Best Places to Visit in Georgia

15 Best Places to Visit in Georgia 2026

Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River by land area and one of the most geographically diverse — a state that stretches from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast corner (Brasstown Bald, 4,784 feet, the highest peak in Georgia) through the rolling Piedmont of Atlanta and the Civil War battlefields of Kennesaw and Chickamauga, across the flat coastal plain to the Atlantic-facing barrier islands and the marshes of the Golden Isles, and into the vast, flat, mysterious Okefenokee Swamp on the Florida border. This geographic range — mountains to marsh, piedmont to sea island — gives Georgia a variety of landscapes, cultures, and travel experiences that few states can match, all within a state that is compact enough to drive end to end in a single long day.

Georgia’s cultural contributions to American life are outsized for any state: the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. (Atlanta), the plantation-and-Civil War landscape of the middle state, the Gullah Geechee cultural traditions of the Georgia Sea Islands (brought from West Africa by enslaved people and preserved in the coastal communities of Sapelo Island, St. Simons, and Darien), the literary tradition of Flannery O’Connor (Milledgeville), Margaret Mitchell (Atlanta), and Carson McCullers (Columbus), and the musical tradition that produced Ray Charles (Albany), Otis Redding (Macon), James Brown (Augusta), the Allman Brothers Band (Macon), and R.E.M. (Athens). No state between Virginia and Louisiana has produced a richer cultural output.

Tourism in Georgia has been dominated by Atlanta since the city’s rise as the capital of the New South after Reconstruction, but the finest travel experiences in Georgia are often found at its edges — the Blue Ridge Mountain towns of North Georgia, the Golden Isles coast, the quaint college town of Athens, the antebellum grandeur of Savannah and Macon, and the Okefenokee Swamp wilderness. A comprehensive Georgia visit rewards those willing to range beyond Atlanta’s Beltline and Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

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Quick Overview

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1. Savannah

Savannah is the finest city in Georgia for travel — a planned colonial city of extraordinary architectural coherence, laid out in 1733 by James Oglethorpe on a bluff above the Savannah River with 24 ward-squares, 22 of which survive intact as the finest urban public spaces in the American South. The Historic District is the largest National Historic Landmark District in the United States; the live-oak canopy (Spanish moss-draped trees 150+ years old) and the intact antebellum architecture (Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate) make the squares the finest walking environment in any American city.

Key experiences: The 22 historic squares (Forsyth Park with its 1858 cast-iron fountain the finest centerpiece), Bonaventure Cemetery (finest Victorian cemetery in the South, Johnny Mercer’s grave), Wormsloe Historic Site (1.5-mile live oak avenue — most photographed location in Georgia), the Mercer Williams House (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, $12.50/adult), The Grey restaurant (James Beard Award 2019, converted 1938 Greyhound terminal — the finest restaurant in Georgia), and the First African Baptist Church (oldest African American congregation in North America, 1773). See the complete Savannah guide at traveltourister.com.

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2. Atlanta

Getting there: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) — the busiest airport in the world by passenger volume; served by all major carriers | Best neighborhoods: Sweet Auburn, Inman Park, Ponce City Market, Virginia-Highland, the BeltLine

Atlanta is the capital of the New South — a city of 500,000 (6 million in the metro) that reinvented itself from Sherman’s ashes and the Reconstruction era into the financial, corporate, and cultural capital of the American South, host of the 1996 Summer Olympics, and home of Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola, CNN, and the Centers for Disease Control. Atlanta’s cultural contributions include the birthplace of the civil rights movement (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born January 15, 1929, at 501 Auburn Avenue NE) and the finest food scene in the South.

National Center for Civil and Human Rights (100 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd): The finest civil rights museum in the world alongside the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis — an $80-million museum opened 2014 adjacent to the World of Coca-Cola, with the finest exhibit on the American civil rights movement (the Rolls Down Like Water gallery, covering 1954–1968, is the finest immersive civil rights installation in existence — interactive lunch-counter experience where visitors sit at a replica Woolworth’s counter and experience a simulated sit-in) and the finest human rights collection in the Western Hemisphere. $20/adult; allow 2–3 hours. civilandhumanrights.org.

