From historic homes and literary touchstones to newsroom tours and picturesque settings, Atlanta offers something interesting for everyone. Something Fishy! The exterior of the 8 million-gallon. (404-581-4000), the world's largest, was designed to look like a giant ship breaking through a wave. As guests enter the huge atrium inside the building, they're led into the facility by a wall of fish guiding them inside. They then have the choice of entering five galleries. Each gallery is easily identified by an icon and signage at the entrance: Georgia Explorer has a light house; River Scout displays a cascading waterfall; Cold Water Quest has an ice covered cliff; Ocean Voyager offers a peek window into the huge habitat; and Tropical Diver has two video screens displaying the perspective of a fish on a reef. Broadcast News Downtown explorers should not miss the. (CNN Center, Marietta and Techwood Sts., Atlanta, 404-827-2300), which offers a glimpse into the sleepless studios of CNN and Headline News. CNN's coverage of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 made the Atlanta-based network a force to be reckoned with in the world of international media. Now, it's the channel most people watch when breaking news happens. The VIP Tour, which lasts a little more than an hour, actually takes you onto the newsroom floor. Where Kings are Born The. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. (along Auburn Ave., Atlanta, 404-331-5190), which is several city blocks long, preserves the birthplace and surroundings of the nation's foremost civil rights leader. Among many things, the site includes King's birth home, Ebenezer Baptist Church and his grave site. There is also an educational visitors center that has in-depth exhibits of the civil rights movement and King's life and legacy, along with powerful documentaries. Reservations are required for the birth home tour. Just beyond the site is a preservation district that maintains the atmosphere of the. (55 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Atlanta, 404-676-5151) celebrates the world's best-selling soft drink and its familiar trademark. A self-guided tour begins with Bottling Fantasy, a tribute to bottlers around the globe. The 1930s-era Barnes Soda Fountain comes complete with a jukebox and real soda jerk. Every Day of Your Life is a 10-minute extravaganza celebrating Coca-Cola's universal appeal. Soft drinks are offered in Club Cola, and 46 exotic soft drinks from outside the United States are served in the International Lounge. The tour ends with Everything Coca-Cola, the largest collection of Coca-Cola merchandise in the world. The Write Stuff When the. Margaret Mitchell House Museum. (990 Peachtree St., Atlanta, 404-249-7015) was dedicated to the city of Atlanta in 1997, attendees included Governor Zell Miller, Mayor Bill Campbell and keynote speaker and author Tom Wolfe. You can tour the house that Mitchell affectionately called the dump and hear little-known stories about the creation of Gone with the Wind. (1050 Ralph D. Abernathy Blvd., Atlanta, 404-753-7735), the home of Joel Chandler Harris the beloved publisher of the stories is a splendid example of an 1880s Queen Anne–style structure. The house contains original family furnishings, including the library table where Harris brought Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox to life. Throughout the year, storytellers take their turns at spinning Harris' delightful yarns. Laying Down the Law The days when Jimmy Carter occupied the. Georgia Governor's Mansion. (391 W. Paces Ferry Road, Buckhead, 404-261-1776) may be long gone, but this stately Greek Revival is still a gem. Thirty rooms are furnished with early 19th-century American paintings and porcelain, as well as a remarkable collection of Federal-period furniture. Self-guided tours are offered Tuesday through Thursday. Topped by a brilliant dome sheathed in gold leaf, the 1889. (Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Capitol Ave., Atlanta, 404-656-2844) is home to the. Georgia Capitol Museum. (404-656-2846). Tours are offered weekdays. Painting in the Round One of Atlanta's most popular and enduring tourist attractions, the. (Grant Park, 800 Cherokee Ave., SE, Atlanta, 404-658-7625) is a mammoth painting in the round 42 feet high and 358 feet in circumference depicting the Battle of Atlanta. Visitors view the battlescape from theater-style seats on a rotating platform. Sections of the poignant scene are spotlighted as narration and vivid sound effects evoke that fiery July 22, 1864. Also on exhibit is the Texas, the railroad engine that pursued The General in the Andrews Raid. Garden of Delights In addition to roses and perennials, the. Atlanta Botanical Garden. (1345 Piedmont Ave., NE, Atlanta, 404-876-5859) offers vegetable, herb, fern, camellia and Japanese gardens, as well as a collection of dwarf and rare conifers. In the. stroll among endangered tropical and desert plants from around the world. The garden's most recent addition is the. which opened in 2002. Special events take place year round at the garden, including the. Holiday in the Garden. (first Sunday in December) and. Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour. on Mother's Day weekend. Where the Wild Things Are Just minutes from downtown, (Grant Park, 800 Cherokee Ave., SE, Atlanta, 404-624-5600) is one of Georgia's best-loved institutions. Founded in 1889, it is one of the 10 oldest zoos in continuous operation in the U.S. The zoo is home to nearly 1,000 animals, representing 250 species from all over the world, as well as many threatened and endangered animals. The zoo features a family of six red-ruffed lemurs and is the home of the only breeding pair of drill monkeys in the United States. (Drills are currently the most endangered primate species in Africa.) Giant pandas. Yang Yang and Lun Lun. along with the 23 gorillas in the. Ford African Rain Forest. continue to capture the attention of visitors. Just for Kids Imagine a place where young children and grownups are transported into a different world a world where a banana looms, friendly forests and bubbling streams beckon and fresh-made music fills the air. The mission of. Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta. (275 Centennial Olympic Park Drive NW, Atlanta, 404-659-5497) is to create environments and activities where young children experience the power of imagination and the pure delight of learning with each other and with grown-ups. At the. Fernbank Museum of Natural History. (767 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, 404-929-6300), kids can explore the world of dinosaurs, artifacts, wildlife and more. At. Six Flags White Water. (250 Cobb Pkwy., Marietta, 770-424-9283), a water-slide park, little surfers can ride four-foot waves or navigate the Bermuda Triangle Boat Ride. And the coasters at. Six Flags Over Georgia. (275 Riverside Pkwy., SW, Austell, 770-739-3400) offer a thrill a minute. The Big Picture The massive five-story screen at the. 767 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, 404-370-0019) creates an intense, you-are-there experience. to view a list of currently-playing films, and to view upcoming films. Call for more information. Houses of History Surrounded by gardens at the. Atlanta History Center. (130 W. Paces Ferry Road, Buckhead, 404-814-4000) stands the majestic 1928. (404-261-0224), built by Philip Trammell Shutze, one of the great classical architects of the 20th century. The house features a restaurant (404-261-0636), fine arts gallery and a canopied terrace overlooking a formal garden. Nearby is the pre–Civil War. built in 1845 and one of the oldest houses in the Atlanta area. Enthusiasts of African American history should visit turn-of-the-century. (587 University Place, N.W., Atlanta, 404-581-9813). Built by Alonzo Franklin Herndon, a former slave and founder of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, the beautiful 15-room house was designed in the beaux arts classical style. Completed in 1904, (1516 Peachtree St., NW, Atlanta, 404-881-9980) is a...

Getting a feel for Georgia's capital is easy, whether you have a week or a day to explore. All you need is a map, a few suggestions and a sense of adventure. Something Fishy! The exterior of the 8 million-gallon Georgia Aquarium (404-581-4000), the world's largest, was designed to look like a giant ship breaking through a wave. As guests enter the huge atrium inside the building, they're led into the facility by a wall of fish guiding them inside. They then have the choice of entering five galleries. Each gallery is easily identified by an icon and signage at the entrance: Georgia Explorer has a light house; River Scout displays a cascading waterfall; Cold Water Quest has an ice covered cliff; Ocean Voyager offers a peek window into the huge habitat; and Tropical Diver has two video screens displaying the perspective of a fish on a reef. Guests will enter each gallery and then return to the main atrium before entering the next gallery. Visit www.georgiaaquarium.org for information on current exhbits and admission prices. This Just In... Go behind the scenes of CNN, CNN International and Headline News on the CNN Studio Tour (CNN Center, Marietta and Techwood Sts., Atlanta, 404-827-2300), which illustrates how these leading news networks prepare and deliver the world's top stories. The 50-minute guided tour also includes the CNN Special Effects Studio and the CNN Control Room Theater. The VIP Tour, run in small groups, investigates a little deeper in a visit of one hour and 10 minutes and actually takes you onto the newsroom floor. Advance reservations are suggested. Visit www.cnn.com/StudioTour for more information. Entertainment, 19th-Century Style Long before silent movies, Technicolor and THX were invented, Americans flocked to cycloramas paintings in the round for entertainment. Most of these paintings depicted stories of human tragedy and triumph, love and loss, bravery and patriotism. The Atlanta Cyclorama (Grant Park, 800 Cherokee Ave., SE, Atlanta, 404-624-1071), which was created in 1886, is no exception. The 42-foot high, 358-foot-wide painting illustrates the Battle of Atlanta, which was one in a series of Civil War engagements fought Cycloramathroughout Georgia. It is one of three remaining cycloramas in the United States, and today, visitors view it from a rotating theater. The massive painting is enhanced by a three-dimensional diorama, as well as a narration of the battle and how the painting was created. Olympian Offerings The $75 million, 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park (265 Luckie St., Atlanta, 404-222-7275) is the centerpiece of downtown Atlanta. With its Fountain of Rings, Great Lawn and Southern Company Amphitheater, the park provides a fantastic setting for a wide variety of outdoor entertainment. The park also connects the Georgia World Congress Center to