30 of the most exciting reasons to explore Atlanta now

Discover brand-new attractions and old favorites as Georgia’s capital welcomes the globe for the FIFA World Cup

May 8, 2026

Thirty years ago, people from all over the world flocked to Atlanta for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. Locals who’d lived in the city for decades discovered their hometown anew as they, along with millions of visitors, checked out brand-new attractions and old favorites that had dressed up for the spotlight. With this year’s FIFA World Cup, the excitement is back. Fans from near and far will once again descend upon Atlanta and quickly find that the last three decades have been very good to the city. Here are 30 of the most exciting reasons to explore the metro now.

1.) Party in the park with FIFA fans from around the world
Giant public viewing events organized by FIFA and its host cities have become the heart of World Cup celebrations. Soccer fans, whether or not they have tickets, gather to enjoy live entertainment, regional cuisine, celebrity appearances, games, and tournament screenings at “the greatest football party in the world.” Atlanta’s free FIFA Fan Festival will be open to the public 20 days around the matches, with appearances by stars like soccer podcasters Men in Blazers. Appropriately, Atlanta’s festivities take place at Centennial Olympic Park, created 30 years ago to welcome the world during the Centennial Olympic Games.

2.) Visit Willie B’s world-famous gorilla family
Panda, schmanda. Zoo Atlanta’s first love has always been gorillas. Willie B., a western lowland gorilla named for Mayor William B. Hartsfield (of airport fame), came to the Grant Park attraction in 1961. He became the poster boy for the zoo’s dramatic 1988 revitalization when he moved from a lonely indoor cage to a sprawling new habitat and was joined, eventually, by other great apes. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the world’s longest running and largest organization dedicated to gorilla conservation, moved to Atlanta seven years later. The two institutions celebrated their partnership’s 30th anniversary last fall. Today, you can visit 20 apes—one of North America’s largest gorilla populations—then don goggles in the Wild Explorer Virtual Reality Theater for an even closer look.

3.) Unleash your inner AvGeek at Delta’s updated museum, no TSA required
To mark its 2025 centennial, Delta Air Lines remodeled the Delta Flight Museum, located on the company’s corporate campus near the airport. Trademark attractions remain, such as suspended historic airplanes and vintage uniforms, but are now supplemented with more interactive exhibits including a holographic video and a children’s play area. A highlight for visitors is exploring four actual aircraft, including a 747—where you can sit in a seat or walk out on the wing. Pay extra (starting at $250) to steer the flight simulator.

4.) Savor the most Michelin-recognized restaurants in the South
Michelin finally arrived in Atlanta in 2023, heralding the city’s creative, ever-evolving dining scene. Last year, the guide expanded to the entire South, but metro Atlanta still claims the most Michelin-starred restaurants in the region. Bacchanalia, where chefs Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison source many ingredients from their own North Georgia farm, won both a Michelin Star and a Green Star as a leader in sustainability. In a city that loves omakase, perhaps it’s not surprising that top honors went to Hayakawa, Mujō, O by Brush, and Omakase Table. But if you really want a taste of Atlanta, don’t pass by Bib Gourmand winners: soul-food staple the Busy Bee, or Heirloom Market BBQ, which offers Southern barbecue with a Korean twist—the perfect metaphor for Atlanta’s diverse dining scene.

5.) Tour the city’s iconic murals, including new FIFA tributes
When Atlanta hosted the Super Bowl in 2018, a highlight was the “Off the Wall” project of 30 murals celebrating the city’s civil rights legacy. Now Atlanta is at it again, as the city plans to paint some 20 new murals for the FIFA World Cup. The first, designed by local visual artist Charmaine Minniefield, is located across from Morris Brown College near Mercedes- Benz Stadium and honors the AME Church and Atlanta’s historically black colleges and universities. Tour street art throughout the city with the Atlanta Street Art Map.

