stay in Ocean Springs.