A quick guide to a weekend in Atlanta

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All cities have something to offer and Atlanta is no exception. In fact, although I had no expectations, I loved our weekend in Atlanta more than I thought I would. A clean, well planned downtown surrounded by unique urban neighborhoods and plenty of outdoors to explore thanks to the Beltline. From our tourist day to our local explorations, we enjoyed seeing the city for the first time.

A Quick Guide to a weekend in Atlanta for First-Timers

Where to stay in Atlanta

Although we looked at hotels, we ended up choosing an Air BnB a little outside of the city which we loved! We had a car, so we had the flexibility to travel in and out of the city. If we were to return, we would want to stay in an air BnB or hotel in a neighborhood closer to more restaurants etc. like Midtown.

Two Day Itinerary for weekend in Atlanta

Day one consisted of the tourist side of Atlanta, which may have a negative connotation, but I loved every moment of it! The Georgia Aquarium had been on our list for awhile as well at the World of Coca Cola. There is a reason they bring crowds to the city, and I was perfectly happy joining in. Spending most of your time in downtown Atlanta is an ideal first day in the city.

An itinerary for Day 1:

Get an early start and head to Atlanta Breakfast Club for Breakfast (crowded, but the location is very convenient to start the day and the food is delicious).
Continue to your first tourist spot, the Georgia Aquarium.
World of Coca-Cola.
Lunch at a pizza place downtown (we went to Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria for convenience and it was great).
Toured the College Football Hall of Fame.
Rode on the Skyline Atlanta.
Head to Midtown for a show (or photo) at the historical Fox Theater.
Have dinner and drinks (we dined at Rowdy Tiger, and if you like whiskey it is the perfect place).

If you want to add the zoo or Civil Rights museum (on our list for next time), I suggest purchasing a cityPASS. For $76 ($62 for ages 3-12) you get access to the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, CNN Studio Tours, Zoo Atlanta, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, or College Football Hall of Fame. An amazing deal if you have a packed full day/weekend of sight seeing.

After checking off some “must-see” sights in Atlanta, we wanted our second day to be a little more relaxed, and to enjoy the city maybe how locals do.

An itinerary for Day 2:

Start the day with coffee and a light breakfast at Chrome Yellow Trading Company.
Coffee and pastries at the Little Tart and brunch and Bread & Butterfly are on my list for next time.
Park or Uber to the Krogg Street Market (all food, but nice to walk around and see what they have).
Walk, rent a bike or scooter and head to Ponce City Market for shopping and lunch at Ton Ton Ramen & Yakitori.
Continue along the Atlanta Beltline to take in Piedmont Park and head to Orpheus Brewing.
Make your way back on the Beltline to visit Three Heart Roastery for coffee or grab some Watermelon Snow then a beer at New Realm Brewing.
After a full day of hoping around the Beltline we found ourselves at Golden Eagle Atlanta for dinner and drinks (highly recommend)!

We had a great two days of exploring our nearby city of Atlanta but before we left, made a stop at Emerald City Bagels, and I suggest you do the same.