What to See in Atlanta - Top Sights and Attractions

Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It exhibits hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than 11 million US gallons of water. It was the largest aquarium in the world from its opening in 2005 until 2012 when it was surpassed by the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore and the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China; the Georgia Aquarium remains the largest aquarium in the United States and the third largest in the world.

A $250 million donation from the foundation of local businessmen and The Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus provided the bulk of the funding needed to build and stock the new facility.

The aquarium's notable specimens include whale sharks, beluga whales, California sea lions, bottlenose dolphins, and manta rays. Its centerpiece is a 6.3 million US gallons (24,000 m3) whale shark exhibit.^[1]

Neo-classical seat of state government. The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As the primary office building of Georgia's government, the capitol houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state on the second floor, chambers in which the General Assembly, consisting of the Georgia State Senate and Georgia House of Representatives, meets annually from January to April. The fourth floor houses visitors' galleries overlooking the legislative chambers and a museum located near the rotunda in which a statue of Miss Freedom caps the dome.^[10]

Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Piedmont Park is an urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about 1 mile northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence. He sold the land in 1887 to the Gentlemen's Driving Club, who wanted to establish an exclusive club and racing ground for horse enthusiasts. The Driving Club entered an agreement with the Piedmont Exposition Company, headed by prominent Atlantan Charles A. Collier, to use the land for fairs and expositions and later gave the park its name.

The park was originally designed by Joseph Forsyth Johnson to host the first of two major expositions held in the park in the late 19th century. The Piedmont Exposition opened in October 1887 to great fanfare. The event was a success and set the stage for the Cotton States and International Exposition which was held in the park seven years later in 1895. Both exhibitions showcased the prosperity of the region that had occurred during and after the Reconstruction period. In the early 20th century, a redesign plan called the Olmsted plan, was begun by the sons of New York Central Park architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. The effort led to the addition of scenic paths in the park and the joining of the park with the Ansley park system.

Over the years, the park has also served as an athletic center for the city. Atlanta's first professional baseball team, the Atlanta Crackers, played in the park from 1902 to 1904. Several important intercollegiate rivalries were also forged in the park including the University of Georgia vs. Georgia Tech baseball rivalry and Georgia versus Auburn football which has been called the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry".

Throughout the 20th century, many improvements have been made in the park, including the addition of covered picnic areas, tennis facilities, the Lake Clara Meer dock and visitors center, and two playgrounds. In 2008, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for a 53-acre (210,000 m2) extension to the park. On April 12, 2011, Mayor Kasim Reed cut the ribbon to open the first phase of a major expansion into the northern third of the park. Additional areas at the far north of the park (near Ansley Mall) are to be developed next.^[11]

Neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. Virginia–Highland is an affluent neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, founded in the early 20th century as a streetcar suburb. It is named after the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland Avenue, the heart of its trendy retail district at the center of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is famous for its bungalows and other historic houses from the 1910s to the 1930s. It has become a destination for people across Atlanta with its eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, and shops as well as for the Summerfest festival, annual Tour of Homes and other events.

In 2011 readers of Creative Loafing voted Virginia–Highland "Best Overall Neighborhood." In June 2011, Atlanta Magazine designated Virginia Highland "favorite neighborhood overall". In 2012 readers of Creative Loafing voted VaHi "Best Walkable Neighborhood". In 2020, Southern Living editors named Virginia–Highland #4 on their “The South’s Best Neighborhoods” list.^[13]

Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. Oakland Cemetery is one of the largest cemetery green spaces, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded as Atlanta Cemetery in 1850 on six acres of land southeast of the city, it was renamed in 1872 to reflect the large number of oak and magnolia trees growing in the area. By that time, the city had grown and the cemetery had enlarged correspondingly to the current 48 acres. Since then, Atlanta has continued to expand so that the cemetery is now located in the center of the city. Oakland is an excellent example of a Victorian-style cemetery, and reflects the "garden cemetery" movement started and exemplified by Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts.

