A Tour of Downtown Atlanta

Downtown Atlanta clusters around the hub known as Five Points, the MARTA station that intersects north-south and east-west transit lines. On the surface, Five Points is formed by the intersection of Peachtree Street with Marietta, Broad, and Forsyth streets.

The Tour

This walk branches in three directions, which are most efficiently managed by taking MARTA trains to get quickly from one spot to the next. The valiant will, of course, prefer to go it on foot.

Begin at Woodruff Park, and then proceed north on Peachtree Street, noting Atlanta's Flatiron Building on the west side of Peachtree and the Candler Building on the east side of the street.

Nearby on Peachtree Street at John Wesley Dobbs Avenue is the modern Georgia-Pacific Center, and across from it are Margaret Mitchell Park and the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library.

Continuing north up Peachtree Street, note the sprawling Peachtree Center complex, which includes the small but worthwhile Atlanta International Museum of Art and Design.

Walk east on Baker Street one block to Courtland Street; head north on Courtland until you reach Ralph McGill Boulevard. Here you'll find an open-air folk art exhibition known as the Folk Art Park.

Return to Peachtree Center and take the subway one stop to the Five Points MARTA station, from which you can walk north on Peachtree Street to the William-Oliver Building, an award-winning restoration. (From Folk Art Park you can also follow Ralph McGill Boulevard west to Peachtree and retrace your steps south to the William-Oliver Building.)

From here, go east on Edgewood Avenue and just ahead you'll see the Hurt Building, a rare Atlanta example of Chicago-style architecture. Around the corner on Marietta Street at Broad Street is the handsome Bank of America Building, and nearby is the Statue of Henry Grady, right across from the building now housing the newspaper he founded, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

At Marietta Street and Techwood Drive, Centennial Olympic Park hosts concerts and special events. Adjacent to the park is CNN Center, which you may tour (by reservation). At the rear of the center is the Georgia Dome.

At the CNN Center/Georgia Dome station, take MARTA one station to the Five Points station and exit at the sign for Underground Atlanta. After taking a rest and a restorative snack in its food court, wander the maze of subterranean streets here and leave through the Central Avenue exit of Underground Atlanta, bearing slightly south toward the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot. Across the plaza from the depot is the World of Coca-Cola Pavilion, with fun memorabilia on display.

Across Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Central Avenue is the historic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, one of many historic churches still operating in Downtown. Just south of the shrine are the neo-Gothic City Hall, with a modern addition housing a permanent art collection, which is on Mitchell Street, and the Renaissance-style Georgia State Capitol on Washington Street.

Timing

This walk requires at least a day, assuming you don't spend much time at any one location. If you plan to walk at a more leisurely pace, finish the first day at the Folk Art Park, and allow another half day for the rest of the walk. If you plan tours of CNN Center, the Georgia Dome, and World of Coca-Cola, you'll need an additional half day. If you tour these sights at length, it will probably take two full days to cover the territory. The terrain is fairly level and not too taxing, with sidewalks the entire distance.
Source: Fodor's Travel web site

Guided Walking Tours of Downtown Atlanta's Historic District
Atlanta Preservation Center

Spend the afternoon outside and learn more about the historical and architectural significance of Atlanta's downtown. Each tour takes approximately 90 minutes and has a designated starting point. www.preserveatlanta.com.

National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary

The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places and Southeast Regional Office, in conjunction with the Atlanta History Center, the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), proudly invite you to explore Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta began as the terminal point of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, a project authorized by the State of Georgia in 1836. Originally known as Terminus, and later Marthasville, by the Civil War Atlanta was a bustling city. Crippled by the burning of the city during the war, Atlanta rebounded during the last part of the century.

Today it is home to more than 4 million people and is considered the entertainment and cultural center of the South, attracting more than 17 million travelers each year.

This latest National Register of Historic Places travel itinerary highlights 70 historic places that tell the story of this capital city--from its picturesque homes to its reaching skyscrapers--tales of former slaves, educators, authors, and millionaires who have shaped the development of Atlanta over the past two centuries.