Explore the Coast · Hancock County
Bay St. Louis, the visitor’s guide.
Bay St. Louis is the artsy end of the Mississippi Coast — a walkable Old Town of galleries, antique shops, and live oaks, with a beach a block away and the bay on the doorstep. Locals just call it "the Bay." It keeps landing on national lists — USA TODAY ranked it the #2 Best Coastal Small Town, and Budget Travel called it one of America’s coolest small towns — and once you spend a Saturday here, you get why. I cover this whole Coast, and the Bay is the far west end of it from home in Ocean Springs. Here’s how I’d spend your time.
Four guides to Bay St. Louis
Food & Dining →
Where to actually eat in Old Town — The Mockingbird Cafe, Sycamore House, the harbor-front spots, and the Gulf seafood that earns the drive west.
Things to doActivities →
Second Saturday Art Walk, the galleries and shops of Old Town, 100 Men Hall, the Alice Moseley Folk Art Museum, and walking the bridge.
Get orientedTown Guide →
How Old Town and the Depot District fit together, where the beach is, getting around on foot, and what to expect day to day.
Outdoors & day tripsExploration →
The beach and Beach Boulevard, the Bay-Waveland bike trail, Buccaneer State Park nearby, sunsets over the bay, and easy day trips toward New Orleans.
The 30-second version
Come for a long weekend, base yourself in or near Old Town, and you can walk to most of what makes the Bay worth the trip — the shops on Main and Second, the beach on Beach Boulevard, and a row of restaurants in between. Time it for the second Saturday of the month if you can: that’s the Art Walk, when Old Town fills up with live music and open galleries, and the action really picks up between 4 and 7 pm. Eat seafood at least once. Walk out onto the bridge toward Pass Christian for the public art and the view. If you’ve got more time, Buccaneer State Park is a few minutes west in Waveland.
House rule: everything below is a place I’d actually send a friend. Hours and menus change — call ahead for anything time-sensitive, especially the seasonal events and the spots with limited days.
Want the rest of the Coast?
I cover all three counties — Jackson, Harrison, Hancock — in The Seawall, my twice-weekly newsletter on Coast events, music, food, and openings. More town guides going up here as I write them.
Rob Recio lives in Ocean Springs and is in real-estate-licensure training in Mississippi. This is informational visitor content — not real-estate advice or a solicitation.