6.) Step into history at the newly expanded National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Launched just over 10 years ago, downtown’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights honors both the legacy of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and human rights struggles around the globe. Last November, a $58 million expansion increased its size by more than 50 percent. The center houses moving artifacts such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s actual papers, but it’s also famous for immersive storytelling, such as an exhibit recreating protests at segregated lunch counters. Here, guests sit on drugstore bar stools and don headsets, subjecting themselves to simulated taunts, threats, and insults. New interactive exhibits include a replica of Martin Luther King Jr.’s office, where visitors can pick up a phone to hear recorded messages from civil rights heroes like Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson. In a “shoe store,” guests try on shoes with matching headsets, listening to stories told by people who literally walked in the footwear, such as a Syrian refugee, a neurosurgeon, a war veteran, and a sex worker.

7.) Take in blockbuster new summer shows—and cuisine—at the High Museum of Art
During the FIFA World Cup, the High Museum of Art in Midtown will host two acclaimed exhibitions. Amy Sherald, a native of Columbus, Georgia, and alumna of Clark Atlanta University, concludes her high-profile national tour of American Sublime at the High, which hosted her Obama Portraits Tour in 2022. Isamu Noguchi: “I am not a designer” features nearly 200 objects and is the artist’s first design retrospective in nearly a quarter century. It also marks the 50th anniversary of Playscapes, Noguchi’s playground at nearby Piedmont Park. Cap off your visit with dinner at Elise, a new French- and Italian-influenced restaurant on the museum’s campus. The buzzy eatery was created by chef Craig Richards, co-owner of the nearby Michelin-recommended Lyla Lila.

8.) Explore Atlanta’s newest and largest greenspace
Fun fact: Atlanta’s largest greenspace isn’t Piedmont Park; it’s the Westside’s Shirley Clarke Franklin Park, a nearly 300-acre gem opened in 2021 and anchored by a 35-acre reservoir that was once a granite quarry. This Beltline-adjacent park has many paved, ADA-accessible paths, playgrounds, picnic shelters, and breathtaking city and water overlooks. In January, construction began on a 45-acre mountain biking park with trails and obstacles for all skill levels, touted as the premier facility of its kind in the eastern United States.

9.) Visit the spectacular Fox Theatre to see why its peers think its shows are the best
Approaching its centennial in 2028, Midtown’s Fox Theatre has always been remarkable for its historic architecture, inspired by Spain’s Alhambra and Egypt’s Temple of Karnak. But for the fourth time since 2017, members of the International Entertainment Buyers Association have voted the venue its Theater of the Year—an award given for superior, innovative, and diverse programming, hospitality, and audience experience—proving it’s also just a lot of fun.

10.) Check out the newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Home
For many visitors to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park, the most moving site is King’s childhood home at 501 Auburn Avenue, where he lived until age 12. Inside, visitors can see the very bedroom where the civil rights icon was born, as well as family artifacts like his mother’s piano. The 1895 Queen Anne Victorian, which belonged to his maternal grandparents, is near Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his grandfather and father (and later Martin himself) served as pastor. King’s birth home has been closed for extensive repairs for more than two years, surviving an arson attempt in 2023. At press time, the home’s interior was projected to reopen by June.

11.) Walk around the city (literally) with new segments of the Beltline
The Atlanta Beltline, a 22-mile pedestrian trail carved along old railroad lines circling the heart of the city, kicked off some 20 years ago; officials hope to complete the entire loop by 2030. Both the Eastside Trail near Ponce City Market and the Westside Trail near the Lee + White complex offer dozens of bars and restaurants, plus easy access for visitors. Meanwhile, the Westside Beltline Connector allows pedestrian access to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Watch FIFA matches at the Grove, Monday Night Brewing’s recently unveiled taproom next to the Beltline’s new Northwest Trail.

