Things to Do in Georgia

Factors Walk in downtown Savannah is paved with the rest of the world. If you’re not sure exactly what that means, consider the cobbles that form the streets of uneven Factors Walk; brought to Savannah as ballast on ships and discarded here on shore, the stones came from China, India, Europe, and anywhere engaged with the agricultural trade that boomed in the 1700s. This rundown, funky, and some would say, real, stretch of Savannah is arguably its most authentic, as it shows the grungy underbelly of Savannah’s plantation past. After all, plantation life in Colonial Georgia was more than just mansions and fountains; it was schlepping crates full of Georgia cotton onto ships that were bound for England, and spending the few pence you earned for the job in a seedy riverfront grog shop. When strolling Factors Walk today, where steep stairways and narrow alleyways lead from the river up to Bay Street, there’s a dingy, historic, and industrial charm that’s free of the tourist gloss. One of the best ways to hear the Factors Walk stories is on a walking tour of downtown, lest you think it’s just souvenir shops in a poorly maintained part of town.

Light streams through the stained glass windows of Ebenezer Baptist Church, illuminating the altar where Martin Luther King, Jr. was baptized as a child and served as pastor in adulthood. America’s most famous Civil Rights leader grew up in this church, and his legacy lives on inside its walls today, where the church serves as one of the foremost landmarks of the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and in the United States.

The church was founded in 1886 during the Reconstruction Era in the South after the Civil War, and by the mid-20th century, Martin Luther King, Sr. was leading the congregation from the pulpit on Sundays, setting the stage for his son to take over. MLK, Jr. joined his father as a co-pastor from 1960 until the fateful day of his death in 1968. His funeral, too, was held here. The church has since been restored to look as it did in the 1960s during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and MLK Jr.’s voice greets visitors as they walk through the storied doors, his sermons and speeches playing on a loop on loudspeakers in the Church. Ebenezer Baptist Church still holds sermons today, a testament to the conviction and passion of the congregations that have kept this unique historical landmark alive for well over a century.

The 1996 Summer Olympic Games live on at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, a 21-acre site that remains one of the city’s premiere public park spaces. The park's main icon—and one of Georgia’s most photographed landmarks—would be the Fountain of Rings, an interactive play area that uses computer-controlled lights and jets of water to display the Olympic Rings. The fountain water show is synchronized to music, and in the warmest months, kids—and even adults—run through the jets to cool off. 

Also noteworthy are the park's stone paths, comprised of inscribed, dedicated bricks that line the walkways. The bricks, bought by Atlanta and Georgia natives, as well as by people all over the world, even helped fund the games in 1996. The city hosts an online brick-locator tool to help people find their own bricks or those of friends and family. The dedicated ones make up a significant portion of the nearly 800,000 bricks used to build the park. A multitude of events, including concerts and a large Fourth of July celebration, take place at the park every year.

A quintessential field trip experience for Atlanta students, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History allows children the opportunity to explore the planet and its people with both hands-on and hands-off exhibits. These explore everything from modern, foreign world cultures to prehistoric earth, and the Fernbank NatureQuest exhibit is by far the most popular. This interactive experience allows children to explore various ecosystems around the world, while the A Walk Through Time in Georgia exhibit walks through the state's natural history in the context of the development of the planet.

In addition to exhibits, Fernbank also has an impressive IMAX theater with a five-story-high, 72-foot-wide screen, making it the largest movie screen in Atlanta. While most of the films shown are educational, Fernbank does sometimes host special events and programming in the theater.

There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks in the United States, and one of them is located in Atlanta. The Federal Reserve plays an important role in the US economy and banking system. They make sure banks are operating safely and fairly as well as establish monetary policies. Of the 12 locations throughout the country, only two have give tours. At the Atlanta location, visitors can tour the Atlanta Monetary Museum and learn about the history of money from barter to modern times. Different exhibits show the turbulent history of banking in America. There are also displays with rare coins and currency. 

Interactive, multimedia exhibits explain the Federal Reserve's role in the economy. Visitors will also learn how monetary policy affects daily life, how the Fed supervises and regulates banks, and how the Fed provides payments system services to help the economy run smoothly. Tours also show visitors the cash processing operations where millions of dollars are counted, sorted, or shredded daily. 

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream is realized every day at Atlanta's Historic Fourth Ward Park in the neighborhood in which he was born. Today the area houses the first completed urban park of the Atlanta Beltline Project, which brings modern, renovated park spaces to the city.

