Planning Your Time

Because it would take too long to explore the city end to end in one fell swoop, consider discovering Atlanta one pocket at a time. In Downtown you can stroll through the Georgia Aquarium, tour the CNN Center, and visit the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, then finish off the day with dinner and a glass of wine at the historic Ellis Hotel’s Terrace Bistro restaurant. Another good pocket includes three adjoining, very walkable neighborhoods, all known for their canopies of trees, cute shops, and fun bistros: Virginia-Highland, Little Five Points, and Inman Park. From there you can drive to East Atlanta and check out its casual bars, restaurants, and live music. Your third pocket should be Buckhead, a shopper's mecca. Two constants there are Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza, great shopping spots in their own right. Finally, there's the beer-loving, literary hot spot of Decatur, which is increasingly being recognized for its top-notch restaurants.