Atlanta is more of a business centre than a holiday destination. There are no beaches for sunbathing, no mountains for skiing and no cobble-stoned quaintness or soaring gothic cathedrals. However, Atlanta does have something to offer everyone, and the brand new Georgia Aquarium (the biggest indoor aquarium in the world), which opened at the end of 2005 (and welcomed one million visitors in its first three months), is certain to bring even more visitors to the city in the future.

Other popular attractions include the Atlanta Cyclorama, the CNN Center, Stone Mountain Park, the Martin Luther King Jr Historic District, Six Flags Over Georgia and Zoo Atlanta.

The city's history helps to define Atlanta's uniqueness. Underground Atlanta with its hidden delights, marks the birthplace of the city; a few MARTA stops away, the Fox Theatre, an architectural riot of domes and minarets, reflects the excesses of the 1920s.

Sandwiched between business towers of the 1990s, less than a mile north on Peachtree Street, the recently restored Margaret Mitchell Home is a diminutive museum of life in the 1930s. Continuing north on Peachtree Street, the High Museum of Art glistens with sleek white porcelain panels in the sun.

Notices at street corners and on buildings (especially around the Virginia Highlands neighbourhood), mark the sites of major battles and events in the Civil War. The Confederacy is also commemorated in several stately Southern homes, such as the Governor's Mansion and the houses of Grant Park. The Martin Luther King Jr Historic District in Sweet Auburn chronicles the city's more recent history.

The Downtown area near Centennial Olympic Park, the CNN Center and Five Points are the best places to explore by foot. Pedestrians really need to keep their wits about them in this vehicle-dominated city. Automobiles rule the roads and drivers expect obeisance from those on foot.

Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau
Suite 100, 233 Peachtree Street Northeast
Tel: (404) 521 6600 or 1 800 285 2682/ATLANTA.
Website: www.atlanta.net 

Atlanta has four visitors centres at: Georgia Aquarium, 255 Baker Street, Downtown; Georgia World Congress Center, 285 Andrew Young International Boulevard, Downtown, although this is open only during GWCC events; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, North Terminal; and Underground Atlanta, 65 Upper Alabama Street.

The Atlanta CityPass (website: www.citypass.com), valid for nine days, gives free entry to six out of eight attractions (Georgia Aquarium, New World of Coca Cola, High Museum of Art, Inside CNN Atlanta Studio Tour, Fernbank Museum of Natural Histoy or Atlanta Botanical Garden, and Atlanta History Center or Zoo Atlanta). Downtown Connects, a free booklet with discounts on attractions, shopping, dining, lodging services and entertainment is available at most concierge desks.