This 17-acre space celebrates Atlanta’s natural beauty with wide open green areas and its central two-acre lake, also used as a stormwater retention basin. Multiple lawns dot the park, all suitable for reading, a game of Frisbee and picnics. A modern playground with a splash pad is the crowning jewel of the park for young kids, and a skate park, athletic field and amphitheater round out the park’s entertainment options.

Atlantic Station is a district in Atlanta, GA west of midtown. It is one of the newest areas of the city with plenty of apartments, lofts, and condos for those who want to live there. The neighborhood also has a focus on shopping, and you can find a wide variety of stores set up as an open-air mall. You'll find smaller boutiques, chain stores, and department stores. When you get hungry, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, including sit-down establishments and cafes where you can get a quick bite. 

If you're looking for entertainment, Atlantic Station has you covered. A movie theater shows the latest hit movies, and several bars provide a fun place for a drink. Atlantic Station is the permanent home for BODIES The Exhibition and often hosts Cirque de Soleil. Concerts and festivals are held here throughout the year, and in the winter there is an ice skating rink. A grocery store, fitness center, and several medical facilities round out the neighborhood. 

The Atlanta History Center is an interactive educational complex devoted to sharing the history of Atlanta and the Southeast. The center includes four historic buildings, a research center, and a museum with one of the world’s largest collections of American Civil War artifacts. Its large grounds offer walking trails and lovely gardens.

The Atlanta History Center’s permanent and temporary collections of photographs, maps, books, newspaper clippings, and decorative arts tell the history of the Southeast through an everyday lens. Hands-on discovery areas make this a good stop for families, too. You can book a single admission ticket to all of the center’s attractions—including the Atlanta History Museum, the Swan House mansion, Smith Family Farm, Wood Family Cabin, Atlanta Cyclorama, Margaret Mitchell House (located 13 miles/21 kilometers away), and 22 acres (9 hectares) of grounds—or book separate admission to just the Margaret Mitchell House. 

The Atlanta History Center is located in the Buckhead area, roughly 10 minutes north of downtown. It is easily accessible by MARTA bus 110 or by private vehicle. On-site parking is included with admission.

The center is open from 10am to 5:30pm Monday through Saturday and noon to 5:30pm on Sunday. The historic houses have more limited hours: 11am to 4pm Monday through Saturday and 1pm to 4pm on Sunday. A variety of events, films, and festivals are always on the calendar, so be sure to check with the center before planning your visit.

Many visitors spend most of the day exploring the center’s numerous exhibits. But for a break from the museum and historic homes, take a stroll along the Swan Woods Trail, which is filled with many plants native to Georgia. 

The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, a Roman Catholic establishment, is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah. The colonial charter of the city originally prohibited Roman Catholics from settling here for fear they would be more loyal to the Spanish authorities, but after the American Revolution, the prohibition on Roman Catholics began to fade. 

French Catholic immigrants escaping slave rebellions in Haiti established Savannah’s first parish just before the end of the 18th century. As the number of Catholics continued to increase in Savannah, a second church was dedicated in 1839 and construction on the new Cathedral of St John the Baptist began in 1873. It was completed in 1896 as the spires were added. 

Although the cathedral was almost entirely destroyed by a fire in 1898, it was painstakingly rebuilt and rededicated in 1900, when it also received new murals and decorations. Restoration and renovations continued on throughout the reign of several bishops, and among the most significant elements that remain today are the stained glass windows.

The College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta honors the greatest players throughout the history of college football. Their stories and achievements are commemorated here in a one-of-a-kind experience. Visitors can learn about exceptional players and the records they broke by exploring the exhibitions in the Hall of Fame. Permanent, etched-glass representations of each Hall of Fame player are on display. There are also 10 augmented reality displays where visitors can view images and video of players and coaches from their favorite school. 

More than 750 helmets representing each college football team are on display, as well as larger than life images from 11 conference champions that are updated each season. Visitors can also see historical game-worn uniforms. Other exhibitions explore the dedication, passion, and sacrifice that goes into being a college football player. There are also sections that focus on the social traditions of college football, the bands, cheerleaders, mascots, and tailgating traditions. 

