Four Fantastic Atlanta Destinations to Visit With Your Grandchildren

Four Fantastic Atlanta Destinations to Visit With Your Grandchildren

If you had just 4 days to spend in Atlanta with your grandchildren or children what would you do? We recently took  our granddaughter and even though I lived there many years ago, I wasn’t sure what she would enjoy doing.

I still have friends who live in the area and they were able to offer some suggestions. I also talked with some of the nice folks who worked at the hotel where we stayed (Downtown Hyatt) and then I looked online. I came up with a plan that I thought would entertain my granddaughter but what I didn’t realize was how much fun I would have!

Day One – The Georgia Aquarium

We went on a Monday and it was packed. A lot of schools were out for spring break and their parents must have had the same idea we did.

My tip to make the trip more enjoyable is get there early, at least 30 minutes to an hour before it opens. It was crowded, loud and noisy but we still had a great time. My granddaughter is 12 years old and will soon be 13 so I worried it might not be “cool” enough for her. I was definitely wrong. Kids of all ages were there and everyone I saw was having a great time. I’m way past 13 and I thought it was “cool.”

I’ve been to other aquariums and none of them compare. The Sea Lion show was fantastic and the Dolphin performance phenomenal. Even if all you did was sit in the room filled with huge glass walls and watch the fish you would still find yourself mesmerized.

This is my granddaughter at the aquarium. Here’s another tip for you. Buy your tickets online in advance. Our two tickets were 87 dollars. If you buy in advance they are much cheaper and you don’t have to wait in long lines!

Also, lunch and drinks are expensive. If you can plan to eat somewhere else, do so. The food was adequate but not the best. I had a salad (more about that later).

The Coca Cola Museum

Tip-Get there early to avoid the crowds. Tickets are about 17 per person which is much cheaper than the Aquarium.

I don’t think our granddaughter knew what to expect when we went into the museum. She knew it was about Coke, of course, but she didn’t know the importance of the secret recipe, who invented it and how the recipe is kept locked safely away in a huge fault.

Every room was filled with information and trivia. I loved reading all the signs and could have spent much longer than the two hours they tell you it takes to go through the museum….if I had felt better.  Remember the salad I mentioned earlier. It was either that or the fish and chips I had for supper that did me in, but I got sick at the museum and spent a lot of time visiting their facilities (which were very nice and clean, I might add).

The Coke Museum was a lot of fun and worth the price. We were allowed to make pictures and there was a lot of interactive things for children to do. 

Up, Up and Away

We live in a very small town and Atlanta is BIG. One of the the things my granddaughter enjoyed most was our hotel, The Hyatt. She loves elevators and escalators, which are rare in southern rural towns.

So I decided to take her to see a REAL elevator. We walked down the street to the Peachtree Plaza Westin and took the glass elevator up to the observation tower. It’s supposed to cost 8 dollars but we were there super early and there weren’t many people around so the guy let us go up free. We had the whole observation deck to our selves and the sky was clear. We had a gorgeous view of Atlanta.

After we got over the “Oh My Goodness!” feeling of the elevator we walked around the observation tower and looked at every side of Atlanta. It was gorgeous and a priceless moment with my granddaughter as we discussed the different buildings, the architecture, which ones we liked the best, etc.

 From 72 stories up cars and people look pretty tiny.

The observation tower is only one floor above the restaurant. It was so early no one was around and I dreamed about eating there that night. It didn’t work out but maybe next time! The restaurant sure was beautiful. I can only imagine the view from up there at night.

Did I mention this activity was free? And that we got to see all of Atlanta from 72 stories up. The granddaughter was impressed so I was happy.

Stone Mountain

When we lived in Atlanta during the late 70’s I always intended to go visit, but never did. I don’t know what it was like back then but now it’s a very fun place to take kids. We rode a train around the mountain and learned some of the history.

We walked around the base of the mountain and looked at the carving. I can’t carve a turkey so it doesn’t take much to impress me. I can’t imagine that carving this was very easy. To read about the size and the difficulty of the carving click here. 

There were lots of stores and places to eat. They also have campgrounds, hiking trails and a hotel on the mountain. It was a great place for kids of all ages because there were so many choices of things to do.

We got to see a pretty cool dog show while we were there. We are dog lovers so that was fun.

If I had known in advance I would have purchased a City Pass. So my biggest money saving tip is to do what I did not do….buy one. Click here to read more about it.

We had so much fun and I would love to do it again sometime.

What was my favorite part of the trip?

Spending time with this girl!

Take your kids or grandchildren to these Four Fantastic Atlanta Destinations! They will love it and so will you!

#HyattRegency #PeachtreeWestin #GeorgiaAquarium #CocaColaMuseum #StoneMountain

This is a Blog Hop and I would love for you to link up and leave a comment. Have you ever been to Atlanta?