12.) Climb aboard the Seoul train to explore Korean culture
K-pop music and Korean style are having a moment, garnering 2026 Grammy nominations in major categories for the first time. Skip the jet lag and explore the culture in Gwinnett County, known as the “Seoul of the South.” You can soak in traditional Korean baths at Jeju Sauna, find Korean and other Asian food and popular beauty products at the sprawling Super H Mart, and buy fan gear at the K-pop Nation store. Or hop aboard Explore Gwinnett’s often sold-out Korean Food Tour, a guided bus trip to four local eateries.

13.) Take yourself out to the ballpark for some of the best food in town
When Truist Park, the Atlanta Braves’ stadium in Smyrna, opened in 2017, its dining options included hometown favorites like Fox Brothers BBQ and H&F’s famous double-stack burger. In 2025, the park added Outfield Market, a food hall with more than a half-dozen restaurants, most of them also local, such as Velvet Taco and Taqueria Tsunami. The surrounding entertainment district, the Battery Atlanta, is packed year round, with restaurants, bars, and entertainment like the Coca-Cola Roxy theater, a Topgolf Swing Suite, and Sandbox VR, a virtual reality gaming experience. Shake Shack debuted its first location with a full bar here in 2025, and The Great Big Game Show, where guests become contestants in faux episodes of trivia challenges and beat-the-buzzer showdowns, arrives this spring.

14.) Watch sea creatures glow in the dark
Downtown’s Georgia Aquarium recently introduced summer Glow Nights, inspired by Ocean Lights, a new, first-of-its-kind exhibit featuring bioluminescent algae, glowing jellyfish, and other sea creatures glimmering with theatrical lighting. For these special evenings, jugglers, sway pole artists, aerialists, and unicyclists perform throughout the atrium. Kids love the glow-in-the-dark tattoos; adults love the themed cocktails.

15.) Circle the tracks to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Porsche’s U.S. Headquarters
Put yourself behind the wheel at Porsche’s U.S. Headquarters “Experience Center,” where you can drive race cars like a 532-horsepower 911 Carrera GTS. If that’s too intimidating, ride shotgun with a professional driver or opt for the simulator. The center, mere minutes from the airport, also includes a fine-dining restaurant, retail store, and—to mark its recent 10th anniversary—a new heritage gallery with rotating cars on display, from a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder to a 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

16.) Follow award-winning chefs to this buzzy neighborhood
The third stadium was the charm. The Summerhill neighborhood had been home to two Atlanta Braves stadiums, one of which also hosted the Centennial Olympics. Yet all the surrounding development—much like the interstates that plowed through the area in the 1950s—just disrupted what was one of Atlanta’s earliest prosperous Black neighborhoods, with roots back to 1865. Fortunately for visitors, the sporting venue became home to the Georgia State Panthers in 2017, and Georgia Avenue, Summerhill’s main artery, started to boom. It has attracted James Beard–nominated chefs like Parnass Savang and Rod Lassiter (Talat Market), as well as Duane Nutter (Southern National). Jarrett Stieber, chef at Summerhill’s Bib Gourmand Little Bear, received Michelin Guide Atlanta’s Young Chef Award in 2023. Scheduled to open this spring will be Heritage, a modern blend of Caribbean and Afro-American flavors from Chef Demetrius Brown of Bread & Butterfly and Heritage Supper Club fame. (Tip: Halfway Crooks’ beer garden is a great place to watch FIFA. They’ve even got their own soccer jersey.)

17.) Boogie down for the Chattahoochee Nature Center’s golden jubilee
This summer, Roswell’s Chattahoochee Nature Center celebrates its 50th anniversary. This 127-acre interpretive center dedicated to the Chattahoochee River offers an award-winning museum with hands-on exhibits, a wildlife rehabilitation center, 2.5 miles of hiking trails, an ADA-compliant River Boardwalk Trail, and guided canoe trips. Its summer sunset concert series, held on the Great Lawn and covered outdoor pavilion, will celebrate music of the ’70s to mark the occasion—so come wearing your grooviest retro gear. Another favorite summer activity is the annual Butterfly Festival (June 6 and 7), which offers a native plant sale and a butterfly-filled tent where visitors can get close to the graceful pollinators.

