Our recent visit to the deep south included much more than our learning visit to Alabama. We also experienced Atlanta, and it checked all of our fun boxes!
Getting To Atlanta
We caught a great deal on American Airlines, which allowed our family of 6 (one lap child) to get there for less than $700. My personal keys to finding reasonably priced tickets, without using points, is to use Skyscanner and keep your travel dates flexible. Keep that in mind when planning trips, especially domestic destinations.
Getting Around Atlanta With Kids
Atlanta is a car heavy city. Public transportation is available, but it isn’t as user friendly as most major cities. For that reason, we decided to rent a car. Keep in mind that most downtown and midtown hotels will charge to park, so don’t forget to build that into your budget. TIP: If you’re a Platinum Amex card holder Avis automatically upgrades you to preferred status. Whatever credit card you have, double check the perks so you can maximize your money when renting a car.
Things To Do In Atlanta With Kids
The possibilities of fun things to do with kids in Atlanta is endless. We didn’t have time to get to all the things we wanted to experience, but we had a blast with what we did do! TIP: If you plan to do multiple things on our list below, make sure to check out Atlanta’s City Pass – a discount ticket that will give you access to several key tourist attractions.
Before planning our trip to Atlanta, I had not seen very much talk about this attraction. Well, I’m so glad I discovered this gem. If you have kids from about 2 – 10, I think you’ll love. Make sure to add the live puppet show onto your ticket…it’s worth it! You’ll see an hour long show, and have a Q&A with the puppeteers afterward. With the show ticket, you’ll also be treated to a puppet making workshop featuring one of the Characters from your show.
During our visit, the center had an amazing exhibit on Jim Henson. I may or may not have squealed as I was transported back to childhood upon seeing the Fraggle Rocks Muppets…eeeekkkkkk! It was amazing.
As you walk through you will notice that diversity from around the world is well represented. And, there are several opportunities for the kids to get hands on – from shadow puppets to hand puppets.
Ponce City Market is a cool, on-trend Food Hall/Retail space. There is a wide variety of food to choose from, but I definitely have to recommend Botiwalla – A delicious Indian Food restaurant with delightful rolls stuffed with all the Indian favorites including Chicken tikka masala, vindaloo, and other known Indian dish staples. If Ramen is your thing, you have to try Ton Ton Ramen & Yakitori.
After eating, I highly encourage you to head up to the Ponce City Roof Top for some good family fun! There is a cost to accessing the roof for both children and adults and an additional fee on top of that if you want to play games. I will admit that for a big family, the cost can add up fairly quickly, but it was a lot of fun for the kids, so we consider it worth the cost.
The roof top has an entire mini golf course, a giant slide (the kids went up and down at least 15 times), carnival style games, and a fun twirly ride. Make sure to plan your day at Ponce City Market carefully when bringing kids. If visiting on a Saturday, make sure to get there in plenty of time to eat and enjoy the rooftop before kids are kicked out at 5pm. Yes, you read that correctly, kids are kicked out promptly at 5pm on Saturdays as the area becomes a strictly 21+ zone.
You’re probably thinking, but what if we don’t drink soda? No worries, World of Coca-cola is still a must visit. We’re not a soda drinking family, but we had an absolute blast. From the bottling process, to the heart string pulling Coca-Cola movie, there is much more to do than drink soda.
BUUUUUTTT, with that said, you only live once, so we decided to let our hair down a little and allow the kids to try out all of the soda flavors from around the world. They enjoyed running around the tasting room trying every single flavor. And, so did us parents!
I was so excited to get outside of the City for half a day to enjoy Stone Mountain. Well, that is before I learned about the site’s troublesome history. After my husband noticed I had purchased tickets, he informed me that Stone Mountain is home to the largest confederate monument in the world, and that it has a racist history.
I headed down the rabbit hole of research, and immediately no longer wanted to go. However, we decided to go forward with the visit and use it as an opportunity to educate our children of the ills of the past.
If you want to read more about Stone Mountain, this is a great article from the Washington Post.
Centennial Olympic Park – home of the 1996 Olympics – is a great place to run around and have the kids burn some energy while also appreciating the space for its role in such a monumental series of events.
Atlanta in July is hott, so we didn’t stay out there long.
We didn’t visit the Aquarium this time, but it’s in close proximity to World of Coca-Cola and the National Center for Human and Civil Rights, so definitely build it into your schedule for a visit. Unfortunately, our days were packed, and the Aquarium just didn’t make it onto our list.
National Center for Human and Civil Rights
We also decided not to visit the National Center for Human and Civil Rights this time due to our packed schedule. Also, having just come off the heaviness of our Alabama trip, we wanted to steer clear of some of the more serious conversation for this leg of the trip. However, I have heard great things about this museum, so we will be back in the future.
While enjoying Atlanta, don’t forget to take some time to ditch the schedule and just wander around the city. There are so many great parks and pockets of beauty in this bustling and diverse city.
If you have any questions about our Atlanta trip or additional things to add, please let us know in the comments!
Make sure to check out all of our Atlanta and Alabama trip content on our Instagram @upupandadams
Happy Travels,
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