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There's a saying that Atlanta is a boring city to visit, but a great place to live.
I've never really agreed with the first part, personally. We had 45 million visitors last year, and have over 93,000 hotel rooms in the Metro - but the large majority of this IS business related.
There are a lot of wonderful neighborhoods, restaurants, cultural offerings, festivals, shopping options, etc. But as a tourism 'mecca,' we do fly beneath the radar for a lot of people.
The amount of tourism Downtown is relatively recent since the opening of the Georgia Aquarium, but shows no signs of slowing down. With the critical mass of the Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, CNN, the National Civil and Human Rights Museum and the College Football Hall of Fame the Centennial Olympic Park area has just exploded.
I'm not talking about a business trip, as it seems everyone I know who has been to Atlanta (but isn't from there or has family there) only has been to that city due to business (which is a good correlation to have, it translates to a robust economy).
Overall though, is Atlanta a place worth visiting as a tourist/visitor? How much does the city offer the visitor compared to main tourist centers like New Orleans, Austin, Miami, San Francisco (I mention places that people visit due to their unique cultural attributes and cityscape, not so much based on one entity - like Orlando with Disney World). Is it underrated? Do you think some of those tourist places are over-rated in comparison to Atlanta?
I ask this because Atlanta is obviously is a growing/bustling metro, but it doesn't have as much a cultural/tourist pull as other places. (This is my own perception, I might be off the mark from my own home-grown California angle. Perhaps it has a greater cultural pull for people in the South or Mid-Atlantic or Northeast?)
Well its hard to compare us to other mentioned cities.
Miami really became its own with tourism demand from the start. Tourism is at the core of what caused it to take off with all of the beach goers from up north who use to fly down in the summer. Nowadays they have a huge central cruise industry to attract people.
New Orleans is such an old historic city it is an absolute jewel and fascinating place to go out of the way to visit to see the old city and they have amazing parades and festivals for Mardi Gras, but it lacks all the other lures we have (like for business). It gets some small-medium conventions, but not the really large ones you will find in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Orlando, or Vegas. But for someone just wanting to to go there simply to tour the city for a few days on their own, hands down the most interesting city to do that.
San Francisco is a very interesting city with lots of wealth. There is much to see and do and it is very unique. Atlanta won't quiet compare to its tourism draw either.
Austin isn't really a big tourist place for me at all. I think its a nice mid-size metro and I could go there and find some fun, but I don't really have a reason to go there.
Now to make this about Atlanta. I think the answer is yes and no, compared to who you are and what your needs are.
Atlanta has a big tourism draw in the southeast, because we have amenities many of the smaller cities in the more sparsely populated south do not have. We get many regional visitors for a variety of single purposes, but it might not seem like the overt tourism like a trip to New Orleans to stroll Jackson Square and eat some beignets and coffee diluted with chicory. We get many people form Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi that want to visit Six Flags with a school group. A good portion of the Southeast actually pulls for the Atlanta Braves. When baseball peaked in popularity in the U.S. it was the South's only team. Nowadays we have a team in central and southern Florida too, but most outside those areas pull for the Braves and even people in those areas traditionally pull for the Braves as a second choice. There is a history there. It is very common to see people form outside metro area and outside our state at sports games.
We also get lots of families and groups that just want to some see a much larger cosmopolitan city and we have the types of museums that are common in major cities (art museum, design, natural history, etc...), but are not always found in the smaller and mid-size cities around us.... at least with a robust collection.
We also get a bunch of shoppers from across the Southeast. People coming here to do specialty shopping from stores they can not find in a smaller city.
Now much of that is more about a regional appeal. For people that live within 300 miles of us. Different areas of the South do have some of the amenities we have too, so not everyone in the South has to come to Atlanta for everything I just mentioned... but these are common reasons people come here.