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park (Auburn Avenue): The most important civil rights historical site in the United States — the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (501 Auburn Avenue NE, 1929 Queen Anne Victorian house, NPS-administered, free timed-entry tours), the Ebenezer Baptist Church (where Dr. King was baptized, ordained, and served as co-pastor, 407 Auburn Avenue NE — the finest active congregation in American civil rights history, free), the King Center and tomb (449 Auburn Avenue NE, free, Dr. King and Coretta Scott King interred in a marble crypt above a reflecting pool with the eternal flame), and the Fire Station No. 6 museum. The Sweet Auburn neighborhood surrounding the park is the finest intact African American commercial district of the early 20th century in the United States. Free admission to all NPS sites; timed-entry at the birth home required, recreation.gov.

Georgia Aquarium (225 Baker Street NW): The finest aquarium in the United States and the largest in the Western Hemisphere — a 10-million-gallon facility housing more fish than any other aquarium in the world, with the Ocean Voyager gallery (the finest single aquarium tank in the world: 6.3 million gallons, four whale sharks — the only ones outside Asia on display in the western hemisphere — manta rays, and the finest underwater viewing tunnel in North America at 100 feet). $42/adult; advance tickets essential. georgiaaquarium.org.

The BeltLine: The finest urban greenway in the United States — a 22-mile loop of former railroad corridors converted to trails, parks, and public art installations encircling Atlanta’s in-town neighborhoods, connecting 45 neighborhoods and 30 miles of multiuse trail (15 miles paved and open as of 2026, full loop projected 2030). The Eastside Trail (3 miles, Inman Park to Old Fourth Ward) is the finest urban trail in Georgia — it passes the Krog Street Market (the finest food hall in Atlanta, 8 AM–10 PM, $8–$22/dish), Ponce City Market (the finest adaptive reuse commercial development in Atlanta, a 2.1-million-square-foot 1926 Sears distribution center converted to the finest mixed-use market hall in the South), and ends in Inman Park. Free; accessible year-round.

Ponce City Market (675 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE): The finest food hall in the South — a restored 1926 Sears, Roebuck & Company distribution center (the largest brick building in the southeastern US at the time of construction) converted to a 2.1-million-square-foot market, office, and residential complex, with the finest collection of independent restaurants in Atlanta on the Central Food Hall floor: H&F Burger (the finest burger in Atlanta, $14), Botiwalla (the finest Indian street food in Atlanta, $12–$16), Minero (Sean Brock’s Mexican taqueria, the finest taco in Atlanta, $4–$6 each), and 20+ other vendors. Free entry; open daily.

World of Coca-Cola (121 Baker Street NW): The finest single-brand museum in the world — a 4-story attraction in downtown Atlanta celebrating the global history of the Coca-Cola Company (founded in Atlanta by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, the finest origin story in American consumer goods history), with the finest collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia in existence, the vault of the Secret Formula (the original 1886 recipe secured in a climate-controlled vault, accessible only to view — you cannot read it), and the finest international soft-drink tasting room in the world (the Taste It! gallery with 100+ Coca-Cola products from 100 countries). $20/adult. worldofcoca-cola.com.

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3. Blue Ridge and the North Georgia Mountains

Blue Ridge (town): The finest mountain resort town in Georgia — a small city of 5,000 on the Toccoa River at the southern end of the Appalachian Trail’s Georgia section (the AT’s southern terminus at Springer Mountain is 20 miles south), with the finest independent restaurant scene in North Georgia (Harvest on Main, Aqua Blue, and the Blue Ridge Brewery are the finest three restaurants in the North Georgia mountains), the finest main street in North Georgia (East Main Street, a Victorian commercial strip of independent galleries, antique shops, and the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway — $50/adult RT, the finest excursion train ride in Georgia, following the Toccoa River gorge to McCaysville on the Tennessee border), and the North Georgia Apple Festival (the finest harvest festival in Georgia, 300,000+ visitors, second and third weekends of October).

