Boutique hotels
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Stonehurst Place
- Style
- Southern B&B belle
- Setting
- Princely Piedmont Park
Atlanta Overview
Georgia
- Cityscape
- Park-lined Georgia peach
- City life
- Finger-lickin’ good
This balmy southern belle is Georgia’s first city, a place serenaded with the sounds of jazz and washed down with the city's favourite invention – Coca-Cola…
Atlanta has a few claims to fame: its contributions to the modern society span Coke, Gone with the Wind and Martin Luther King Jr. Despite its rapid expansion over the last 20 years, it’s a pretty city covered in greenery within the Perimeter, the circular freeway enclosing it. The population grows and the city spreads, but the new builds sit comfortably alongside the elegant old homes of 19th century. Cars are pretty much obligatory for hopping around the varied and vibrant neighbourhoods. For Martin Luther memory-hunting, hit Sweet Auburn; for boutique browsing and café lingering, Virginia Highland’s series of villages will do the trick; luxury awaits in Buckhead, and Downtown is a hub of commercial activity by day, if a little shadier by night. Atlanta's lively gay scene centres on the picnickers' paradise of Piedmont Park in Midtown. Oh, and there are probably more streets named after the peach tree than anywhere else in the world – which doesn't help navigation.
Absolutely Atlanta
Atlanta is the capital of Georgia, the Peach State that produces the tastiest variations of the fuzziest fruits around, and has done since the 1870s. The local peaches have even had a cocktail named after them – the Georgia Peach is a mix of Southern Comfort and peach schnapps. The term has also passed into modern vernacular: a Georgia Peach is some serious eye candy.
Local Knowledge
- Taxis
- Taxis aren’t easily flagged and pre-booked cabs have a reputation for showing up late. Try your luck with Atlanta Checker Cab (+1 404 351 1111).
- Tipping culture
- Around 20 per cent is standard for restaurants; a dollar extra won't go amiss in bars, and don't forget a little something for housekeeping.
- Siesta and fiesta
- Malls stay open until 9pm, Monday to Saturday. Shops shut early on Sundays, usually by 5.30pm.
- Packing tips
- A map to navigate the endless roads which suddenly switch names; in-line skates to wear while whizzing around the parks.
- Recommended reads
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell; The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
- Cuisine
- This is a place where anything that can be is fried, notably chicken, which comes coated in breadcrumbs and the Colonel’s favourite herbs. Collard greens add vitamin content to the cuisine, often served with bacon or hog jowl, or in pot liquor soup. Cornbread is another Southern classic, sometimes crumbled into cold buttermilk. Peach cobbler, a fruity, dough-based pie, is a predictably popular pudding.
- Currency
- US Dollar ($).
- Time zone
- GMT -5 hours.
- Dialling codes
- US country code: +1; area codes for Atlanta: 404, 678 and 770.
- Do go/don't go
- Atlanta is a southern city and has the climate to match. Summers (May to September) are air-con-demandingly hot and humid; the rest of the year is mild, though it does get nippy in December, January and February. March is when it’s most likely to rain.
Don't go home without...
…trying frill-free fast food at its finest. Classic ’50s diner Varsity has been an Atlanta institution with damn-good ’dogs and fried pies since 1928.