Now for someone like you from California. Probably not. You have access to all these things in cities on the West Coast and your time is probably better spent going to the beach or chasing history (ie Boston, New Orleans, etc...). If you did come here, we will have something for you to do and you should be able to enjoy yourself, but if you just wanted to explore history... I would send you to Savannah and Charleston. If you wanted to go hiking and seen great scenery, rent a car and go to the Smokey Mountains or go camping on Cumberland Island.
Now some people do have some specific things they wanted to do... niche things. It sort of makes sense. I take a good many transcontinental flights for work. Many of the people on those flights are American tourist, but when the Euro and Pound were doing good against the dollar (not right now) I noticed a sizable increase in European tourist and got to talk to some. To my surprised some of them were going to Atlanta, but they had specific objectives. I ran into multiple older couples that were using Atlanta as a point of entry to rent a car and go on a road trip in the American South. Some wanting to see colonial heritage and eventually see Savannah and Charleston, while others wanted to see the Plantation South or the South's musical heritage and drive towards Mississippi, Memphis, New Orleans, or Nashville. Many of them told me they wanted to the parts of Atlanta related to the Gone With the Wind era. They normally want to see Atlanta, but they also have bigger ambitions too.
With that said we are are a huge tourist magnet. It is no small thing, but you're right it normally is business or convention related. We have something to lure people and frequently in large groups and it isn't simply just to come here and stroll/explore the city. I don't think most people across the country are just dying to take a week off and explore Atlanta with no other reason. Admittedly, parts of our Downtown area are huge concrete walls of encased exhibition space that are very unattractive from the street.
If you do find yourself coming here, we increasingly have more stuff to do. We are the type of place people are increasingly staying the extra half day or the extra day, but I don't expect people to come here from outside the region without another reason. We have tourist-oriented theme museums busting at the seams, a variety of neighborhoods to explore, some niche sites of interest (ie. Stone Mountain, MLK tomb, Margaret Mitchell House, Chattahoochee River tubing).
Atlanta is worth a visit for 2 to 3 days. After 3 days, you'll likely be itching to hit the road...
Agreed. I've met lots of people here in Texas who's never been to Atlanta and they ask me what to do. I have a hard time giving them suggestions outside the regular touristy stuff. People I have met here who have gone go there for the strip clubs. I also met others who want to go for the strip clubs.
I also found there is still a lot of hype around Atlanta, particularly among blacks here in Dallas. They have a romanticized idea about Atlanta that doesn't match reality. When they tell me they want to go to Atlanta, I ask them what they are looking to do so I can give suggestions. They say they want to do things that would honestly be easier or better done in someplace like NYC or Chicago. I could suggest shopping, but honestly the malls here are bigger and better. The regular mall where I Iive has stores and amenities that even Lenox doesn't have.
I have a guy friend who has traveled the world and he said he wanted to visit Atlanta and asked me for suggestions. I told him that honestly that given how traveled, worldly and cultured he is, that outside the World of Coke and the CNN center, I didn't think he'd be too impressed with Atlanta.
There are a few things I miss about Atlanta but it's not a place I'd recommend for a trip or vacation to anyone if they're not going there for a specific event. Outside of DragonCon or Tomorrowworld and the few friends I have left there, I don't see it as someplace I'd visit for the city itself.
i can say that the biggest mistake tourists make is staying (only) downtown. we are in the process of rebuilding it, after developers came through and demolished much of the historic buildings in the 50s, 60s, and 70s for parking.
also, unfortunately, our rail system doesn't quite cut it when you're trying to travel to our many different and unique neighbourhoods, such as little five points, east atlanta village, the old fourth ward, cabbagetown, grant park, and virginia-highland. i can guarantee you will have a good time in any one of those neighbourhoods, but getting there requires either a bus trip or a car.
i can say that the biggest mistake tourists make is staying (only) downtown. we are in the process of rebuilding it, after developers came through and demolished much of the historic buildings in the 50s, 60s, and 70s for parking.
also, unfortunately, our rail system doesn't quite cut it when you're trying to travel to our many different and unique neighbourhoods, such as little five points, east atlanta village, the old fourth ward, cabbagetown, grant park, and virginia-highland. i can guarantee you will have a good time in any one of those neighbourhoods, but getting there requires either a bus trip or a car.