Amicalola Falls State Park: The finest waterfall in Georgia and the eastern approach trail to the Appalachian Trail — Amicalola Falls (729 feet, the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River; the falls are 8 separate cascades over a 0.7-mile drop, the finest single waterfall complex in the eastern US) is the centerpiece of the state park, accessible by a 175-step staircase (the West Ridge Falls Access Trail, 0.4 miles, paved) or the 2.1-mile East Ridge Trail loop. The 8.5-mile Len Foote Hike Inn Trail (departs the park and ends at the Hike Inn, the finest walk-in eco-lodge in Georgia — len-foote-hike-inn.com, $150–$200/person including dinner and breakfast, solar-powered, no vehicle access, the finest backcountry lodge in the southern Appalachians) is the finest overnight hike in North Georgia. $5/vehicle.

Dahlonega: The finest gold rush town in the United States — the site of the first significant gold rush in American history (1828, 20 years before the California gold rush; the Dahlonega Gold Museum, $6/adult, occupies the 1836 Lumpkin County Courthouse, the finest Greek Revival county courthouse in Georgia), with gold panning still available at several creek operations in the area (Consolidated Gold Mines, $12/person, the finest underground gold mine tour in the eastern US). The Dahlonega Plateau Wine Trail (15 wineries within 15 miles of the town square, the finest wine trail in Georgia) is the finest afternoon activity in the area; Wolf Mountain Vineyards (the finest wine in Georgia, the only winery in the state to consistently place in national competitions) and Montaluce Winery (the finest winery restaurant in Georgia — the Trattoria, $28–$48, with a panoramic mountain view) are the finest two.

Cloudland Canyon State Park: The finest canyon hiking in Georgia — a 2,000-foot-deep canyon cut by Sitton Gulch Creek into the Cumberland Plateau on the western edge of Lookout Mountain, with the finest waterfall hikes in Georgia (Cherokee Falls, 60 ft, and Hemlock Falls, 90 ft, accessible via a 2-mile RT trail that descends 800 steps into the canyon — the finest staircase trail in Georgia) and the finest rim-trail views in the state (Overlook Trail, 4.8 miles RT along the canyon rim, the finest canyon rim view in the Southeast). $5/vehicle; camping available (primitive and standard sites, $20–$27/night).

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4. Golden Isles

The four barrier islands forming the Golden Isles: Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, Sea Island, and Little St. Simons Island Getting there: Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport (BQK) or I-95 Exit 29 (Jekyll Island) and Exit 38 (Brunswick/St. Simons)

The Golden Isles are the finest coastal destination in Georgia — four barrier islands off the Brunswick coast that represent the finest variety of Georgia coastal experiences: Gilded Age resort history (Jekyll Island’s “Millionaires’ Club”), the finest maritime forest in the South (St. Simons), the finest private resort in America (Sea Island’s The Cloister), and the finest undeveloped barrier island wilderness in the eastern US (Little St. Simons, accessible only by boat, with 10,000 acres of pristine marsh and beach).

Jekyll Island: The finest historical island in Georgia — a 4,000-acre barrier island that served as the exclusive winter resort of America’s Gilded Age elite from 1886 to 1942. The Jekyll Island Club (the finest Gilded Age resort complex remaining in the United States — a National Historic Landmark with the original 1886 Queen Anne clubhouse, the “cottages” of Rockefeller, Morgan, Pulitzer, and Vanderbilt, and a croquet lawn used by the combined wealth that at one point represented one-sixth of the world’s total) was the most exclusive private club in American history. The Jekyll Island Museum ($9/adult, tours of the historic district $16/adult) is the finest museum of Gilded Age excess in the US. The island’s 23 miles of paved bicycle paths (the finest flat cycling route in Georgia, passing the historic district, the dunes, and the beach) and Driftwood Beach (a beach of weathered oak skeletons, the finest photographic beach in Georgia, the most-photographed location on the Georgia coast) make Jekyll Island the finest island day-trip from the mainland.

