Atlanta Travel Guide

Things to do

Hiking

One of my favorite hikes was Stone Mountain - about a 40 minute drive from downtown Atlanta, you can climb to the top of Stone Mountain and see the city off in the distance. I recommend getting there early and DEFINITELY bringing water - the second half of this hike is pretty steep but definitely worth the view! If you want to skip the hike, drive up the mountain and take the Skyride! The Skyride is a cable car that takes you to the summit of Stone Mountain & it's such a fun experience! A few other fun hikes are Kennesaw Mountain, or the Indian Seats Loop.

Ponce City Market & The Beltline

When I lived in Atlanta, I accidentally stumbled upon Ponce City Market when I was searching for a Kroger. Kroger is no longer there anymore, but when I pulled into the parking lot I saw Ponce and wanted to check it out. Ponce City Market is an awesome building equipped with a food hall, restaurants, boutiques, and restaurants. Their rooftop (Skyline Park) is an awesome space for adults & children. Play mini-golf on the roof, or check out some of their other midway games like skee-ball, basketball, or their slide! I definitely recommend checking out the food hall inside. Grab a popsicle from King of Pops & then head outside to The Beltline & take a little walk! The Beltline is a 22-mile loop trail through the center of Atlanta, and it's just outside the back doors of Ponce City Market! I love walking down this stretch of The Beltline, where there are cool art installations along the way, as well as tons of cool graffiti.

Downtown Atlanta

There's so much to do in Atlanta's downtown area, so you might as well do it all in one day! First off, parking can get kind of crazy downtown, so I recommend using an Uber to get dropped off, or if you get there earlier in the day, I always used to park at the corner of Ivan Allen Blvd & Luckie St. (344 Luckie St. NW Parking). It's a safe place to park & they accept cards here. It's also one of the cheaper parking options and is almost always under $20 per day. While you're downtown, visit the College Football Hall of Fame, which is attached to a Chick-fil-A. If you don't want to go inside the Hall of Fame, go order something from Chick-fil-A and you can at least see their field while you're standing in line to order your food! Next, walk through Centennial Olympic Park to get to the Aquarium (which is one of the best aquariums in the country!), or go to World of Coca-Cola. World of Coca-Cola was cool, but I would only recommend going if you're a true Coca-Cola fan and care about the history of the soda. It was neat seeing the old ads and replica of their bottling process, but my favorite part was being able to taste more than 100 Coca-Cola beverages from around the country! They were all very disgusting to me, but it was fun. Downtown Atlanta also has CNN Studios, MLK Jr. National Historic Park, and Skyview!

FOOD

PIZZA

Some of my favorite pizza spots: Antico, Max's Coal Oven, Fellini's, Amalfi, and Cameli's

SOUL FOOD

Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand (MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FOR EVERY MEAL + everything's made of chicken!), Mary Mac's Tea Room, Busy Bee Cafe, Negril Village, K&K Soulfood

HEALTHY EATS

Kale Me Crazy, Cafe Sunflower, R. Thomas' Deluxe Grill (open 24 hrs!), Tassili's Raw Reality (my fave! + very spicy ... order the mild!). Also, I know there are Whole Foods everywhere, but I love the Whole Foods on Ponce because their hot bar is the best around!

DESSERT

King of Pops, Sublime Doughnuts, Morelli's Ice Cream, Piece of Cake, Cinnaholic

BURGERS, WINGS & BAR FOOD

Big Sky Buckhead, The Local, Poor Hendrix, The Vortex, Flip Burger, The Nook

Fast food: The Varsity, Yeah! Burger

BREAKFAST

Brunch: West Egg, Big Sky Buckhead, Atlanta Breakfast Club, Buttermilk Kitchen, Revival, Beetlecat

Fast/On-the-go: Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand (LOVE their "baby cakes" or on the weekend, their weekend breakfast special is so good!)

The Sun Dial

An Awesome Dining Experience

Although this option is a bit pricier, I definitely recommend going to The Sun Dial. Their lunch menu is cheaper than dinner, but they also have a bar if you want to just go up and grab a drink and take in the amazing view.

The Sun Dial is a restaurant that sits at 723 feet. on top of The Westin hotel in Downtown Atlanta. Oh - and did I mention that the restaurant SPINS?! Don't worry, you won't get motion sickness (I hope!) because it spins very slowly. It takes about 1 hour to do a full rotation, so sit back and enjoy dinner while you get a 360-degree view of the city. Not only is the view great, but the food is too! They have brunch on Sundays, and lunch/dinner every day of the week.

If you're not staying at the hotel, park your car in their garage and get your ticket validated at the restaurant. Walk into the Westin and find the elevator that takes you up to The Sun Dial. A hostess will greet you at the bottom of the elevator and have them get a table ready upstairs. When they're ready for your party, you'll get on the elevator and another hostess will greet you on the top floor when you exit the elevator.

NIGHTLIFE

Bars: Check out the Buckhead area for bars that are close together if you want to bar-hop! Also, there's Supply & Demand, Blind Willie's, Whiskey Blue, SkyLounge, and Boogalou (they have swings at the bar!)

Clubs: Opera, Tongue & Groove, Havana, Compound

Breweries: Sweetwater, Orpheus, Monday Night Brewing, and Urban Tree Cidery

FESTIVALS

Atlanta has TONS of festivals - in fact, there's one almost every weekend. Sometimes there are even multiple festivals going on in the same weekend. From music festivals, to food festivals, there's always something fun to do. Check out this website for a list of events going on : CLICK HERE

FITNESS

Boxing: I used to have a membership at X3 sports and I miss it SO MUCH! They had boxing and kickboxing classes, as well as yoga and weight training classes. Get a guest pass!

Yoga: During the summer months you can easily find free yoga classes at Atlantic Station, The Beltline, Woodruff Park, or Old Fourth Ward Skate Park.

If you want to get a good exercise in, bike or run the Beltline!

Well Dressed & Pizza Obsessed

lifestyle/WEDDING blog by Giuliana Abate

ATLANTA TRAVEL GUIDE