Top Reasons to Go

Top Reasons to Go

The Georgia Aquarium: Wildly successful after its opening in late 2005, the world's largest aquarium draws visitors from all over the globe.

A stroll through the park: April in Paris has nothing on Atlanta, especially when the abundant azaleas and dogwoods are blooming in Atlanta Botanical Garden, Centennial Park, and Piedmont Park.

Following in King's footsteps: Home of Martin Luther King Jr., Atlanta was a hub of the civil rights movement. Not to be missed is a visit to the King Center and a tour through his childhood home on Auburn Avenue.

Civil War history: Atlanta may have been burned during General William Sherman's march to the sea, but artifacts in the city's museums—as well as at historic sites in nearby Kennesaw, Marietta, and Roswell—give history buffs the chance to revisit those difficult times.

Southern cooking, and then some: Good Southern food has always been easy to find in Atlanta; visit JCT Kitchen on Howell Mill Road for a high-class take on chicken and dumplings or try red velvet cake at Thelma's Kitchen in Sweet Auburn. Southern cooking isn't your only option in this town, though—the richness of Atlanta's ethnic diversity makes it a great place to sample a wide range of cuisines.