A colleague of mine is going to Atlanta next month with her husband for their anniversary. She told me that she got a hotel downtown and she asked me what to do. I told her to immediately cancel her downtown reservation.
I gave her a hand-written list of these neighborhoods, I had her change her hotel to Buckhead and told her to drive to downtown for the attractions since they are renting a car. I also suggested Decatur Square.
Until your city has hosted the Olympics, has over 91k hotel rooms and have more annual visitors than Vegas then you shouldn't be in this thread especially if you are in Arizona or Jacksonville for heaven sakes lol
i can say that the biggest mistake tourists make is staying (only) downtown. we are in the process of rebuilding it, after developers came through and demolished much of the historic buildings in the 50s, 60s, and 70s for parking.
also, unfortunately, our rail system doesn't quite cut it when you're trying to travel to our many different and unique neighbourhoods, such as little five points, east atlanta village, the old fourth ward, cabbagetown, grant park, and virginia-highland. i can guarantee you will have a good time in any one of those neighbourhoods, but getting there requires either a bus trip or a car.
Little Five, Old Fourth Ward and Cabbagetown aren't that far from stations. Definitely within walking distance, in my opinion. Little Five especially, it's right up the street.
Atlanta has more stuff to do than every city but NYC and maybe LA. Chicago you can only enjoy the city for 6 months because the other six month you will freeze your ass off or you might end of going on a weekend when 84 people are shot in 82 hours.. Our nightlife is better than the entire state of California since our last call is later. And our clubs people actually dance and not stand on the wall all night looking at each other. Y'all beaches suck. They look nice but the water is freezing so Florida has better beaches. Smog is horrible so you can't even enjoy most of LA. Instead of worrying about Atlanta why not worry about LA getting a real transportation system like San Fran or Nyc? When will LA stop being a big suburb and become a real city like NYC? When will black people be able to walk around safety without having to worry about being killed by a Mexican gang? When will men be able to go to college without having to worry about being accused of rape with that new "yes means yes" bill? When will CA stop being a community property state? When will people not have to worry about not paying alimony for life if they divorce after 10 years? I know California's like to think they are the center of the universe. Maybe out west it is but most people think LA is just as boring for a visitor. It was ranked as one of the worst cities for tourist.
Someone from Arizona complaining about Atlanta. Gtfoh lol. Arizona is hot, extremely racist, downtown Phoenix sucks, horrible nightlife, etc. Nobody dreams of moving there. They just move there because idk. It isn't because Arizona is such a great state. Someone from Arizona, the armpit of the southeast has no right talking about any other city.
We got someone from Jacksonville, the capital of South Georgia talking about Atlanta lol. Jacksonville is like living in Walmart. Jacksonville Landing sucks, shopping sucks, Jaguars suck, the city is extremely boring, restaurant scene is horrible, etc. Again you have no right talking about any other city
Then we got Justin Bieber on here trolling. He still lives at home with his momma and broke as hell. How are you trolling about Atlanta when you can't even afford your own place. How about worrying first about getting out from under your parents house first b4 you worry about Atlanta? ?
Then we have Ms. Owl in here trolling again. She can't get a job that pays more than cook at Waffle House but she steady trolls our forums daily. Why not focus your energy on something you aren't used to doing like dating???
The moral of the story is stop trolling our forum asking stupid questions. If you want to visit let us know and you will see we have more to do than most cities if not go back to the California forum. Hell must be freezing over if we have people that still live with their parents, people in Jacksonville and Arizona (2 of the most boring places ever) out of all places trolling our forum talking about Atlanta is boring when they live there??? Lol. I don't post in other forums asking dumb questions like if a place is a nice place to visit.
More proof how overly sensitive the Atlanta posters can be. Sounded to me like a legitimate question from the OP. CWKimbro answered it very well (won't let me give you rep CW).
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