Weekend trip to Atlanta what to do? Where to stay? Suggestions.. (Decatur: rental car, rental)

[typ8lbb]

Hello
Me an my girlfriend will be making a trip to Atlanta in the near future, most likely around end of January or beginning of February since I have to get my passport renewed at the Swiss Consulate and we thought we might as well make it a weekend trip since neither of us has been to ATL before.
Since we will be there most likely only for a weekend (going in Friday morning with appointment in Consulate likely that morning and returning Sunday) we do not have a lot of time.

What do you recommend are the 'must see' places that you would recommend for someone who has never been to Atlanta? We are not much into sports so anything that's not sports related would be fine.
We heard about the City Pass which reminds me of the Chicago GO card which was pretty good for a first time visit, I believe we get discounts to the zoo, CNN, Coca Cola, Aquarium and a few museums..is it worth it?

Any suggestions about where to stay that is relatively close to the Swiss Consulate (1349 W Peachtree Street Northeast, Atlanta, GA)? We heard to stay in Midtown...not sure if that sounds good...

Do we need a rental car or is the public transportation system good enough (and safe enough?) to use without needing a car as in NYC or Chicago for example..

Any areas we should avoid?

We are no strangers to going to different places and exploring (we usually take a few trips a year just for fun such as Chicago, Denver, North Carolina, NYC) but just never been to Atlanta so it is a bit foreign for us. Any other suggestions or comments feel free to chime in..

Thanks!
Louis

[AnsleyPark]

Hey, Louis. I'd add the High Museum of Art to my list of places to visit. You might also want to check out what is playing at the Alliance Theater and the Atlanta Symphony (not sure if they are in season at the end of January). The Atlanta Botanical Gardens are terrific (not as nice as it will be in the spring, but a good place to visit nonetheless).

[cqholt]

Midtown is a great place to stay in, accessible by MARTA, mass transit http://www.itsmarta.com/, directly from the airport. MARTA is one of the safest transit systems in America. All the stuff listed by Ansley above is in midtown and are walking distance from a MARTA station. Avoid Underground Atlanta, it is a disappointment.
Eat a Empire State South for some good modern, soul food Home :: EmpireStateSouth.com.

[lorilove]

My friend was very pleased with the City Pass - you pay one price and have access to World of Coke, Aquarium, High Museum, Zoo, CNN etc. More importantly, you don't stand in line when you get to the events.

[midtown mile girl]

The W Midtown hotel is close, and the Loews.

[typ8lbb]

Thanks to all for the tips and advice!! Still gotta book it but its good to know things beforehand.

[rashadi]

Hello Louis, I would definitely get the City pass. Be sure to visit the Botanical gardens and the museums. I would recommend Midtown to stay. You would be close to many things and easy access to public transportation. Coca Cola, the water aquarium and CNN are cool too. Good luck and hope you enjoy. Let us know how it was after you visit.

[bryantm3]

from the address you gave, it looks like the swiss consulate is in the north part of midtown. midtown is an excellent place to stay. if you're arriving at the atlanta airport, the subway comes directly into the airport, however, to access it from the new international terminal, you'll have to ride a bus over to the domestic terminal. you should ride the subway north all the way to arts center station to get to the swiss consulate.

you can spend a little while in midtown, but most likely if you want to see west midtown, you'll have to either take the bus, call a taxi or rent a car— the goat farm arts center for example is in west midtown:

Goat Farm Arts Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

if you don't feel like renting a car, there are many places you can still go by taking the train. good places to visit on the east line are little five points, which can be accessed from the inman park/reynoldstown station:

DeKalb Ave NE to McLendon Ave NE - Google Maps

another great place to visit on the east line is decatur station. decatur is sort of like a small-town-within-a-city. you'll like it.

two places to visit on the north/south line are buckhead station and peachtree center station (definitely check this one out if you're heading downtown).

[JPD]

If you're staying in Midtown, you might want to see a show at The Fox Theater.

One thing every visitor should know: Five Points and Little Five Points are two very different things. Little Five Points is a great place to visit. Five Points is a dump. Only visit Five Points if you are a fan of urban decay.

[typ8lbb]

Again, thanks for all the tips...a couple of questions, if we stay in Midtown would we be able to access the attractions that we get with the City Pass via the metro? eg. CNN, Aquarium, Coca Cola...or would we be better off with a car. Im wondering if there's enough to see/do within the reach of the metro for 3 days or would we spend more in cabs/bus to go elsewhere than if we had rented a car to start with.
I have heard Decatur is nice so its good to know it is within Train distance so thanks for the advice on the metro stops we will be sure to mark them.
Good to know the metro goes directly to the airport, its a local flight so I am guessing we would not be arriving to the international terminal, hopefully...but good to know just in case about taking the bus.
Also is Midtown the same as Downtown? When I search in Orbitz for location selection in hotels i get the downtown option but no midtown....