Atlanta Landmarks by Neighborhood and Time Needed
This page groups Atlanta’s landmarks by neighborhood, so you can fit several into a half day. Each entry gives a rough time and the days it opens. Prices are in US dollars. Several stops are memorials, and they call for a quiet, respectful manner.
Downtown (half a day to a full day)
Centennial Olympic Park was created for the 1996 Olympic Games and is free to enter. Its Fountain of Rings puts on water shows set to music. The park hosted the FIFA Fan Festival in June and July 2026, when Atlanta staged eight World Cup matches. Around the park stand the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The former CNN Center is now called The Center, and its atrium food hall opened in May 2026. The Georgia State Capitol, with its gold-leaf dome, rounds out the downtown list.
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights keeps Tuesday to Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and opens at noon on Sunday, and the last visitors are admitted at 4 p.m. Monday is a closing day. Reserved tickets cost $26 for adults, $21 for seniors and $20 for ages 7 to 12, plus tax. The center’s planning page lists the galleries and rules, including no flash and no photos in the MLK gallery.
Sweet Auburn (two to three hours)
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park lies about a mile east of downtown and is free. Rangers lead Birth Home tours for up to 15 people on a first-come basis, and the home reopened in July 2026. Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church is an active congregation, with ranger talks given daily. At the King Center, a reflecting pool surrounds the crypts of Dr. King and his wife Coretta Scott King. The park opens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day except January 1, Thanksgiving and December 25. The park’s Birth Home page gives the latest tour information.
Midtown (half a day)
The Fox Theatre opened in 1929 and is one of the best-known buildings on Peachtree Street. The High Museum of Art is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m., Sunday from noon and closed on Mondays. Its tickets are sold until an hour before closing. The Atlanta Botanical Garden, open Tuesday to Sunday, sits nearby with its tree-top canopy walk.
Buckhead (half a day)
The Atlanta History Center covers 33 acres and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It contains the Swan House and a rare nineteenth-century cyclorama painting. The center also operates the Margaret Mitchell House. See the center’s visit page .
Historic Oakland Cemetery (one to two hours)
The cemetery, founded in 1850, is free and open from dawn to dusk. Margaret Mitchell, Bobby Jones and Maynard Jackson are among those buried here.
The BeltLine (one to two hours)
The Eastside Trail covers about 2.4 miles from Piedmont Park to the Krog Street Tunnel, with Ponce City Market on the way. It is open all day and free.
Moving between neighborhoods
MARTA rail runs from the airport to downtown, Midtown and Buckhead for $2.50 a trip, and the Atlanta Streetcar is $1 and serves downtown and Sweet Auburn only. See the fare page . For a guided orientation, try Atlanta city tours on Viator .
Read more: the Atlanta walking guide and the 2 day plan .