• 60th Anniversary
  • News & Culture
    • Arts & Events
    • Great Reads
    • Atlanta After Dark
    • Atlanta 500
    • Groundbreakers
    • Women Making a Mark
  • Food & Drink
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • 50 Best Tacos
    • 123 Things to Eat on Buford Highway
    • 75 Best Restaurants in Atlanta
    • 50 Best Bars
    • Best Barbecue
    • Best Breakfast
  • Home
    • Artists & Galleries
    • Design Advice
    • Design News
    • Gardens
    • Real Estate
    • Neighborhoods
    • Real Estate All-Stars
    • Sponsored: Preferred HOME Partner
  • Life & Style
    • Style
    • School Guide
    • Health & Wellness
    • Top Doctors
    • Top Dentists
    • Sponsored: Physician & Dentist Profiles
    • Buckhead Guidebook
  • Travel
    • Southbound
    • 50 Best Things to Do in Georgia
    • Hidden Georgia
    • North Georgia Mountains
    • Great Georgia Hikes
    • Jekyll Island
    • Georgia Travel Guide
  • Best of ATL
    • Eat
    • Drink
    • See
    • Do
    • Buy
    • Readers’ Choice
  • Magazine
    • Subscription Center
    • Newsletters
    • Digital Editions
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Pitch Us
    • Advertise
    • Custom Media
    • Give Atlanta
    • Events
      • Upcoming Events
      • Past Events
        • 2020 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Designer Showhouse
        • Atlanta Baby and Beyond
        • Atlanta Magazine Whiskey Festival 2019
        • DINES: A Taste of the City’s Best Restaurants
        • 2019 Modern Style Showhome
        • Best Burger Battle
        • Pinewood Forest Idea Home
        • 2018 Modern Style Showhouses
      • Event Photos
    • Employment
      • Careers
      • Internships
    • Archives
    • Where to Find
Sign in
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Create an account
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Sign up
Welcome!Register for an account
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
Search
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Issue Archive
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Atlanta 500
  • Give Atlanta
  • Georgia Design Awards 2022
  • Atlanta Summer Guide 2022
  • GaBiz Magazine
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Create an account
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Create an account
Welcome! Register for an account
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Atlanta Magazine Atlanta Magazine
Atlanta Magazine Atlanta Magazine
  • 60th Anniversary
  • News & Culture
    • Arts & Events
    • Great Reads
    • Atlanta After Dark
    • Atlanta 500
    • Groundbreakers
    • Women Making a Mark
  • Food & Drink
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • 50 Best Tacos
    • 123 Things to Eat on Buford Highway
    • 75 Best Restaurants in Atlanta
    • 50 Best Bars
    • Best Barbecue
    • Best Breakfast
  • Home
    • Artists & Galleries
    • Design Advice
    • Design News
    • Gardens
    • Real Estate
    • Neighborhoods
    • Real Estate All-Stars
    • Sponsored: Preferred HOME Partner
  • Life & Style
    • Style
    • School Guide
    • Health & Wellness
    • Top Doctors
    • Top Dentists
    • Sponsored: Physician & Dentist Profiles
    • Buckhead Guidebook
  • Travel
    • Southbound
    • 50 Best Things to Do in Georgia
    • Hidden Georgia
    • North Georgia Mountains
    • Great Georgia Hikes
    • Jekyll Island
    • Georgia Travel Guide
  • Best of ATL
    • Eat
    • Drink
    • See
    • Do
    • Buy
    • Readers’ Choice
  • Magazine
    • Subscription Center
    • Newsletters
    • Digital Editions
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Pitch Us
    • Advertise
    • Custom Media
    • Give Atlanta
    • Events
      • Upcoming Events
      • Past Events
        • 2020 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Designer Showhouse
        • Atlanta Baby and Beyond
        • Atlanta Magazine Whiskey Festival 2019
        • DINES: A Taste of the City’s Best Restaurants
        • 2019 Modern Style Showhome
        • Best Burger Battle
        • Pinewood Forest Idea Home
        • 2018 Modern Style Showhouses
      • Event Photos
    • Employment
      • Careers
      • Internships
    • Archives
    • Where to Find
Home Uncategorized Explore Georgia’s Unexpected Attractions
Custom Publication

