 Facts at a Glance
Population: 425,000
Area: 130 sq miles (340 sq km)
Elevation: 1035ft (310m)
State: Georgia
Time Zone: Eastern Time (GMT/UTC minus 5 hours)
Telephone area code: 404
Atlanta started as railroad junction in the 1830s and quickly became the transport hub of the South. Its strategic importance was a large part of the reason it made such an inviting target for General Sherman's Union Army, which razed it during the Civil War. Ever ready to convert fact into myth, Hollwood made the burning of Atlanta the set piece of Gone with the Wind. With rebuilding came the rigid segregation of the post-Reconstruction era, shutting African Americans out of white Atlanta for decades.
The efforts of the city's boosters eventually paid off, and Atlanta became known as 'Capital of the New South.' Anchoring its economic renaissance has been the king of fizz, Coca Cola. Birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr, Atlanta was the nerve center of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, Atlanta has elected the first black representative to Congress since Reconstruction, Andrew Young (later ambassador to the UN under Jimmy Carter); and the country's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson. The city has become internationally known as the host of the 1996 Olympics and as the home of global broadcasting giant CNN.
Atlanta's weather is mild for much of the year, though July and August tend to be steamy and hot and the area does get snow in December and January. Spring and fall are the best times to visit weather-wise. Bear in mind that thousands of students arrive in late August and early September to attend the area's many colleges - which is good if you're looking to party but bad if you need a hotel room.
Located in the southeastern region of the US, Atlanta is in the northwestern quadrant of the state of Georgia (of which it is the capital). It's about 200 miles (320km) northwest of the Atlantic and about 275 miles (440km) north of the Gulf of Mexico.
The sprawling Atlanta metropolitan area is criss-crossed by I-20 and I-75/85, with I-285 forming the 'Perimeter' (as locals call it). West Peachtree St is the main north-south artery, but be aware that some 40 other streets, avenues, roads and lanes are also called Peachtree.
The center of the city is Five Points, the star-shaped intersection formed by several major streets. East of downtown, Sweet Auburn is the city's main African-American neighborhood. North of Sweet Auburn is Little Five Points, a center of Atlanta's college and grunge set. North of downtown, Midtown is an upmarket entertainment and nightlife area. The West End, west of downtown, is Atlanta's oldest neighborhood. The Olympic stadium and Grant Park are respectively south and southeast of downtown.
Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport is 12 miles (19km) south of downtown. The Greyhound terminal is next to the Garnett MARTA station, just south of downtown. The Amtrak station is 3 miles (5km) north of downtown.
Downtown
Since being rebuilt after the Civil War, downtown Atlanta (often has been transformed by waves of development and is now a thoroughly modern metropolis. Among the few remaining traces of the 19th century city left is Underground Atlanta, a multileveled mall that is, as the name indicates, below ground level - the result of several levels of train trestles having been built over the streets below. One of the city's finest historic buildings is the gilt-domed 1889 State Capitol, which has tours and exhibits.
To the west is the National Historic District of Fairlie-Poplar, which was the city's commercial center 100 years ago. Its 20-odd blocks are lined with brick and tile buildings constructed between the 1880s and WWI. News junkies will want to head a couple of blocks northwest to CNN Center, headquarters of the worldwide cable TV news service; tours take in broadcasting studios and backrooms full of technicians, writers and researchers.
For decades, Sweet Auburn was Atlanta's black downtown - a city within a city where African Americans created the institutions they were excluded from by white Atlanta. Though the construction of I-75/85 in the 1940s cut the neighborhood in half, it became the hub of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s and has remained the center of Atlanta's black life and culture. Several of the neighborhood's early 20th century churches, homes and commercial buildings are in good shape, making for an excellent walking tour. One of them houses the African American Panoramic Experience, known as APEX, which has several exhibits on the area's history and a movie about the neighborhood.
Several blocks of Auburn Avenue have been designated part of the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site, in honor of the civil rights leader who was born here in 1929. King's birthplace is open for tours. A block west is Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King preached. Across the street is the Martin Luther King Jr Center for Non-Violent Change, which has a visitors' center and exhibits on the civil rights campaigner's life and work. King's tomb is on view at the site.
Just south of downtown, Grant Park offers one of the most unique multimedia experiences anywhere: the Atlanta Cyclorama. Built in the 1880s, the Cyclorama features a big circular painting of the Battle of Atlanta that revolves around the audience, with sound and light effects and an informative commentary. There's also a diorama and a short movie on the campaign. At the southern end of the park is Zoo Atlanta, where naturalistic habitats include an African rainforest and a Sumatran tiger forest.
Buckhead
A few miles north of downtown is Buckhead, one of Atlanta's toniest suburbs. It's got upscale hotels, restaurants and shopping malls, and some of Atlanta's best architecture. Among its showpieces are the 1917 Brookwood Railway Station, one of the country's few surviving train palaces, and the 1938 Cathedral of Christ the King, which has over 60 stained-glass windows.
The Atlanta History Center is one of the best of its kind in the country. Located on the grounds of a former estate, the center includes an antebellum mansion and farm house, both offering guided tours. The focal point of the center is the recently opened Atlanta History Museum, which has excellent exhibits covering over 150 years of the city's history.
Little Five Points
Little Five Points is as close to bohemia as Atlanta gets. The neighborhood has come a long way since the turn of the century, when it was the commercial district of an elite bedroom community called Inman Park. After a post-WWI decline, Inman Park found itself in the hands of ambitious fixer-uppers and on the National Register of Historic Places. Five Points, having gone through a similar slide, revived under the patronage of the youthful new clientele that bought up Inman Park's crumbling houses. Somewhere along the line, Little Five Points took a slightly beatnik/hippy turn and has been on that road ever since. The center of the neighborhood is at the intersection of Moreland and Euclid Aves, locale of small shops, live theaters, cinemas, bookstores, cafes and restaurants. The nearby Museum of the Jimmy Carter Library features exhibits on Carter's four years (1977-1981) as President of the US.
Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial
Although it's getting harder and harder to do so openly, many Southerners (white Southerners, at least) aren't shy about their nostalgia for the Confederacy (the side that lost the Civil War). Georgia's Stone Mountain Park, 16 miles east of town, is a fairly brazen celebration of the rebellion and its leaders, whose 90ft (27m) high likenesses have been carved out of the side of a granite monolith. The park has several lakes, picnic areas, a restored plantation and a skylift to the top of the 825ft (247m) peak.
Marietta
Marietta is a small, sleepy town about 20 miles (32km) northwest of Atlanta, famous as the locale of one of the goofier episodes of the Civil War. The 'Great Locomotive Chase' involved one Confederate engine running backwards to nab another that had been stolen by Union soldiers. There hasn't been as much excitement since, but one of the locomotives, the General, is on display along with other Civil War artifacts at the Kennesaw Civil War Museum (also called the Big Shanty Museum).
Savannah
Founded in 1733 as the first settlement in the new colony of Georgia, Savannah was spared destruction during the Civil War by Union General Sherman (who'd just torched Atlanta). Economic troubles in the late 1800s put Savannah into severe decline - had it prospered, its elegant streets may well have been demolished in the name of development. As a result, the city has an extraordinary collection of well-preserved 19th century buildings. Its downtown Historic District has over 1000 restored Federal and Regency buildings, wide tree-lined streets, shady squares and a serene Old South ambiance. Chippewa Square, in the middle of the district, features Forrest Gump's famous park bench.
Southeast of downtown is the traditionally African American Victorian District, where the King-Tisdell Cottage has exhibits on African-influenced crafts, and African-Americans through slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Beach Institute displays current African-American art.
Atlanta doesn't offer a lot in the way of sweating it out - aside from just standing still in summer. The city's 15 mile (24km) bike loop and Piedmont Park's bike paths make for great cycling. If you want to feel the earth under your feet, you can hike through Fernbank Forest, a few miles northeast of downtown.
There are guided walks at the Atlanta History Center and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. You can do a little bit of everything at Stone Mountain Park - ice skate, boat, hike and chase the ducks.
The new year kicks off with the Peachbowl Parade down Peachtree St, and a gridiron gruntfest called - you guessed it - the Peach Bowl. Favorite son and Nobel laureate Martin Luther King Jr is feted during King Week, culminating on the anniversary of his birth, 15 January.
Those whose hearts belong to Dixie should visit during the last week of March, when Atlanta's prewar and Confederate days are fondly recalled during the Antebellum Jubilee. You can vibrate to the many rhythms of the Midtown Music Fest, held in mid-May. There's nothing like hearing 'To be or not to be' delivered with a southern drawl, and you can do just that during June's Georgia Shakespeare Festival.
In mid-September, it's back to Stone Mountain for the Yellow Daisy Festival, where the daisy-related arts and crafts will have you singing along with 2001's HAL. Atlanta's yuletide revels include the Festival of Trees, where you can bid on a fully decorated tree.
Public Holidays:
1 January - New Year's Day
19 January - Robert E Lee's Birthday
Third Monday in January - Martin Luther King Jr Day
Third Monday in February - Presidents' Day
Late March or April - Easter
26 April - Confederate Memorial Day
Last Monday in May - Memorial Day
4 July - Independence Day
First Monday in August - Colorado Day
First Monday in September - Labor Day
Second Monday in October - Columbus Day
11 November - Veterans' Day
Fourth Thursday in November - Thanksgiving
25 December - Christmas Day
Atlanta's huge Hartsfield International Airport is a major regional hub and international gateway. There are taxis, shuttle buses and vans, rental cars and the MARTA rail system available.
There are five Greyhound buses per day to Savannah and eight daily to Chattanooga, Tennessee. For those traveling further afield there are several buses a day to New Orleans, Miami, Washington, DC, and New York.
Amtrak's Crescent passes through Atlanta daily between New York and New Orleans.
The Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport is accessible via MARTA, buses and shuttles, all of which run regularly to and from downtown. Taxis are relatively easy to secure and there are several major car rental agencies at the airport.
MARTA is an inexpensive and reliable way to get around town. It's also well integrated with the bus system, which serves many of the areas MARTA doesn't. Transfers between the two systems are free.
Taxis are not easily available unless ordered by phone. Unless you're going as far as Savannah, driving isn't recommended as the freeways and city streets can be confusing and are clogged during rush hours.
- The Works Progress Administration's 1942 classic, Atlanta: A City of the Modern South, is still worth a read.
- Henry Grady's New South: Atlanta, a Brave and Beautiful City, by Harold E. Davis, chronicles Atlanta's rebuilding.
- David Goldman and Pam Perry's Insiders' Guide to Metro Atlanta pretty much covers it all.
- Get a bird's-eye view of the city in Atlanta: A City of Neighborhoods, by Joseph F Thompson and Robert Isbell.
- Atlanta's race relations are examined in Beneath the Image of the Civil Rights Movement and Race Relations: Atlanta, Georgia, 1946-1981, by David Andrew Harmon; and Race and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century Atlanta, by Ronald H Bayor.
- Between Atlanta Architecture, by Robert M Craig; and the AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta, by Isabelle Gournay, you'll know your Victorians from your shotgun shacks.
- Pat Watters's Coca-Cola: An Illustrated History takes you up to 1978.
- John Berendt's bestselling novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story is set in Atlanta's sleepy neighbor.
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