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Best Tourist Spots
Our list of the best tourist spots in Atlanta. For locals and out of towners.
Photo credit: Joeff Davis/CL
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Below are our recommendations for Tourist Spots in Atlanta. These selections came from our past winners of Best of Atlanta, recommendations from readers who voted in the past 2 years of Best of and from our critic’s personal choices. Please leave comments below about your ideas to add to this list.
Best Tourist Spots
Atlanta Botanical Garden
Atlanta’s most fragrant attraction blooms with more than 3,000 ornamental plants spread over 30 acres adjacent to Piedmont Park, including a rare 15-acre urban forest. There is a 600-foot Canopy Walk situated 40 feet high, and regular exhibitions and concerts in the gardens.
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Atlanta History Center
Founded in 1926, the center includes the Atlanta History Museum featuring signature and traveling exhibitions, the Smith Family Farm, the 1928 Swan House mansion, research archives/special libraries, and 22 acres of gardens.
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Delta Flight Museum
Housed in Delta’s two 1940s aircraft hangers. Includes Ship 41, the first Douglas DC-3 to carry Delta passengers in 1940; the Spirit of Delta, Delta’s first Boeing 767; and a replica of the first Delta station in Monroe, La., in 1929.
The 747 Experience, the most recent addition to the Delta Flight ...
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Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Offers free, self-guided tours of the Monetary Museum and Visitors Center.
Georgia Aquarium
The nation’s largest aquarium has more aquatic life than any other aquarium, with specimens from more than 500 species, including whale sharks, the largest fish in the sea. Visitors can go to the “touch tank” for the chance to interact with sea stars and anemones. “Behind the Scenes” tours are avail...
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Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
Presidential Library system and museum with special exhibitions and a permanent collection that features photographs and historic memorabilia from the Carter administration.
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Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
A 2,965-acre park and museum on the site of the 1864 Civil War Campaign for Atlanta.
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Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
CL: A Smithsonian-affiliated gallery that has featured shows on artist-designed furniture, Japanese product design, lunch boxes and eco-friendly architecture. MODA is the only museum in the Southeast devoted exclusively to all things design.
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Piedmont Park
The 200-plus-acre park with tennis, walking trails, and a pond has been Atlanta’s place to go on a Sunday afternoon since it was first purchased by the city in 1904. Piedmont Park added 13 acres in 2013 and unveiled a collection of new entrances. The add-on near the intersection of Piedmont Road and...
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SkyView Atlanta
The age of the Ferris wheel in Downtown is upon us, Atlanta. The 20-story attraction known as SkyView Atlanta takes guests on a roughly 15-minute ride and provides them with a view of the city’s skyline.
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Stone Mountain Park
The world’s largest mass of exposed granite is the centerpiece of this park, which features golf courses, hiking trails, camping, swimming, dining, and attractions including the Geyser Towers, Summit Skyride, and much more. The park also hosts a spectacular 3-D laser light show nightly during the su...
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Waffle House Museum
You heard right, we said, “Waffle House Museum.” In 1955, neighbors Joe Roger Sr. and Tom Forkner embarked on a plan to smother and cover the world (or at least Avondale Estates) with 24-hour dining. More than 50 years and 1,600 restaurants later, the chain’s original location still stands as a test...
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More Tourist Spots
Dick Lane Velodrome
At the time of its construction in 1974, which was inspired by the Munich Olympics, the Velodrome was one of only two tracks of its kind in the United States. It served as a training facility for cyclists at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Currently, the track is the second steepest concrete race track in t...
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Gone With the Wind Museum at Brumby Hall
The Marietta ‘Gone with the Wind’ Museum at historic Brumby Hall is a walk back in time. A refreshing must-see stop for all fans of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and Academy Award-winning movie. The museum is often mentioned as one of the top stops for tourists wanting to explore the South’s ant...
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Illuminarium Atlanta
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Margaret Mitchell House
The house where much of Gone with the Wind was written beckons to tourists and native Atlantans alike who want to understand more about the author of the most popular novel of all time. The house also plays an important part in keeping Atlanta’s literary scene alive through regular events with local...
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Marietta Fire Museum
Features firefighting techniques and equipment from the 1800s to the present. Highlights include the “Aurora,” a 139-year-old horse-drawn Silsby Steamer pumper.
