Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau 233 Peachtree Street #100 Atlanta, GA 30303 (404) 521-6600 Population 394017 Time Zone Eastern Latitude/Longitude 33.75° /-84.39° Today's Forecast HIGH: 92 LOW: 70

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Attractions

Atlanta's famous "can-do" civic optimism saw its finest moment to date when the Summer Olympics came to town in 1996. But the city has hardly stood still since then. In 2005, the Georgia Aquarium opened downtown across the street from Centennial Olympic Park. With more than eight million gallons of fresh and ocean water, it makes a reasonable claim to be the largest aquarium in the world. And, in 2007, the new World of Coca-Cola moved in next door. Along with never-before-seen Coke memorabilia and a working bottling line, the new, two-story building has a 4D theatre, a gallery of pop art featuring the iconic product, and a sampling room with 70 varieties of soft drinks.

You can visit the Georgia State Capitol to see lawmakers in action. The Capitol grounds are landscaped with native flora, including elms, oaks, and magnolias. World and national politics come under scrutiny at the Carter Presidential Center, which houses both the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and the offices of the former president's on-going humanitarian efforts.

Visit the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site to learn more about this Nobel Peace Prize winner's vision for a better America. The wide-ranging site includes his birth home, the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he preached, and his final resting place. The King Center, which seeks to carry on the work of nonviolent social change, is also here. The nearby APEX Museum offers historic exhibits on Atlanta's vibrant African-American community. More exhibits on Atlanta's multifaceted past, from Indian settlements to the Olympic Games, are found at the Atlanta History Center. The center also offers tours of the 1928 Swan House and the Tullie Smith Farm, an 1840s plantation farmhouse and outbuildings.

Combining both the visual and the performing arts, the Woodruff Arts Center provides an outstanding setting for the city's opera, symphony, ballet and repertory theatre companies. The High Museum of Art, which doubled in size with the addition of three new buildings in 2005, is also here. Fine art can also be found at the Carlos Museum on the campus of Emory University, where the collection emphasizes the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean, Far East, and the Americas, and at the Hammonds House Museum, which specializes in the art of the African diaspora with works by Caribbean and African-American painters and sculptors.

Exhibits at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History include "A Walk Through Time in Georgia" which takes visitors through the chronological development of life on Earth. The museum also has an IMAX theater. One of the largest planetariums in the country can be found at the Fernbank Science Center, which also offers interactive exhibits, an observatory, and the 65-acre Fernbank Forest.

Among Atlanta's unique museums are the Center for Puppetry Arts and Robert C. Williams Paper Museum. The Atlanta Cyclorama offers a look back at the Civil War with a dramatic recreation of the Battle of Atlanta. To witness news in the making, try the CNN Studio Tour. Everyone who comes to Atlanta must visit Underground Atlanta — six city blocks in the heart of the city transformed into an urban marketplace of restaurants, specialty shops, and entertainment spots.

Family's will find that Atlanta is ringed by amusement parks. To the east, venerable Stone Mountain Park has many acres of play and picnic grounds, railroad and boat rides, museums, live shows, and of course the giant granite monolith into which the likenesses of leaders of the Confederacy have been carved. West of the city, Six Flags Over Georgia offers thrill rides, live shows, and the Georgia Cyclone roller coaster. Northwards are American Adventures, where all the rides are meant for kids under 12, and the adjacent Six Flags White Water, reputedly the South's largest waterpark. Thrills of a different kind are found south of the city, where high-speed race cars roar at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Fans of spectator sports have plenty of big league options, all of them centrally located downtown. Depending on the season, you can take in the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome, the Braves, perennial winners of Major League Baseball's National League East Division, at Turner Field, and, at Philips Arena, either the NBA Hawks, the NHL Thrashers, or the AFL Georgia Force. At the collegiate level, the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech play football in historic Bobby Dodd Stadium.

For outdoor excitement, Zoo Atlanta has those ever-delightful pandas, as well as gorillas, exotic birds and large mammals of the African plains. If you're looking for outdoor recreation you'll find plenty of opportunities on the wild waters of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. A peaceful stroll among thousands of flowers and flowering bushes can be had at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Or, hike the history-laden grounds of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

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