If you’re heading to the Masters, the gateway city is Atlanta, the Georgian state capital, home of Martin Luther King Jr, Coca-Cola, Gone with the Wind, the 1996 Olympics, 2021 World Series’ winners Atlanta Braves and an awful lot of golf fans. Karl Cushing tells you what you need to know...

Atlanta, like the state it sits in, is a peach of a destination, a lively microcosm of southern charm and, fortuitously for fans of the Masters, hosted at Georgia’s Augusta National every year, that peach is best enjoyed in spring, right before the pleasing temperatures in the low 20s spiral into a steamy summertime.

For all the headline attractions – the Olympics legacy, Coca-Cola et al – the Peach State’s capital has a powerful backstory too. A majority black enclave, its civic pride bursts through its gastronomy and grand edifices, its role in the civil rights struggle retold in its must-see museums. 

Much of the action centres on Buckhead, a monied northern district home to prime retail and hospitality, while historic neighbourhoods such as Grant Park are all about leafy spaces and impressive Victorian dwellings. This extends to older neighbourhoods, such as West End and Summerhill, founded by formerly enslaved citizens after the Civil War. 

If streets or spaces look familiar, then that’s probably down to Atlanta so often being chosen by film crews, with The Walking Dead among the blockbuster shows to have been filmed there.

Confirming it’s city bucket list status, it made National Geographic’s Best of the World 2022 list and was the only US city to feature on Lonely Planet’s latest Best in Travel list. 

The Masters
Every year, as The Masters anticipation builds, the city fizzes with excitement as visitors swell watering holes such as Downtown’s Park Bar and talk turns to the latest happenings at Augusta.

Even if your ticket doesn’t take you to the final Sunday round, there’s plenty of good places to park yourself for the finale Westside mainstay The Optimist, its ticketed Sunday shebang beginning with an afternoon tournament on its putting green. And, with the right contacts – such as Golf Traveller – you can also get yourself onto one of Atlanta’s super-exclusive private courses. Or, as you're in this neck of the woods, take the five-hour drive to the Donald Ross masterpiece Pinehurst No.2.

The food and drink
Atlanta’s upscale dining can be found around Buckhead, a monied northern district home to prime retail and hospitality, where establishments such as Lucian Books and Wine flavour shishi stretches such as Roswell Road and Peachtree Road. That said, some of the city’s best grazing can be found among the excellent market stalls and food halls such as Municipal Market, Chattachoochee Food Works and Krog Street Market. 

While you’re at it, don’t miss the opportunity to acquaint yourself with some classic Atlantan soul food, from staple dishes such as chicken and dumplings to southern-style sides like grits, cornbread and collard greens. Soul food is a specialty at many a jumping dinner spot such as Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours, or casual brunch and lunch spots such as Ria’s Bluebird, which makes a nice stop on a wander around the leafy, historic Grant Park neighbourhood. 

Local chefs make much of Georgia’s pecan, peanut and, of course, peach crops, with the latter used for the areas famed peach cobbler.

Slow-roast, pit-style barbecued meats are another strength, starring at establishments such as Dave Poe's BBQ and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, while to fully appreciate the excellent local seafood gleaned from the state’s Atlantic coast, from oysters to shrimp and lobster, consider Michelin-starred Bacchanalia, a revered Atlantan restaurant prized for its tasting menus and wine pairings.

Atlanta’s prime hotel stock also features a healthy showing of destination restaurants and rooftop bars. Personal favourites include Westside’s characterful Bellyard Hotel; the fun and funky Hotel Clermont; and last year’s hot opening the Kimpton Sylvan Hotel, in Buckhead. 

Culture 
Atlanta’s deep connections with the civil rights movement remain its biggest cultural draw. The story of this historic struggle, and that of the life and times of local hero Martin Luther King Jr., are proudly retold at venerable establishments such as the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Along with retracing steps on the Martin Luther King Jr Trail, visitors can follow in the footsteps of that other eminent local Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind. Key GWTW stops include the Margaret Mitchell House, her Oakland Cemetery grave and Stately Oaks, an historic antebellum mansion in Jonesboro, with a Gone with the Wind Museum in nearby Marietta.

Atlanta’s arts scene is similarly compelling, centred on laudable establishments such as Atlanta Contemporary and MOCAGA and rounded off by small, independent art galleries, as in Buckhead.

Longstanding boho enclave Little Five Points, meanwhile, offers impressive street art and there are some fine, photogenic murals on display at Johns Creek Tunnel and Underground Atlanta. The latter incorporates Mammal Gallery and live music venue The Masquerade, with Eddie’s Attic being another revered local live music hang out worth considering.

Attractions
One of the best ways to get a quick handle on the city’s attractions, from famous film locations to iconic structures such as Fox Theatre, is to take an organised tour with the likes of Civil Bikes, Atlanta Movie Tours and Unexpected Atlanta, Peachtree Trolley’s 90-minute narrated tours among the more family-friendly options (thepeachtreetrolley.com).

Home to Lenox Square mall, its more upscale neighbour Phipps Plaza and designer names such as Dior, Buckhead remains an obvious choice for retail therapy, with further chic shopping in Virginia Highland. Ponce City Market, reachable via the city’s BeltLine trail, is another Atlanta ‘go to’, fusing independent retail with affordable eats and drinks, with Chinatown Mall, the Latino-centric Plaza Fiesta and New Black Wall Street Market among the noteworthy alternatives.

Nice slices of Americana include World of Coca-Cola, the famous fizz having been first served in the city, and Starlight Six, Atlanta’s sole surviving drive-in cinema (starlightdrivein.com). Other notable distractions include the new interactive Illuminarium; Six Flags Over Georgia theme park, in nearby Austell; and Georgia Aquarium where visitors can snorkel with whale sharks.

Green spaces
Affectionately dubbed ‘City in a Forest’, Atlanta is further blessed with some glorious open spaces such as Grant Park,the Botanical Garden and Westside Park, its preeminent green lung. Piedmont Park hosts regular outdoor events while Centennial Olympic Park serves as a reminder of the time the city hosted the summer Olympic Games in 1996. 

Better still, grab a bike and strike out along that 22-mile BeltLine, formerly a local railway, or trace the beatific East and West Palisades Trails along the gloriously green banks of the Chattahoochee River where bamboo forests tower over visitors, much as the city itself towers above its southern rivals.

The Masters

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