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Marietta Museum of History
A small museum on the second floor of an 1845 building that houses exhibits on subjects as varied as the Dahlonega gold rush, the famous Union attempt to steal a Confederate locomotive, and growth of the Bell Bomber Plant, now part of Lockheed/Martin.
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Millennium Gate Museum
The Millennium Gate is a classically-styled monumental arch located inside Atlantic Station in Midtown Atlanta, historically called “The Gate City.” The Gate houses a 12,000-square-foot museum that narrates Georgia’s and Atlanta’s history through interactive technology, as well as film, period rooms...
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Museum of Arts and Sciences
From modest beginnings in a single rented room to a state-of-the-art 50,000-square foot facility on a 14-acre campus, the Museum of Arts and Sciences (MAS) represents more than a half-century of community investment in education. Its founders – educators and civic leaders – had a vision: to create a...
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Museum of History and Holocaust Education
The Museum of History and Holocaust Education comprises one division within the Kennesaw State University Department of Museums, Archives & Rare Books (MARB). Formed in 2010, the Dept. of Museums, Archives and Rare Books is under the executive leadership of Dr. Catherine Lewis, professor of history ...
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Southeastern Railway Museum
This museum features two trains in the exhibit hall, more than 70 pieces of retired railway rolling stock, and train rides aboard restored cabooses.
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Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History
The Southern Museum opened in 1972 as the Big Shanty Museum in Kennesaw, Georgia. It showcased the famous General locomotive and was dedicated to telling the story of the April 12, 1862 “Great Locomotive Chase,” an event that briefly elevated the engine and the City of Kennesaw to prominence during ...
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The Breman Museum
CL: Extensive documents and profiles record Atlanta’s Jewish history, making the museum the largest of its kind in the Southeast. Particularly notable for special exhibits that emphasize the value of tolerance and diversity.
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The King Center
The crypt for King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, is located outside in the stately plaza, but there’s not much else to see here.
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The Youth Museum
The Youth Museum is a non-profit educational center offering imaginative tours for elementary and middle school classes. Located in a natural setting, the Youth Museum’s property is adjacent to the Cheatham Hill area of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, three miles west of the Marietta Sq...
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White Oak Pastures Farm & General Store
For 150 years, White Oak Pastures farms organic produce, dairy, and meat for the Georgia communities to enjoy. Organic, sustainable, and plentiful crops retain the mission of the farm: high-quality, homemade, and down-home tradition.
William Root House Museum & Garden
Visit one of the oldest homes in the Atlanta area and experience life for a middle class family living in antebellum Georgia. Home to the Root family from 1845 to 1886, the Root House is more typical of its time and place than the grand plantations and columned mansions popularized by Gone With the ...
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World of Coca-Cola
The new soda-pop museum, next to Centennial Olympic Park, is slicker than the old one — but still basically a big interactive commercial that you pay to watch. It features free samples of various international flavors of the company’s sugar water, a mini-bottling line, and Coke-themed pop art.
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Zoo Atlanta
The zoo houses more than 1,400 animals, including elephants, Sumatran tigers, black rhinos, zebras, and Chantek, the first orangutan to use sign language. And did we mention pandas?
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54 Columns,
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Alpharetta Convention & Visitors Bureau,
(678) 297-2811
Amphitheater at Village at Indian Springs,
(770) 775-5350
Andretti Indoor Karting and Games Marietta,
(678) 496-9530
ATL-Cruzers Electric Car and Segway Tours,
(404) 492-7009
Atlanta Braves Spring Training CoolToday Park,
(941) 413-5000
Buford Dam Park,
(770) 945-9531
Callaway Resort & Gardens,
(844) 512-3826
Central Park,
(404) 874-1780
Cobb Travel & Tourism,
(678) 303-2622
Dahlonega Visitors Center,
(800) 231-5543
Deljou Art Group,
(800) 237-4638
Explore Gwinnett,
(770) 623-3600
Hapeville Arts ALley,
(404) 669-2100
Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site,
(478) 986-5172
Marietta Welcome Center,
(770) 429-1115
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park,
(478) 752-8257
Porsche Experience Center Atlanta,
(888) 204-7474
SCAD Ivy Hall,
(404) 253-3324
Shoot the Hooch, LLC,
(770) 650-1008
Stone Mountain Visitors Center,
(770) 879-4971
The Roof at Ponce City Market,
(770) 999-1530