18.) Discover national-caliber museums off the beaten path
The Atlanta suburb of Cartersville—which celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2025—is often called “Museum City” for its two Smithsonian-acclaimed institutions and glamorous car museum. Tellus Science Museum invites curiosity with attractions like an 80-foot-long brontosaurus, a replica Wright flyer, and a 120-seat digital planetarium and observatory. Booth Western Art Museum inspires with Native American art, Civil War art, and presidential portraits. Savoy Automobile Museum celebrates its five-year anniversary this year with blockbuster shows on early Corvettes, James Brown’s cars (some never before displayed), lowriders, and NASCAR racers.

19.) See how movies are made, then enjoy a live show
There’s always something ambitious going on at Trilith, a master-planned community just south of Atlanta, which was inspired by the state’s growing film industry. First came Trilith Studios, the nation’s largest purpose-built movie studio, which opened in 2014 (trolley tours are available). Next was the Town at Trilith, a European-inspired, geothermal-powered community with restaurants and retail. In 2024, a boutique hotel, Trilith Guesthouse, opened and the U.S. Soccer Federation broke ground on its first-ever national training center. Newest yet is Trilith Live, a giant entertainment complex unveiled in January to host concerts and other live productions (Randy Travis is slated to perform in May).

20.) Check out Little Five Points’ glow up
Little Five Points is beloved for its bohemian mix of businesses, including Stratosphere Skateboards, Junkman’s Daughter, Variety Playhouse, Seven Stages, and the Porter Beer Bar—not to mention its colorful cast of locals. This past winter, its central Findley Plaza got a major renovation, which moved sidewalks and added new trees, benches, and bike racks, all to help the iconic spot live up to its tagline “Everyone is welcome!” Be sure to take a selfie in front of The Vortex’s famous skull-shaped front door or grab some vintage vinyl at Wax ‘n’ Facts.

Star Gallery at Fernbank Museum of Natural History

21.) Discover what’s new at Atlanta’s largest science museum
The Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Druid Hills launched a major renovation last year with an improved Star Gallery, including a fiber-optic ceiling mapping stars and constellations. Scheduled to open this year: the new interactive Orkin Discovery Zone, where visitors can examine real insect specimens, observe live animals in terrariums, and “build” bugs with a spinning activity that combines the traits of different insects. Next year, a new exhibit, Changing Earth, will become Fernbank’s largest and feature hands-on activities like the Tectonic Dashboard, where guests can “move” the earth’s plates.

22.) Hang out with fellow soccer fans (and catch free concerts) at Decatur WatchFest
During the FIFA World Cup, the city of Decatur will host 34 days of free outdoor game screenings and live music performances. (Local restaurants, pubs, and breweries will also host indoor watch parties.) The fun starts with a free Big Boi concert on Decatur Square June 11, the first day of the tournament; it ends with a closing concert by Decatur residents the Indigo Girls on July 19.

23.) Enjoy soul food and silly memes at Atlantic Station
Sports fans probably know Atlantic Station for its Atlanta Falcons & Atlanta United Team Store (recently expanded). But the hottest new retailer is Miniso, known for collectibles, vinyl plush blind boxes, and other cuteness overloads. This summer’s other new draw is a second location of the iconic, Michelin-recognized Busy Bee Cafe, which will open just in time for the FIFA World Cup. Famous for fried chicken, collard greens, and other soul food specialties, the diner was founded in 1947 near the Atlanta University Center, where it hosted icons like John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr. The original location is now takeout-only, but the new spot will provide dine-in service—as will a third location joining Centennial Yards in 2027 (See Reason 26 below).