St. Simons Island: The finest residential barrier island in Georgia — a 12-square-mile island connected to the mainland by causeway, with the finest maritime forest (Southern live oak-and-magnolia canopy over the Village area, the finest small-town street canopy in Georgia), the St. Simons Lighthouse (1872, $12/adult, the finest lighthouse museum in Georgia), and Fort Frederica National Monument (the ruins of Oglethorpe’s 1736 fortified town, the finest colonial-era archaeological site in Georgia — NPS, free). The Village (the finest walkable commercial district on the Georgia coast) and the finest surfcasting beach in Georgia (East Beach, the finest Atlantic-facing beach on the Georgia barrier islands with lifeguards) make St. Simons the finest island for extended stays.

Cumberland Island National Seashore: The finest wilderness experience on the Georgia coast — a 36,415-acre National Seashore on Georgia’s southernmost barrier island, accessible only by ferry from St. Marys (cumberlandislandferry.com, $30/RT, 45 minutes, reservations open 6 months in advance and sell out in hours for summer peak dates), with 17 miles of undeveloped Atlantic beach (the finest undeveloped Atlantic beach south of Cape Hatteras), 200+ wild horses descended from horses brought by Spanish missionaries in the 16th century (the finest wild horse herd on the East Coast), the ruins of Dungeness (the Carnegie family’s 1884 Gilded Age mansion, the finest mansion ruin in the southeastern US — open to exploration; the Carnegie family owned 90% of the island from 1881 to 1972), and the First African Baptist Church of Half Moon Bluff (a 1893 one-room wooden church where John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were married in 1996). $20/person ferry reservation; no vehicles on the island; overnight camping at Sea Camp ($28/night, reservation-only via recreation.gov).

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5. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Location: Folkston, GA (US-1/US-23, 45 miles from Brunswick) and Waycross, GA (Okefenokee Swamp Park) Entry: $5/vehicle (East Entrance, Suwannee Canal Recreation Area) | Season: Year-round; finest March–April and October–November Size: 700 square miles — the largest blackwater swamp in North America

The Okefenokee is the finest wilderness natural area in Georgia and one of the finest in the eastern United States — a 700-square-mile peat-based blackwater swamp straddling the Georgia-Florida border (meaning the peat basin fills up and “trembles,” from the Timucua word okefenokee), designated a National Wildlife Refuge in 1937, a Wetland of International Importance in 1993, and one of the most ecologically significant wetland ecosystems in North America. The swamp is home to 234 bird species, 60 reptile species, 37 fish species, and the finest accessible American alligator population in the United States (approximately 10,000–13,000 alligators in the refuge — an average of one alligator per 12 acres of water surface, the finest density of any refuge in the eastern US).

Suwannee Canal Recreation Area (East Entrance, Folkston): The finest access point for the Okefenokee — a 12-mile canoe trail along the former Suwannee Canal (dug 1891–1894 by a failed timber company attempting to drain the swamp — the finest failed engineering project in Georgia history) through the cypress-and-blackgum prairies of the eastern swamp, with the finest alligator viewing of any canoe trail in the eastern US. Guided boat tours (1.5 hours, $15/adult, depart 9 AM–3:30 PM daily) are the finest introduction; canoe rental ($20/half-day) is the finest independent experience.

Chesser Island Boardwalk (East Entrance, free with entry): The finest accessible wildlife walk in Georgia — a 0.75-mile elevated boardwalk through the open lily-pad prairies of the eastern swamp, with the finest panoramic view of the Okefenokee (the “Grand Prairie” overlook, the finest wetland panorama in Georgia) and reliable alligator, sandhill crane, and anhinga sightings year-round.

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6. Athens

Distance from Atlanta: 65 miles east on US-78/GA-316 (1 hour) Character: Home of the University of Georgia (the oldest state-chartered university in the United States, 1785) and the birthplace of R.E.M. and the B-52s

Athens is the finest college town in Georgia and one of the finest in the American South — a city of 125,000 (50,000+ UGA students) with the finest independent music scene in Georgia (Athens was the most fertile American music scene outside of New York and Los Angeles in the 1980s: R.E.M., the B-52s, the Indigo Girls, Widespread Panic, and Drive-By Truckers all formed here), the finest restaurant scene in Georgia outside of Atlanta and Savannah, and a downtown (College Avenue and Clayton Street) of Victorian commercial buildings with the finest concentration of independent bars, restaurants, and music venues per linear foot in Georgia.

