Attractions
Things to do in Atlanta.
The places worth your days between events: the aquarium and the museums, the parks, the BeltLine and the granite dome east of town. Each one carries its address, opening pattern and admission basis, checked against its official site.
Bookable tours and tickets carry a booking button. Places that are free, or that sell their own tickets, say so plainly and link to the official site instead.
Georgia Aquarium
One of the largest aquariums in the world, on Baker Street downtown: whale sharks and beluga whales in more than 11 million gallons of water, a short walk from Centennial Olympic Park.
From US$59.95
Book aquarium ticketsvia Klook · affiliate linkWorld of Coca-Cola
The museum of the world's most famous drink, at Pemberton Place next to the Aquarium: the vault of the secret formula, more than a century of advertising, and a tasting room of flavours from around the world.
US$30.45
Book World of Coca-Cola ticketsvia Klook · affiliate linkZoo Atlanta
Atlanta's zoo since 1889, in the oak shade of Grant Park: more than 1,000 animals, an African Savanna, and one of the city's easiest family days.
US$38.09
Book zoo ticketsvia Klook · affiliate linkAtlanta Botanical Garden
Thirty acres of gardens at the edge of Piedmont Park in Midtown: the Fuqua Conservatory and Orchid Center, a canopy walk through Storza Woods, and an award-winning Children's Garden.
Tickets from the venue. See the details
High Museum of Art
Atlanta's art museum, on Peachtree Street in the Woodruff Arts Center: more than 20,000 works, in white Richard Meier and Renzo Piano buildings that are exhibits in themselves.
Tickets from the venue. See the details
Fox Theatre
The Fabulous Fox: a 1929 movie palace in Moorish dress on Peachtree Street, saved from demolition by the city that loves it, and now Atlanta's grandest room for touring Broadway, concerts and comedy.
Tickets from the venue. See the details
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park
A few blocks of Auburn Avenue that changed the world: Dr King's Birth Home, Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center, run by the National Park Service and free to visit.
From US$40
Book the Martin Luther King Jr. History Walking Tourvia Viator · affiliate linkAtlanta History Center
Atlanta's history museum on a 33-acre wooded campus in Buckhead: the Cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta, historic houses, gardens, and the Goizueta Children's Experience.
Tickets from the venue. See the details
Swan House
The 1928 mansion at the heart of the History Center campus, designed by Philip Trammell Shutze for Edward and Emily Inman, and the grandest house visit in Atlanta.
Tickets from the venue. See the details
National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Downtown's museum of the American civil rights movement and today's global human rights struggles, built around the papers of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and a lunch counter sit-in you can sit at.
US$109.95
Get Atlanta CityPASS®via Klook · affiliate linkPiedmont Park
Midtown's big green room: more than 200 acres of lawns, lake and skyline views between Midtown and Virginia-Highland, and the park the Conservancy calls Atlanta's most visited.
Free to visit. Plan your visit
Atlanta BeltLine
A 22-mile loop of trails, parks and future transit on an old rail corridor, connecting 45 Atlanta neighbourhoods and slowly stitching the city back together.
From US$75
Book the Fall in Love with Atlanta Bike Tourvia Viator · affiliate linkPonce City Market
The old Sears, Roebuck building on Ponce de Leon Avenue, remade as the city's food hall and market, with the BeltLine at its back door and a fairground on its roof.
Costs vary by what you do. See the details
Fernbank Museum
Atlanta's natural history museum in Druid Hills: dinosaur giants indoors, and 75 acres of old-growth forest and canopy walks outdoors, all on one ticket.
US$109.95
Get Atlanta CityPASS®via Klook · affiliate linkJimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
The presidential library of Georgia's own president, in parkland east of downtown: a replica Oval Office, Carter's Nobel Peace Prize, and 35 acres of gardens and ponds.
Tickets from the venue. See the details
Oakland Cemetery
Atlanta's oldest public burial ground, founded in 1850: 48 acres of Victorian garden cemetery in Grant Park, where Margaret Mitchell and Bobby Jones are buried.
Costs vary by what you do. See the details
College Football Hall of Fame
College football's hall of fame beside Centennial Olympic Park: a wall of more than 700 team helmets, a 45-yard indoor field to throw on, and exhibits tuned to your own team.
US$35.05
Book Hall of Fame ticketsvia Klook · affiliate linkStone Mountain Park
Georgia's most visited attraction, half an hour east of the city: a giant granite dome with the world's largest high-relief carving, a cable car to the summit, a scenic railroad and 3,200 acres of park.
From US$89
Book Atlanta's Stone Mountain Park Sightseeing Tourvia Viator · affiliate linkLEGO Discovery Center Atlanta
An indoor LEGO world on the third floor of Phipps Plaza in Buckhead: over two million bricks, a MINILAND Atlanta, rides and a 4D cinema, built for children aged 3 to 10.
From US$28.15
Book LEGOLAND Discovery Center ticketsvia Klook · affiliate linkBefore you go
Three things that make the sightseeing days run better: the rail lines that reach most of the big sights, the trail that strings the eastside together, and the day trip to give a morning to.
Ride MARTA
MARTA rail links most of the big sights: the Red and Gold lines run from the airport through Downtown and Midtown, the Blue Line runs east to Decatur, and Buckhead has its own stations on the north line. MARTA puts weekday trains at every 10 to 20 minutes.
Stations, maps and service alerts: itsmarta.com
Walk the BeltLine
The Eastside Trail strings Piedmont Park, Ponce City Market and the eastside neighbourhoods onto one flat, car-free path, with the art programme the BeltLine bills as the largest free public art exhibition in the Southeast along it. Start at either end and eat in the middle.
Give Stone Mountain a morning
The granite dome east of the city is a half-day out: a cable car or the walk-up trail to the summit, a railroad around the base, and the attractions on a seasonal calendar. It is the one place in this guide that needs a car.
Opening patterns are checked against each place's official site and can change around holidays and special events. Where a place sells its own tickets, its page here links to the official site.