If you're coming for pleasure, stay in the Midtown area for the best access to the city's museums, theaters, restaurants, and leafy older neighborhoods. Piedmont Park, in the heart of Midtown, is the oldest and largest park in Atlanta. This green oasis with its lakes and running trails backs up to the beautiful Atlanta Botanical Gardens and the Virginia-Highland neighborhood, which is full of unique shops and great restaurants. Historic bed and breakfast inns, as well as new hotels, make Midtown an appealing area in which to stay. Spring triggers masses of pink and white blooms on the city's famous dogwoods and azaleas.
Summers are hot and humid, and air quality suffers.
Autumn is pleasant, and a good time to take a day trip up to north Georgia to see fall colors on the mountainsides. Note that Peachtree Street, Atlanta's major street which runs from downtown north through Midtown, changes its name to Peachtree Road as it goes even farther north into Buckhead. Find out how to get around metropolitan Atlanta via public transportation. Freelance writer Ann Bieri lived in Atlanta's Virginia-Highland neighborhood for eight years. Inc. All rights reserved.