The 40 Watt Club (285 West Washington Street): The finest independent music venue in Georgia — a legendary Athens venue that has hosted R.E.M., Nirvana, the Pixies, and Pylon since 1978, still operating as a 500-capacity independent club with the finest live music programming in the state. $10–$25/ticket; 40watt.com.

The National (232 West Hancock Avenue): The finest restaurant in Athens and one of the finest in Georgia — a Mediterranean-influenced restaurant serving the finest prix-fixe and à la carte menu in the city ($28–$52 for entrées), in a restored 1910 building adjacent to the music venue of the same name. Reservations at thenationalrestaurant.com.

State Botanical Garden of Georgia (2450 S. Milledge Avenue): The finest botanical garden in Georgia and the official garden of the University of Georgia — 313 acres of native plant collections, a 5-acre International Garden, the finest dahlia garden in the Southeast, and the finest ravine trail hiking in the Athens area (the 5-mile trail system through the garden’s forested ravines, free). Free entry.

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7. Macon

Distance from Atlanta: 80 miles south on I-75 (1.5 hours) Known for: Otis Redding, Allman Brothers Band, 300,000 cherry blossom trees

Macon is the finest music history city in Georgia outside of Atlanta — a mid-sized city of 150,000 on the Ocmulgee River with extraordinary antebellum architecture (the finest concentration of Greek Revival mansions in Georgia, including the Johnston-Felton-Hay House, 1855–1859, the finest Italianate mansion in the South, $12/adult), the Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House (2321 Vineville Avenue, $10/adult, the finest rock museum in Georgia — the rambling Victorian house where the Allman Brothers Band lived communally 1969–1973 while recording their classic albums), and Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (the finest Native American archaeological site in Georgia — a platform mound complex of the Mississippian culture dating to 900–1600 AD, the finest intact earth lodge in the eastern US — a 1,000-year-old ceremonial chamber reconstructed over its original floor, NPS, free).

Macon Cherry Blossom Festival (mid-March): The finest cherry blossom festival in the United States — 300,000 Yoshino cherry trees in Macon (more per capita than any other city in the world, including Washington DC) bloom in mid-March, producing the finest cherry blossom display in the United States. The 10-day festival (mid-March, the exact dates depend on bloom timing) includes the finest parade in Georgia and 500+ events citywide. cherryblossomfestival.com.

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8. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Location: Fort Oglethorpe, GA (9 miles south of Chattanooga, TN) | Entry: $20/vehicle | Visitor Center: Gordon-Lee Mansion, Fort Oglethorpe

The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (established 1890) is the oldest and largest military park in the United States — a complex of four park units preserving the sites of the Battle of Chickamauga (September 18–20, 1863, the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War with 34,624 casualties, the finest Confederate victory of the Western Theater) and the subsequent Battles for Chattanooga. The Chickamauga Battlefield unit (5,400 acres in Georgia) is the finest intact Civil War battlefield in the United States — 1,400 monuments and markers (more than any other Civil War site), the original artillery positions, and the finest system of self-guided auto tour routes (7-mile tour with 9 stops, the finest Civil War battlefield auto tour in the South).

The Fuller Collection (the finest collection of American military rifles in the world, 355 weapons covering 1526–1865, housed in the Chickamauga Visitor Center) is the finest small-arms collection accessible to the public in the United States.

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9. Providence Canyon State Park

Location: Lumpkin, GA (150 miles south of Atlanta via GA-27) | Entry: $5/vehicle | Season: Year-round; finest March–April for wildflowers; October–November for fall color

Providence Canyon is the “Little Grand Canyon of Georgia” — a 1,000-foot-wide, 150-foot-deep canyon complex of 16 individual canyons eroded into soft kaolin clay and sandstone since the 1800s (the canyon formed almost entirely due to poor farming practices in the 19th century — the finest accidental geological creation in American history, a Grand Canyon created in 200 years rather than 5 million). The canyon walls display 43 distinct geological layers in colors ranging from white kaolin to red iron oxide to lavender and pink — the finest color-striated canyon walls in the eastern United States.

