11 Best Sights in Atlanta, Georgia

A Gothic Revival–style building completed in 1922, the church came to be known as the spiritual center of the civil rights movement. Members of the King family, including the slain civil rights leader, preached at the church for three generations. Sitting in the main sanctuary on a quiet day when light is shining through the stained-glass windows can be a powerful experience. The congregation itself now occupies the building across the street.

The modest Queen Anne–style residence is where Martin Luther King Jr. was born and raised. Besides items that belonged to the family, the house contains an outstanding multimedia exhibit focused on the civil rights movement.

A limited number of visitors are allowed to tour the house each day. Advance reservations are not possible, so sign up early in the day.

The museum's quarterly exhibits chronicle the history of black people in America. Videos illustrate the story of Sweet Auburn, the name bestowed on Auburn Avenue by businessman John Wesley Dobbs, who fostered business development for African Americans on this street.

Make a day of visiting APEX and the Auburn Avenue Research Library, with lunch at the Sweet Auburn Market. All three are within a short walking distance.

An extension of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, this unit houses a noncirculating collection of about 60,000 books of African American interest. The archives contain art and artifacts, transcribed oral histories, and rare books, pamphlets, and periodicals. There are three galleries with rotating exhibits, and frequent special events, all of them free.

Moved to the Atlanta History Center from a building in Grant Park (named for a New England–born Confederate colonel, not the U.S. president) the 49-foot-tall circular painting depicts the 1864 Battle of Atlanta, during which 90% of the city was destroyed. A team of expert European panorama artists completed the painting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1887; it was donated to the city of Atlanta in 1898. A brief overview is followed by a 12-minute film, then visitors can get a closer look at the foreground figures on the ground level of the exhibit and learn more about landmarks and how the 10,000-pound scene was created through displays and interactive touchscreens.

This earthy outpost of edgy-cool shops, restaurants, bars, and concert venues started growing, beginning in 1996, thanks to a group of proprietors with dreams much bigger than their bank accounts. Spurning the high rents of fancier parts of town, they set up businesses in this then-blighted but beautiful ruin of a neighborhood 4 miles southeast of Downtown. Soon artists and others came to soak up the creative atmosphere. East Atlanta, which is centered at Flat Shoals and Glenwood Avenues, just southeast of Moreland Avenue at Interstate 20, has had its ups and downs but has experienced a resurgence. Many of the majestic homes have been renovated, and what remains untouched romanticizes the area's gritty appeal.

Established in 1850 in the Victorian style, Atlanta's oldest cemetery was designed to serve as a public park as well as a burial ground. Some of the 70,000 permanent residents include six governors, five Confederate generals, and 6,900 Confederate soldiers. Also here are novelist Margaret Mitchell and golfing great Bobby Jones. You can bring a picnic lunch or take a tour conducted by the Historic Oakland Foundation. The King Memorial MARTA station on the east–west line also serves the cemetery.

The market, an institution on Edgewood Avenue since 1924, sells flowers, fruits, and vegetables, and a variety of meats—everything from fresh catfish to foot-long oxtails. Vendors also include local favorites Bell Street Burritos and Sweet Auburn BBQ. Individual stalls are run by a diverse set of owners, making this a true public market—especially significant now, considering that Atlanta's black residents were forced to sell their wares on the curb in the market's early days.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic District occupies several blocks on Auburn Avenue, east of Peachtree Street in the black business and residential community of Sweet Auburn. Martin Luther King Jr. was born here in 1929; after his assassination in 1968, his widow, Coretta Scott King, established this center, which exhibits such personal items as King's Nobel Peace Prize, Bible, and tape recorder, along with memorabilia and photos chronicling the civil rights movement. In the courtyard in front of Freedom Hall, on a circular brick pad in the middle of the rectangular Meditation Pool, is Dr. King's white-marble tomb; the inscription reads, "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I'm free at last." Nearby, an eternal flame burns. A chapel of all faiths sits at one end of the reflecting pool. Mrs. King, who passed away in 2006, is also entombed at the center.

This zoo has more than 1,500 animals and 200 species from around the world living in naturalistic habitats. The gorillas and tigers are always a hit, as are giant pandas named Yang Yang and Lun Lun. Children can ride the Nabisco Endangered Species Carousel and meet new friends at the petting zoo, and the whole family can take a ride on the Zoo Train.