Though Savannah once served as the southern border of the original American colonies, Chippewa Square is named for an event on the northern border with Canada. In the Battle of Chippewa, in 1814, American forces emerged victorious over the British near Niagara Falls, and when Chippewa Square was built in 1815, it was named for the momentous American victory that took place on the northern border. Today, when visiting the historic Savannah square, you’ll find a statue of James Oglethorpe, the famous founder of Georgia, that faces south with sword drawn in the direction of Spanish Florida. You’ll also find legions of Forrest Gump fans who have come in search of the “the bench,” and while Chippewa Square was the site of filming for the popular 1994 movie, the bench itself was only a prop that has since been moved to a museum. Nevertheless, to admire the backdrop, the bench was placed on the north side of the square, facing out towards Bull Street, and it’s amazingly become the most famous aspect of this 200-year old square. On the streets surrounding Chippewa Square, you’ll also find the Philbrick Eastman House—one of Savannah’s most well known homes—as well as historic Savannah Theater that’s the oldest theater in America.

Glance up during a movie, concert or live performance at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, and you will be dazzled by a gleaming starry sky. The man-made "sky’"projects 96 crystal stars and even clouds that drift, and this is only one of the many architectural features that make the Fox Theatre so fabulous. It opened on Christmas Day in 1929 to incredible fanfare and was designed and built to be grand and opulent, a decadent escape for patrons of the arts. That kind of opulence could not be maintained during the Great Depression, however, and the venue sunk into bankruptcy.

The salvation and revitalization of the Fabulous Fox, as it is known in Atlanta, was a community effort. Over $3 million was raised to protect the theater, most of which came from Atlanta residents. The site reopened in 1975 and today ranks among some of the country’s most notable not-for-profit performing art theaters. Today, patrons come to see world-famous productions, but they also come simply to lay eyes on the Fabulous Fox Theatre in person.

The Atlanta CNN Center serves as headquarters for the cable TV news giant, CNN. Inside, visitors can see the 24-hour news cycle in action with an insider’s look at newsrooms, control rooms, production studios, and sets, all in addition to the interactive exhibits that chronicle the network’s history.

The 14th-floor CNN Center is an Atlanta icon and one of the city’s most popular attractions. On a guided, behind-the-scenes tour, visitors can learn how television news is written, produced, and delivered. Highlights include the special effects studio, which reveals the technology behind weather maps and on-air graphics; the option to take a souvenir photo behind a news desk; and the glass-walled observation tower in the main newsroom, from where travelers can see writers composing new scripts, camera operators in action, and maybe even a live broadcast taking place. For added value, combine a CNN tour with a visit to the World of Coca Cola, or see the studio with the Atlanta CityPASS, which also includes entrance to other popular attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, and the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.

The Atlanta CNN Center is located in downtown Atlanta on Marietta Street, just south of Centennial Olympic Park. You can get there via bus or the MARTA train.

The center offers several tours throughout the day, and behind-the-scenes tours depart every 20 minutes. While there’s not really a bad time to visit, the studio is particularly appealing as a mid-afternoon, air-conditioned escape from the Atlanta heat.

While you probably won’t catch a glimpse of hosts Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper, it is still possible to spot some of CNN’s other anchors and hosts giving a live broadcast. Your best bet is to book a VIP tour around 9am or noon.

This site served as Savannah’s main cemetery for more than a century following its establishment in 1750. With three subsequent expansions, six acres and over 9,000 graves, burials were cut off in 1853, and the site is now recognized as the oldest intact municipal cemetery in the city.

When the site first opened, it was intended to serve as the burial ground for Christ Church Parish, but after its expansion, the cemetery was opened to all denominations. Since interments were closed prior to the start of the Civil War, no Confederate soldiers were buried here. There are, however, some burials of note; over 700 victims of the 1820 Yellow Fever epidemic are here, along with many victims of Savannah’s dueling era. Declaration of Independence signer Button Gwinnett is buried here, as well as Archibald Bulloch, the first president of Georgia, and James Habersham, an 18th-century acting royal Governor of the Province.

Not surprisingly, Colonial Park Cemetery is home to a number of interesting ghost stories and legends. Paranormal enthusiasts have dubbed it “Paranormal Central,” with one of the most famous ghost stories involving Rene Asche Rondolier, a disfigured orphan who was accused of murdering girls. It is said that he was dragged to the swamp and lynched, and some locals believe he still haunts the cemetery, calling it Rene’s playground. Some local paranormal experts dispute the validity of this ghost story due to a lack of historical records. 

Other ghost stories revolve around Savannah’s voodoo culture. Although many have moved out of the city, years ago it was not uncommon for morning visitors to find remnants from a previous night’s ceremony. Soil was used from the graves, and some were actually robbed for use in these rituals. The small park adjacent to the cemetery is the location believed to be the site of Savannah’s dueling grounds. 