The Rim Trail (3 miles, easy, along the canyon rim) provides the finest overview of the canyon system; the Canyon Floor Trail (descends 200 steps into the canyon, 7 miles RT along the canyon floors) provides the finest close-up experience of the clay walls and the plunge pools. The wild plum azalea (Rhododendron prunifolium), a rare species that blooms in July–August rather than spring, grows only along Providence Canyon’s floor — the finest rare flower concentration in Georgia. $5/vehicle; primitive canyon camping by permit ($25/night).

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10. Warm Springs and FDR’s Little White House

Location: Warm Springs, GA (75 miles south of Atlanta) | Entry: $12/adult | Hours: Thursday–Monday 9 AM–5 PM

Warm Springs is the finest presidential historic site in Georgia — the small West Georgia resort town where Franklin D. Roosevelt came for rehabilitation therapy in the naturally warm spring pools (the springs, which flow at a constant 88°F, were used by Roosevelt from 1924 onward to strengthen his polio-weakened legs), built his “Little White House” (the finest example of a personal presidential retreat in the United States — a 6-room white clapboard cottage on 1,700 acres of Georgia pine forest where Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, while sitting for a portrait), and developed the personal relationships and understanding of rural poverty that shaped the New Deal. The museum preserves the unfinished portrait, the two Georgia pine walking sticks Roosevelt used, and the irons braces he wore throughout his presidency (never shown in public — the finest single collection of objects relating to Roosevelt’s disability in the United States). $12/adult; gastateparks.org.

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11. Columbus

Distance from Atlanta: 100 miles southwest on I-185 (1.5 hours) Known for: Whitewater rafting, National Infantry Museum, historic Uptown district

Columbus is the finest adventure-sports city in Georgia — a city of 200,000 on the Chattahoochee River (the Georgia-Alabama border) with the finest whitewater in the eastern United States (the Columbus Whitewater course, the longest urban whitewater rafting course in the world at 2.5 miles, created by restoring the Chattahoochee River’s original 130-foot drop through the city — Class III–IV rapids, commercially guided rafts from $40/person, Whitewater Express, whitewaterexpress.com), the National Infantry Museum ($10/adult, the finest military history museum in the South — a 190,000-square-foot museum covering the history of the US Army Infantry from the Revolutionary War to the present), and the finest intact mill-town commercial district in Georgia (Uptown Columbus on Broadway, the finest Victorian commercial streetscape in western Georgia).

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12. Dahlonega Wine Trail and Vineyard Region

Georgia’s wine country centers on the Dahlonega Plateau — a high-elevation ridge in the northeastern Georgia mountains (elevations 1,700–2,200 feet) where the cool nights and well-drained granite soils have produced the finest wine in the southeastern United States since the first plantings in the 1980s. The 15-winery Dahlonega Plateau Wine Trail (dahlonega.org/wine-trail) is the finest wine trail in the Southeast outside of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

Finest wineries: Wolf Mountain Vineyards (the finest wine quality in Georgia, the only Georgia winery to win gold at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition; the Sunday brunch ($55/person) is the finest winery brunch in Georgia); Montaluce Winery (the finest mountain-view winery setting in Georgia, with the Trattoria restaurant — $28–$48, the finest winery dining in Georgia); Three Sisters Vineyards (the finest visitor experience and the finest porch-sitting wine tasting in the Dahlonega area, $15 tasting fee).

