Attractions

People used to say Atlanta was a great place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit. Not anymore. In fact, because of traffic and other major pains in this city, some say just the opposite -- give me a weekend in Atlanta and let me live elsewhere. To each his own.

A lot has happened since Atlanta's humble beginnings as a railroad depot, and the city is rich in historic attractions -- Civil War sites, landmarks of the civil rights movement, and monuments to the businesses that have energized the city's development (such as World of Coca-Cola). And all those elements that make Atlanta a great place to live make the city a terrific place to visit, too. You can take a stroll through a world-class botanical garden, visit the world's largest indoor aquarium, picnic in a scenic park, raft down a river, visit a major art museum, splash through the Olympic-rings fountain, take in an enchanting puppet show, and much more.

MARTA stops near attractions are listed where applicable. If you need information on bus routes, call tel. 404/848-4711.

Did You Know?

Atlanta has 100 streets that include the word "Peachtree."

Georgia's major agricultural crop is peanuts, not peaches.

Atlanta's earliest streetlights burned whale oil.

The world's largest bas-relief sculpture (Stone Mountain -- 90*190 ft.) and the world's largest painting (the Cyclorama, using 20,000 sq. ft. of canvas) are in Atlanta.

Because it has received over $250 million from Coca-Cola, Emory University is known as "Coca-Cola U."

Fortune magazine consistently rates Atlanta one of the nation's best places to do business.

Not a single scene from the movie Gone with the Wind was filmed in Georgia, though a few bushels of Georgia red clay were transported to the Hollywood set to add verisimilitude.

Hartsfield-Jackson is the country's busiest airport and is consistently ranked among the best airports in the world. Eighty percent of the U.S. population is within a 2-hour flight of Atlanta.