I spent my first weekend ever in Atlanta (and Georgia!) visiting a sweet friend from high school and her fiance and had such a blast! We ate incredible food, drank delicious drinks, and did lots of fun activities. Even for a short trip, I felt like I was able to see and do so much that Atlanta has to offer and can’t wait to go back! Here is a list of things to do that you don’t want to miss.

1. Krog Street Market

The Krog Street Market is a Historic Atlanta Food Hall, accessible via the BeltLine (see below), housing a variety of restaurants and food vendors carrying all types of cuisines. I wanted to eat 6 dinners the night that we went because everything looked SO GOOD. We settled on Makimono, which is sushi/Japanese and it did not disappoint at all. Also in the Krog Street Market is a…..

2. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream

For the amount of ice cream that I eat, you may be surprised that I still had not tried Jeni’s. SHOCKING, I know. But the time has finally come and it did not disappoint. It was fun to go around the holidays because I got to try the holiday flavors (including a very “cognac-y” Cognac with Gingerbread) and ended up with a cinnamon waffle cone with Gooey Butter Cake and Salty Caramel. YUMMMM.

3. Pour Taproom

4. Walk the Atlanta BeltLine

If you are going to hit up several of the recommendations on this list, you may walk the Atlanta BeltLine between places. You should also take some time during the day to walk the BeltLine, which is “Atlanta’s newest outdoor space and is comprised of 22 miles of unused railroad tracks circling the core of the city’s in-town neighborhoods.” The BeltLine is a large walking/running/bike trail that circles the city using the old railroad tracks. It’s a very cool project and I was so excited to hear about it and see it during my visit.

5. Ponce City Market

The Ponce City Market is another market off the BeltLine, and I have to say, I’m obsessing over these markets that are everywhere. Ponce City is built inside of the historic Sears, Roebuck & Co building and includes a food hall, also with lots and lots of food and different cuisine selections. We had Chinese food at Jia and it was v yummy! Ponce City also includes shopping, office space, and residential space. The market was popping on a Saturday night and I would spend many nights there if I lived in Atlanta.

6. Breakfast at Ria’s Bluebird

We tried a sweet little breakfast spot called Ria’s Bluebird that came highly recommended by some Atlanta locals. It opens at 8:00 and by 9:00 was already very busy with a small wait. The food was delicious and I highly recommend a stop in during your visit. Ria’s is known for its pancakes, but I opted for a breakfast variety which was still incredible! The biscuits here are easily in the best biscuits that I’ve ever had and could maybe be number one. You should try one!

7. Breakfast at Folk Art

Another breakfast spot that we ate at was called Folk Art. We had the best server ever! The food was great and I had such a hard time choosing from all of the options. I settled on the Bananas Foster pancakes, so I’ll just leave this picture here to get your mouth watering.

8. Centennial Olympic Park

You can’t visit Atlanta without a walk through the Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta, which was built as part of the infrastructure improvements in Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The park now hosts several events throughout the year (including the Christkindl Markets mentioned below) and hosts millions of visitors each year.

9. Westin Sun Dial Restuarant, Bar and View

10. Georgia Aquarium

Many of you know that I am a huge animal lover and will frequently visit zoos and aquariums on my trips. I was on the fence between this and the next three options, but finally settled on animals over anything else at the Georgia Aquarium! The aquarium has several shows including a dolphin and sea lion show, which you definitely don’t want to miss. There is also a tunnel under one of the large tanks with a moving walkway that was my favorite. I saw lots of new creatures that I hadn’t seen before like the Japanese Spider Crabs (so gross) and Beluga Whales (which are now my favorite). I’m like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to this type of thing and I am so grateful that Blair played mom for me and got these adorable photos. ♡

These next three options are not places we ended up having time to visit but were on the list of spots to check out. If you have two full days in Atlanta, you could likely fit more of these into your itinerary!

11. World of Coca-Cola

12.National Center for Civil and Human Rights

13.Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birth Home Tour

Lastly, I have two bonus items related to the holidays. If you’re visiting during the holiday season, you should definitely add to your list! *These activities are holiday activities that are not available year-round.

14. Christkindl Market*

If you’re in Atlanta around the holidays, you should take 30 minutes to walk through the Christkindl Markets, which were in the Centennial Olympic Park this year. There are tons of booths with food and drinks and I had one of the best homemade pretzels ever! There are also tons of shops with unique vendors sharing traditional German, Austrian and Swiss products.

15. Atlanta Botanical Gardens*

The one thing that we had planned to do that didn’t pan out for us was the Garden Lights, Holiday Lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The lights were open until 11:00 pm on the Saturday evening that we tried to go, so we planned our visit around 9:00. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, all tickets were completely sold out for the evening 🙁 From the bit that I could see from driving by (and the pictures on the website), it is just an incredible light show that you don’t want to miss, so plan ahead and get your tickets!

We did so much in just a short weekend and still couldn’t do it all! What are your favorite things to do in Atlanta to add to my list for next time?