The original 6 acres (24,000 m2) of Oakland remains one of the oldest historical plots of land in Atlanta, most of the rest of the city having been burned in 1864. Because of its age and location, the cemetery directly reflects the history and changing culture of the City of Atlanta and the significant events it has seen. Names of Atlanta streets, buildings, parks, subdivisions, and more can be found within the cemetery gates. An estimated 70,000 people are interred at Oakland, and while the last plots were sold in 1884, there are still regular burials today. These are largely conducted on family-owned plots or areas owned by Atlanta (one of the most recent being former mayor Maynard Jackson, whose plot was contributed by the city).^[15]

Memorabilia of the Carter Administration. The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia houses U.S. President Jimmy Carter's papers and other material relating to the Carter administration and the Carter family's life. The library also hosts special exhibits, such as Carter's Nobel Peace Prize and a full-scale replica of the Oval Office as it was during the Carter Administration, including a reproduction of the Resolute desk.

The Carter Library and Museum includes some parts that are owned and administered by the federal government, and some that are privately owned and operated. The library and museum are run by the National Archives and Records Administration and are part of the Presidential Library system of the federal government. Privately owned areas house Carter's offices and the offices of the Carter Center, a non-profit human rights agency.

The building housing the library and museum makes up 69,750 square feet (6480 m²), with 15,269 square feet (1419 m²) of space for exhibits and 19,818 square feet (1841 m²) of archive and storage space. The library stacks house 27 million pages of documents; 500,000 photos, and 40,000 objects, along with films, videos, and audiotapes. These collections cover all areas of the Carter administration, from foreign and domestic policy to the personal lives of President and Mrs. Carter.

The complex lies next to John Lewis Freedom Parkway, which was originally called "Presidential Parkway" (and at one point, "Jimmy Carter Parkway") in its planning stages. The land on which the museum sits was a part of General Sherman's headquarters during the Civil War's Battle of Atlanta.^[18]

Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. The Margaret Mitchell House is a historic house museum located in Atlanta, Georgia. The structure was the home of author Margaret Mitchell in the early 20th century. It is located in Midtown, at 979 Crescent Avenue. Constructed by Cornelius J. Sheehan as a single-family residence in a then-fashionable section of residential Peachtree Street, the building's original address was 806 Peachtree Street. The house was known as the Crescent Apartments when Mitchell and her husband lived in Apt. 1 on the ground floor from 1925 to 1932. While living there, Mitchell wrote the bulk of her Pulitzer Prize-winning 1936 novel, Gone with the Wind.

The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also designated as a historic building by the City of Atlanta.

This house serves as the heart of Atlanta History Center's Midtown Campus and it houses permanent exhibitions that focus on various topics surrounding the building's history and its famous occupant, Margaret Mitchell. Through guided tours of Margaret Mitchell's apartment, guests can explore the complex issues raised by Gone With the Wind, and by Mitchell's life. The Margaret Mitchell House examines the popularity along with criticism of the book and film. Atlanta History Center encourages open discussion about the content of the book and film, the evidence from historical reality, and Margaret Mitchell's life.

Along with interpretation about the house's former resident, the Midtown Campus also serves as an accessible hub for community events, such as Author Talks, Atlanta United match viewing parties, Atlanta Pride events, and many others.^[19]

Bank. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, is the sixth district of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States and is headquartered in midtown Atlanta, Georgia.

The Atlanta Fed covers the U.S. states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, the eastern two-thirds of Tennessee, the southern portion of Louisiana, and southern Mississippi as part of the Federal Reserve System. Along with its Atlanta headquarters, the Banks operates five branches with the sixth district, which are located in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville, and New Orleans. These branches provide cash to banks, savings and loans, and other depository institutions; transfer money electronically; and clear millions of checks.

In addition to supporting the U.S. financial system, the Atlanta Fed carries out the supervision and regulation of the banks operating within the sixth district. It also is a source of research and expertise for public and private decision makers within the district. In recent years, researchers within the Atlanta Fed have innovated new tools to gauge the health of the macro U.S. economy, the two most notable are GDPNow and Wage Growth Tracker.