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13. Little St. Simons Island

Access: Private ferry from St. Simons Island (included in lodging rate); day trips available ($125/person) Lodging: The Lodge on Little St. Simons Island ($650–$1,200/person/night, all-inclusive — the finest eco-lodge in the eastern United States)

Little St. Simons Island is the finest wilderness island in Georgia — a privately owned, 10,000-acre barrier island accessible only by boat, with 7 miles of undeveloped Atlantic beach (the finest undeveloped beach on the Georgia coast north of Cumberland Island), the finest maritime forest in the Golden Isles (live oak and palmetto), 320 bird species (the finest birding in Georgia — the island is a significant stopover point on the Atlantic Flyway, with the finest May warbler migration and October hawk migration in Georgia), and a maximum capacity of 32 overnight guests. The Lodge on Little St. Simons Island (little-stsimons-island.com) is the finest all-inclusive eco-resort in the eastern United States — a collection of 6 historic lodge buildings (some dating to 1917) housing 15 rooms, with meals cooked by an in-house chef using ingredients from the island garden and the surrounding waters, naturalist-guided horseback riding, kayaking, fishing, and birding included. The finest luxury wilderness experience in Georgia.

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14. Callaway Gardens

Location: Pine Mountain, GA (70 miles southwest of Atlanta) | Entry: $25/adult | Best season: March–April (azaleas); November–January (Fantasy in Lights)

Callaway Gardens is the finest botanical garden and resort in Georgia — a 13,000-acre resort in the Pine Mountain Valley with the finest azalea collection in the western hemisphere (the Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden — the finest vegetable garden open to the public in the United States, modeled by Cason Callaway on what a southern Piedmont garden could achieve — and the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, the largest glass-enclosed butterfly conservatory in North America, $25 adult entry). The Fantasy in Lights (November through January, the finest drive-through holiday light experience in Georgia, 8 miles of lights representing the finest free-standing light display in the South) draws 350,000 visitors per season.

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15. Cloudland Canyon State Park and Lookout Mountain

Location: Rising Fawn, GA (35 miles west of Chattanooga, TN) | Entry: $5/vehicle Hiking: Cherokee Falls (60 ft), Hemlock Falls (90 ft), Sitton Gulch Trail (4.8 mi RT rim), Cloudland Canyon Backcountry Trail (4.8 mi loop to the canyon floor)

Cloudland Canyon State Park is the finest state park in Georgia for canyon hiking and the finest park for dramatic landscape in the state — a 2,000-foot canyon cut by Sitton Gulch Creek into the Lookout Mountain plateau on the Alabama border, with the finest waterfall hiking in Georgia (the West Rim Trail descends 600 steps into the canyon to Cherokee Falls and Hemlock Falls, the finest two-waterfall canyon hike in the South) and the finest canyon rim camping in the Southeast (16 walk-in tent sites on the canyon rim, $20/night, the finest tent camping view in Georgia). The backcountry trail loops through the canyon floor and the finest creek-bottom old-growth hardwood forest in North Georgia.

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Practical Visitor Information

Getting Around Georgia

Georgia is a large state (59,425 square miles); a car is essential for all destinations outside Atlanta. Atlanta’s MARTA light rail system (the finest public transit network in the Southeast, 48 miles of track) connects Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, and Decatur — the finest airport-to-city transit connection in the South ($2.50/ride). Savannah and Athens are walkable cities; all coastal and mountain destinations require a rental car.

Best Time to Visit

• Spring (March–May): The finest season — azalea bloom (March–April, the finest in Callaway Gardens and Atlanta’s Piedmont Park), mild temperatures (65–80°F), Macon Cherry Blossom Festival (mid-March), the finest hiking conditions in North Georgia
• Fall (September–November): Finest temperatures, Blue Ridge foliage (peak mid-October), Apple Festival in Blue Ridge, SCAD Film Festival in Savannah; the finest overall travel season
• Summer (June–August): Very hot and humid (Atlanta 92°F average July); coastal destinations (Golden Isles, Cumberland Island) most pleasant; mountain destinations offer the finest heat escape
• Winter (December–February): Mild on the coast; Atlanta and North Georgia occasionally cold; the finest prices (30–40% below spring peak); Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Gardens

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Official Resources

• Georgia Tourism — Explore Georgia
• Cumberland Island National Seashore — NPS
• Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge — USFWS