Explore Georgia’s Unexpected Attractions

Culturally enriching destinations can be found in every corner of our great state. Here are three of our favorite sites to entice and delight urban adventurers of all types. After all, ’tis the season to hit the road and go.
By
Guest Author
-
May 4, 2015
1405

FAC Pictures 063For the Spiritualist

Atlantans may be surprised to find a spectacular sight off I-85 exit 99, but Lilburn’s BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, which debuted in 2007, is the largest and most elaborate Hindu temple outside India. The intricate carvings are worth admiring up close—in guided tour groups of ten or more, or simply via portable audio player. After scaling its marvelous marble steps, gazing up at the seven-story gilded spires, and walking clockwise (circumambulating) around its awe-inspiring shrines, visit the vegetarian cafe for traditional treats such as Samosa Chaat.

Free admission. Open daily, but closed 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. and 12 to 4 p.m.

Owens-Thomas HouseFor the Design-Inclined

Occupying a full block beside Oglethorpe Square, the circa-1819 Owens-Thomas House was the nation’s first residence with indoor plumbing—beating even the White House. Today, it’s considered the finest example of English Regency architecture in the country and a must-see Telfair Museum for 18th- and 19th-century decorative arts. Begin your explorations at the sobering slave quarters, saunter through the main residence, stroll the English parterre gardens and finish at the gift shop, ensconced in the former stables.

Adult admission is $15 plus $1 preservation fee; tours held 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 12 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday through Monday. Closed on major holidays.

Springer stage2For the Dramatic

A stone’s throw from the Chattahoochee River in downtown Columbus, the late-Victorian Springer Opera House is Georgia’s official state theater. Dubbed the finest opera house between New York and New Orleans on its 1871 opening, its main stage showcased the premier talents of the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, the renovated and expanded venue still hosts approximately a dozen plays, musicals, and Broadway-style performances per year.

Tours, $5, are available Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. Contact Aileen Fowles at (706) 256-3490 to arrange.

–Kate Abney

Advertisement
  • TAGS
  • Atlanta
  • BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
  • Columbus
  • hindu
  • historic home
  • Owens-Thomas House
  • Savannah
  • Springer Opera House
  • theater
Allison Entrekin

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Share the water with 18 toothy predators at Georgia Aquarium’s shark exhibit

Stay & Eat: 3 new, outstanding hotel restaurants around the Southeast

Hidden Georgia: 58 amazing places we'll bet you've never been

Hidden Georgia: 58 amazing places we’ll bet you’ve never been

Follow Us

67,614FansLike
126,739FollowersFollow
493,957FollowersFollow
Atlanta Magazine
Since 1961, Atlanta magazine, the city’s premier general interest publication, has served as the authority on Atlanta, providing its readers with a mix of long-form nonfiction, lively lifestyle coverage, in-depth service journalism, and literary essays, columns, and profiles.

Popular posts

30,000-square-foot “eatertainment” venue Your 3rd Spot to open at the Works in June

March 14, 2022
Sponsored

3 Tarot Card Reading Services To Discover Your Destiny & Purpose

August 20, 2021
What to get at Buc-ee's in Georgia

10 Things You Shouldn’t Miss at Buc-ee’s

September 3, 2021

GREAT READS

Unhoused Atlanta

As Atlanta continues to grow, unhoused people are finding a new voice—and new allies

April 12, 2022
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens

The New Mayor: Andre Dickens comes to the job calculating and confident

April 1, 2022
Atlanta Asian Spa Shooting One Year Anniversary

One year later, 7 Asian American community members reflect on the Atlanta spa shootings

March 16, 2022
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Issue Archive
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Business Forum
  • Privacy and Cookies Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • General Contest Rules
© 2022. All rights reserved.