The Atlanta Fed is currently led by Dr. Raphael Bostic, who was appointed in 2017 and is member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the committee that makes key decisions about interest rates and the growth of the United States money supply.^[25]

Sports facility. The Wolf Creek Shooting Complex, now known as the Tom Lowe Shooting Grounds, is a shooting range located southwest of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, in Fulton County. During the 1996 Summer Olympics, it hosted the shooting event. Until 2002, it was also often used for ISSF World Cup competitions in rifle and pistol events, although such competitions, when held in the United States, have now reverted to being carried out at Fort Benning.

The venue is now owned by the Parks & Recreation Department of Fulton County.

It has 20 trap and skeet shooting combination fields, and nine lighted areas.

The facility has been host to several NSSA State and Zone skeet tournaments.

The range is also home to recreational shooting leagues such as the Atlanta Skeet and Trap League.^[27]

Music hall in Atlanta, Georgia. The Tabernacle is a mid-size concert hall located in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Opening in 1911 as a church, the building was converted into a music venue in 1996. It is owned and managed by concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment and has a capacity of 2,600 people.

Since its rebranding, many notable acts performed at the venue, including: Guns N' Roses, Tove Lo, The Black Crowes, Adele, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Robbie Williams, Alice in Chains, Bob Dylan, Prince & The New Power Generation, Lana del Rey, BABYMETAL, and Atlanta's own Mastodon, and Blackberry Smoke.

Along with music concerts, the venue also holds many comedy tours annually including Bob Saget, Lisa Lampanelli, Cheech & Chong and Stephen Lynch.^[28]

Skyscraper in Atlanta, Georgia. Truist Plaza is a 265 m 60 story skyscraper in downtown Atlanta. It was designed by John C. Portman, Jr. of John Portman & Associates and built from 1989 to 1992. In the mid-1990s, Portman sold half of his interest in the building to SunTrust Banks, which then moved its headquarters to the building and prompted a name change from One Peachtree Center to SunTrust Plaza. In 2021 the building changed its name to Truist Plaza, following a merger between SunTrust Banks and BB&T. The building is also known as 303 Peachtree. The building has a roof height of 871 feet and stands a total of 902 feet tall, including its antenna. When completed, Truist Plaza stood as the world's 28th tallest building and 21st tallest building in the United States. It is currently the 55th tallest building in the United States and 2nd tallest building in Atlanta.^[29]

Museum in the Druid Hills, Georgia. Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a museum that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history. Fernbank Museum has a number of permanent exhibitions and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its expansive facility, designed by Graham Gund Architects. Giants of the Mesozoic, on display in the atrium of Fernbank Museum, features a 123-foot long Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever classified; as well as a Giganotosaurus. The permanent exhibition, A Walk Through Time in Georgia, tells the twofold story of Georgia's natural history and the development of the planet. Fernbank Museum has won several national and international awards for one of its newest permanent exhibitions, Fernbank NatureQuest, an immersive, interactive exhibition for children that was designed and produced by Thinkwell Group. The awards NatureQuest has won include the 2012 Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement for a Museum Exhibit and the 2011 Bronze Award for Best Museum Environment from Event Design. The nearby Fernbank Science Center is a separate organization operated by the DeKalb County Board of Education and is not affiliated with Fernbank Museum of Natural History.^[30]

Stadium in Cobb County, Georgia. Truist Park is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. Opened in 2017, it is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves.

The stadium was constructed in a public–private partnership with a project budget of $622 million. Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority issued up to $397 million in bonds for the project. The county raised an additional $14 million from transportation taxes and $10 million cash from businesses in the Cumberland Community Improvement District. The Braves contributed the remaining money for the park and The Battery Atlanta. In March 2015, a security filing from Braves owners Liberty Media allotted $672 million for Truist Park and $452 million for The Battery Atlanta, which adds up to a total cost of above $1.1 billion. The Braves will spend $181 million over 30 years to help pay off the county's bonds on the project.

The Braves hosted a soft opening for season ticket holders on March 31, 2017, in a preseason game against the New York Yankees. The first regular season game at the park was held on April 14, 2017, against the San Diego Padres.

SunTrust Banks originally bought naming rights to the stadium in 2014. After a merger in 2020, SunTrust became Truist Financial and the ballpark was renamed.^[31]