Atlanta

Atlanta is the capital of the state of Georgia, as well as the largest city in the state and the center of an area called Metro Atlanta which includes 28 counties with a total of over 5.3 million people. This major southern community manages to combine southern charm and hospitality within the environs of a major metropolis. The city also has some major attractions not only in the city itself but in the surrounding metropolitan area. Within less than an hour’s drive there are such venues as a water park, an adult amusement center called Dave and Buster’s, the amusement park Six Flags over Georgia and the Stone Mountain park which offers a view back through time to the early parts of the 20th century and the Civil War. Downtown Atlanta has sports venues as well as convention facilities and concert venues and even an area that was covered over when streets were raised so that now there is a city beneath the city called Underground Atlanta. http://www.atlantaga.gov/Visitors/Attractions.aspx

Buckhead is both a center of affluence and a popular nightclub destination. Virginia Highlands is upscale and artsy, while neighboring Poncey Highland and Little Five Points are up-and-coming, but somewhat more gritty. Artists priced out of that region have moved on to Cabbagetown, a formerly rough neighborhood that is beginning to gentrify. Candler Park is a leafy, largely residential neighborhood known for its historically significant housing. The bordering Lake Claire has a similar flavor, and despite the name does not have a lake. Midtown Atlanta is one of the commercial centers, and also houses the arts district and the Georgia Institute of Technology, known to its residents as simply "Tech". Fairlie-Poplar and Downtown Atlanta host many of the cities truly historic buildings, although almost none date back to before the Civil War. Both are largely focused on business and tourism. East Atlanta had fallen on hard times in the middle of the 20th century, but is now a thriving neighborhood, full of shops and cultural destinations.

The championship Atlanta Braves moved to Atlanta from Boston in 1966, and have so far brought one World Series title to the city, as well as many pennants. Football's Atlanta Falcons played in Super Bowl XXXIII. The Atlanta Hawks have not won a basketball championship since moving to Atlanta in 1968, and while the Atlanta Thrashers have won several division championships, they have yet to make it to hockey's Stanley Cup. Atlanta also won the bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics and designed and built Centennial Olympic Park which remains today as a tribute to the games themselves and to the efforts of the community to revitalize the entire residential and commercial development in the city of Atlanta. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763098.html

When planning your trip, please see the pages on an Atlanta Vacation, Atlanta Restaurants, Atlanta Tours, and Atlanta Hotels.