The Center for Civil and Human Rights is a cultural center in downtown Atlanta that seeks to connect the American Civil Rights Movement to today’s Global Human Rights Movements. Their purpose is to create a safe space for visitors to explore the fundamental rights of all human beings. The Center's goal is to inspire and empower visitors to join the ongoing dialogue about human rights in their own communities. 

The Center has both permanent and temporary exhibitions on different topics relating to civil and human rights. Exhibitions explore the history of the civil rights movement in the US during the 1950s and 1960s. Others focus on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life and work in the fight for equal rights. Some exhibitions focus more on present-day issues of human rights and how certain groups are depicted in the media. These exhibits aim to help visitors gain a deeper understanding of human rights and how they affect the lives of every person. 

Forsyth Park, in the middle of historical downtown Savannah, has been a key city landmark since the mid-1800s. Named after the 33rd governor of Georgia, John Forsyth, who donated 20 acres (8 hectares) of land, the park is known for the large Parisian-style fountain located at the north end and the Spanish moss dripping from the oak trees.

No trip to Savannah is complete without a stroll through Forsyth Park. The edges of the 30-acre (12-hectare) park are lined with historical Victorian-era mansions as well as memorials dedicated to the Confederacy and the Spanish-American War. Keep your camera at the ready to capture the park’s postcard-perfect beauty and its 300-year-old oaks.

Many city tours incorporate Forsyth Park into their itineraries. Tour Savannah on foot or via Segway to learn more about its history. For the more adventurous, helicopter tours soar over the city and provide stunning aerial views. Or book a hop-on hop-off bus tour for an easy and convenient way to see the city at your own pace.

Forsyth Park is located on the southern edge of Savannah’s historic district, about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Savannah riverfront. Walk or take advantage of the fare-free Forsyth Park shuttle, 7D.

Forsyth Park is lovely year-round. Popular times to visit are late afternoon and evening, and during the farmer’s market held every Saturday along Park Avenue. In summer, the park bustles with events such as the Savannah Jazz Festival and free outdoor movies.

In the middle of Forsyth Park stands a memorial dedicated to the soldiers who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The bronze sculpture was added to the park in 1879, fewer than 20 years after Southerners ran combat drills on the very lawns where Forsyth Park now stands.

An ambitious “rails-to-trails” project, the Atlanta Beltline transforms the city’s trash-collecting tracks into more than 22 miles of footpaths for bikers, runners and pedestrians. The Beltline, a work in progress, merges the city's parks and green spaces, connects neighborhoods to each other and makes public transit more accessible. The Beltline shows off the very best parts of Atlanta.

The popular Eastside Trail and the Historic Fourth Ward Park are two projects, among many others, that have been completed. A planned streetcar is in the works, an addition that will connect the furthest reaches of the Beltline to more popular, central attractions in Atlanta. Some of the other highlights include 33 miles of multi-use trails, 1,300 acres of parks, more public art and historic preservation efforts.

Adjacent to Piedmont Park, Atlanta Botanical Garden comprises a stunning 30 acres (12 hectares) of indoor and outdoor themed gardens, woodland areas, brooks, fern glades, and walking paths. A highlight is the Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory, a massive collection of plants from tropical rain forests and deserts from around the globe.

 

The leafy Atlanta Botanical Garden is a pleasant place to wander and escape the Atlanta traffic. While many travelers visit independently, a guided tour of the garden ensures you explore all 30 acres (12 hectares) while learning more about the plants, animals, hidden sculptures, and water features that make this one of the best gardens in the nation.

 

Nature-themed tours of the city include the botanical garden, as well as Olmsted Linear Park, Grant Park, and Centennial Olympic Park.

 

 

Atlanta Botanical Garden is located in Midtown Atlanta, adjacent to Piedmont Park on Piedmont Avenue. You can easily get here by car, Bus 27, and the MARTA transit system.

 

The botanical garden is closed on Mondays, except for certain public holidays; hours are reduced during the winter months. Springtime tends to be the most colorful season, but there’s always something in bloom.

 

The garden provides a habitat for a dozen or so species of native birds, including red-tailed hawks, blue jays, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and chickadees. Early mornings are the best time for birdwatching, particularly in the Perennial Gardens, Fuqua Conservatory, Children’s Garden, and Storza Woods.