24.) Enjoy a springtime stroll at Oakland Cemetery
Established in 1850, Oakland Cemetery just east of downtown reflects the Victorian tradition of creating parklike burial grounds meant for recreation and contemplation. More than 70,000 individuals have been laid to rest here in sections such as the unmarked Potter’s Field, the Confederate Burial Ground, the Jewish Grounds, and the historic African American Grounds. Famous residents include golfer Bobby Jones, Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell, and Mayor Maynard Jackson. Map out your path at the new visitors center which opened just outside the main entrance last year. Admission is free, but many paid guided tours are available.

25.) Discover how Atlanta’s most historic streets are becoming the city’s hottest attractions
Centennial Yards provides the connective tissue between what were formerly disparate parts of Atlanta’s core, bringing new energy to downtown and making the area far easier to navigate. Steele Bridge, a new pedestrian bridge gifted to the city by the Centennial Yards developer, now links two historic neighborhoods, Castleberry Hill and South Downtown. The latter is restoring some 10 city blocks of 19th- and early 20th-century buildings, 20 of which should be open in time for the FIFA World Cup. Early South Downtown tenants include Tyde Tate Kitchen (homestyle Thai), Spiller Park Coffee (longtime Atlanta roaster), and Crates (classic vinyl), all located along a stretch of Mitchell Street that was once Atlanta’s “Hotel Row,” serving passengers from nearby Terminal Station.

Fried chicken, pot roast, and shrimp at Colonnade

26.) Toast the Colonnade’s upcoming centennial
The Colonnade restaurant in Morningside-Lenox Park is known for its fried chicken, chopped steak, collard greens, and stiff martinis. In 2027, the local institution will celebrate its 100th year; it’s gearing up by hosting storyteller sessions to record the history and memories of longtime customers, which will be released as a commemorative book.

27.) Go roller skating on the roof
Among pop-culture fans, Atlanta is known for its hip-hop, chicken wings, and roller skating. (The iconic Cascade Family Skating gained fame from visits by celebs like Magic Johnson and Usher; Beyoncé celebrated her 21st birthday here.) The newest place to roll is SK8 the Roof, a spring and summer hit at Ponce City Market’s rooftop park, home to bars, restaurants, and a carnival midway that hearken back to the site’s origins as a 19th-century amusement park.

28.) Check out Atlanta’s version of the Las Vegas Sphere
Be the first to see downtown’s transformative Centennial Yards as projects come online in advance of the FIFA World Cup. By tournament time, this $5 billion, 50-acre development—built above a subterranean area formerly known as the Gulch—will have opened swanky Hotel Phoenix, a fan plaza, and (fingers crossed) Cosm, an 80,000-square-foot immersive sports and entertainment experience described as a smaller version of the Sphere in Las Vegas. A 5,300-seat Live Nation venue is also in the works. Interestingly, Hotel Phoenix was built above Mile 0, the historic terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railway, which marked the spot where Atlanta was founded.

29.) Tour a new contemporary art museum, then mingle with working artists
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia—better known as MOCA GA—celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and opens a brand-new facility in West Midtown at the Goat Farm Arts Center this spring. The addition tops off the complex’s recent renovation, which cleverly integrated new buildings into the 19th-century industrial campus, welcoming back the artists (if not the goats) who have thrived here since the 1970s. Visit the museum or come for open-studio nights, performances, or classes.

Battle flag from the United States Colored Troops

30.) Get beyond Southern stereotypes at the Atlanta History Center
Few institutions address both the Old South and today’s South as deftly as the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead. (Case in point: their thoughtful reimagining of the controversial Cyclorama in 2019.) Now, in anticipation of the FIFA World Cup, they’re refreshing almost every exhibit, most significantly Turning Point: The American Civil War, which has been on view since the Centennial Olympic Games. New artifacts tell the broader story, including the Regimental Flag of the 127th United States Colored Troops and a collection of war photos once belonging to General Sherman.

This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of Southbound.