the hotel district. Just a few miles away, Turner Field (755 Hank Aaron Drive, Atlanta), still sports the freestanding Olympic Cauldron that housed the Olympic flame. Although the city hosted the Olympics in 1996, many other sites in and around Atlanta provide today's visitors with a brand-new experience, thanks to more than $2 billion worth of Olympic-related improvements. Visit www.centennialpark.com for the latest happenings at the park. Home Sweet Home Auburn Avenue, or Sweet Auburn, as it was affectionately called, was the cradle of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at 501 Auburn Ave., and he, like his father and grandfather before him, preached at nearby Ebenezer Baptist Church (407 Auburn Ave.). Just up the block, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change Inc. (449 Auburn Ave., NE., Atlanta, 404-524-1956) enshrines his tomb. The area was also home to former slave Alonzo Herndon, who founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, the largest black-owned company in the country. Today, you can visit the company's headquarters (953 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, NW, Atlanta, 404-659-2100). Visit for a current list of happenings and historic buildings to tour. Coke Is It Adjacent to Underground Atlanta, the neon-lit World of Coca-Cola (55 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive at Central Ave., Atlanta, 404-676-5151), is a three-story shrine to the century-old, hometown soft drink that grew up to be a global favorite. It's a world of fun, from its colorful collection of Coke memorabilia to the Barnes Soda Fountain, where an old-fashioned soda jerk demonstrates how early Coca-Cola was made. The self-guided tour also includes Bottling Fantasy, a tribute to global beverage bottlers, as well as opportunities to sip soft drinks while viewing commercials from around the world. The last stop on the tour is the Everything Coca-Cola retail store, which is filled with contemporary and nostalgic gifts and collectibles. Visit www.worldofcocacola.com for information on current exhibits and about the upcoming move to a brand-new facility located adjacent to the Georgia Aquarium. Atlanta on Foot To sample the city beyond downtown, lace up your walking shoes and join guides from the Atlanta Preservation Center (327 St. Paul Ave., Atlanta, 404-688-3353) on one-hour tours. You can choose from six areas, including Historic Downtown; Auburn Avenue/Martin Luther King, Jr. District; and the neighborhoods of Ansley Park, Inman Park and Druid Hills, which was the setting for the film Driving Miss Daisy. Call for more information or visit www.preserveatlanta.com/walkingtours.htm. Frankly, My Dear... Gone With the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler live on at the Margaret Mitchell House Museum (990 Peachtree St., Atlanta, 404-249-7015), the place where the author lived when she wrote the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. The house, fully decked out in authentic period furniture, is a majestic turn-of-the-century, three-story Tudor Revival mansion. The restored and renovated building attracts more than 55,000 visitors annually seeking a look at the life of the woman who created fiction's most famous Southern belle. Going Underground Only in Atlanta can you have a historic shopping experience. Underground Atlanta (Peachtree at Alabama St., Atlanta, 404-523-2311) provides a retail experience and history lesson all in one. Here, visitors see where Atlanta rose from the ashes of the Civil War as they browse through six city blocks of shopping, dining and entertainment venues. This urban marketplace has retained all the charm of its 19th-century origins with cobblestone streets and renovated buildings. More than 100 specialty shops, street-cart merchants and restaurants, along with the only Cafe du Monde outside of Louisiana, are offered. Stone Faced The world's largest relief carving can be found at Stone Mountain Park (Hwy. 73 E., Stone Mountain, 770-498-5690), which is located 16 miles east of downtown Atlanta. The enormous carving of President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant General Thomas Stonewall Jackson sits on the face of an 825-foot-high granite mountain. Aside from the carving, the park offers a scenic railroad; skylift to the top of the mountain; riverboat complex; beach and waterside complex; a plantation and petting farm; restaurants and shops; and museums. The park's newest additions include The Great Barn, a children's funhouse opening in November 2001, as well as Crossroads, an 1870s town opening in late spring 2002. Visitors can also explore 3,200 acres of lakes, forest and miles of nature trails. There is also tennis, golf, fishing, hiking, camping and more. It's no wonder that this is Georgia's most popular attraction! The Law of the Land View Atlanta's lawmaking history on a self-guided tour of the Georgia Governor's Mansion (391 W. Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, 404-261-1776). Highlights of the stately Greek Revival home include 19th-century American paintings, porcelain and Federal-period furniture. For current lawmaking, head for the State Capitol (Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive an...

 Guest rooms have air conditioning
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 Central situation
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 Lift
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