Near Atlanta

Several small cities, once satellites of Atlanta and now absorbed into its broader metropolitan area, retain something of their small-town charm and offer an appealing contrast to the city.

The city of Roswell, ideally situated for access to the Chattahoochee River and its adjacent parks, has several historic attractions that are also worth a visit, in particular its three historic antebellum homes (Barrington Hall, Bulloch Hall and the Smith Plantation), open to the public as house museums. Other points of interest include the ruins of the old Roswell Mill and the nearby Vickery Creek Falls.

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Marietta is another small city known for its historic attractions, including a National Cemetery and several small museums. A few miles out of Marietta is the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield, a notable part of the area’s Civil War history that can easily be visited as a day trip out of Atlanta.

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Piedmont & Mountains

Georgia’s Piedmont region, within which Atlanta is situated, occupies the upper part of the state, geologically bounded by the fall line of the coastal plain running across the center of the state and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north.

Madison, around an hour east of Atlanta, is famed for its antebellum architecture and small town atmosphere. Its historic district offers historic house museums, other small museums exploring local history, little parks and old cemeteries.

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Nearby Covington, a small city 35 miles southeast of Atlanta, ambitiously styles itself as the “Hollywood of the South.” Although it has been used as a filming location for several dozen movies, it is probably most widely recognized for representing the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia in the TV show, The Vampire Diaries.

Most tourism in Covington is based on the TV and film industry, but it also has an assortment of attractive antebellum houses and other historic architecture. Self-guided tour brochures of the city’s historic homes and filming sites are available from the Visitors Center.

The city of Athens is best known as the seat of the University of Georgia, and for its history and architecture. As a center of state education, the city offers several museums (and a beautiful free-to-visit botanical garden) affiliated with the university, besides several historic house museums and other historic attractions.

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The mountains of north Georgia are a popular trip out of Atlanta, with many outstanding natural areas within a two hour drive of the city. The mountains are especially beautiful in fall, when the leaves take on their autumnal colors.

The small city of Helen is one of the north Georgia’s urban points of interest, the entire town styled to resemble an alpine Bavarian village.

Central Georgia

Augusta, 150 miles from Atlanta, is known primarily as the home of The Masters golf tournament, attracting huge numbers of visitors to the city each spring. Although rarely thought of as a destination in its own right, Augusta nonetheless has several attractions that may be of interest if you are passing through the area.

Augusta’s main attractions include the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area, with museums and boat tours facilitating exploration of the city’s industrial and Civil War heritage; the childhood home of President Woodrow Wilson; and the Morris Museum of Art, a very worthwhile regional art museum focusing on the work of southern artists.

Milledgeville, former capital of Georgia and home to some of the highlights of the state’s antebellum architecture, is another of the several Fall Line cities that developed in the early 19th century. Formerly famous as the location of the State Asylum, Milledgeville is today better known as the one-time home of celebrated author Flannery O’Connor, who lived much of her life on her mothers farm Andalusia, on the outskirts of the city.

Macon, long styled as Georgia’s Central City, is another place with a lot of history, also significant in the state’s music history (most famously as the home of the Allman Brothers Band). Macon offers a variety of museums and historic houses and old cemeteries. Nearby is Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, preserving the ancient earthworks of the indigenous people of central Georgia.

A few miles south of Macon, and well worth a visit, is the free Museum of Aviation at the Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins.

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Coastal Georgia

Georgia’s 100-mile stretch of coast is one of the most beautiful and visited parts of the state, attracting millions of tourists every year, all of it within 4 or 5 hours drive of Atlanta.

Savannah, founded by the British in 1733, is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the southeastern states. The city is chiefly known for its unique and remarkable system of dozens of squares and its beautiful 19th-century architecture, now preserved as one of the largest Historic Districts in the United States.

Nearby is the relaxed seaside town of Tybee Island, which draws crowds of vacationers every summer. Further down the coast are the more upscale resort communities of St Simons Island and Jekyll Island. Each has miles of beautiful beach and historic attractions from lighthouses and forts to museums of local history, amid the beautiful setting of Georgia’s lowcountry marshes.

The entirety of Georgia’s coast is protected by a series of barrier islands, flat marshy landscapes interrupted by hammocks of maritime forest and intricate networks of creeks. Several of the islands not developed as seafront towns are preserved within the National Wildlife Refuge system (and most are preserved as natural sites in some way), accessible only by boat or kayak.

Just north of the Florida border is Cumberland Island National Seashore, most of which is preserved as a wilderness. Cumberland Island’s landscape of historic ruins, dunes, forest and wild horses is accessible only by public ferry or private boat, out of the nearby city of St Marys. Inland is the vast Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia’s version of the Everglades.