What to do on an Atlanta layover

Every plan below starts and ends at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The times in town assume about 1 hour 45 minutes from landing to sitting on a MARTA train, for the border, your bags and the free shuttle to the Domestic Terminal, and that you’re back 90 minutes before departure with your onward boarding pass. With a bag still to drop or a check-in still to do, give yourself more time.

Before anything else, check that your passport lets you leave the airport: almost everyone needs an ESTA or a US visa, arranged before they fly. Then check the day. The National Center for Civil and Human Rights is closed on Mondays and opens at noon on Sundays, the College Football Hall of Fame is closed on Tuesdays, and on Thanksgiving Day (26 November) and Christmas Day World of Coca-Cola, the civil rights museum and Dr King’s national historical park are closed.

Few sights publish walking times from the stations, so the walks and visit lengths below are our allowances.

6 to 7 hours: Centennial Olympic Park

You’ll have about an hour in town on a 6-hour layover and about 2 hours on a 7-hour one.

Centennial Olympic Park

The park built for the 1996 Olympic Games, with fountains and lawns in the middle of downtown. It’s the easiest plan when time is short: free, nothing to book, and open every day from 7am to 10pm.

1. Take the shuttle to the Domestic Terminal, then any MARTA train to Peachtree Center, 18 minutes.
2. Walk about 15 minutes west to Centennial Olympic Park.
3. Spend half an hour in the park. World of Coca-Cola, the Georgia Aquarium and the civil rights museum stand just north of it, so you’ll see them from outside.
4. Walk back to Peachtree Center, leaving the park about 3 hours before your flight.

Opening hours. The park’s visitor information centre is open from 9am to 4pm, if you want a map or directions.

Bags. There’s nowhere to leave a bag in the park and no left-luggage service listed at the airport, so this plan suits hand luggage only.

7 to 8.5 hours: one museum, or Dr King’s neighbourhood

You’ll have about 2 hours in town on a 7-hour layover and about 3.5 on an 8.5-hour one: enough for one museum, or the walk around Sweet Auburn.

National Center for Civil and Human Rights

A museum of the American civil rights movement and of human rights today, beside Centennial Olympic Park. It needs a layover of about 7 hours, which leaves about 2 hours in town.

1. Take the shuttle and any MARTA train to Civic Center, 19 minutes.
2. Walk about 8 minutes to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and give it about 90 minutes.
3. Walk back to Civic Center, leaving the museum about 3 hours before your flight.

Pick your day. It’s open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm, and closed on Mondays, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. A landing before about 7:30am means waiting for it to open on a weekday, and before about 9:30am on a Sunday. On a Monday, take the park or World of Coca-Cola instead.

Tickets. A timed adult ticket costs US$26 plus tax, and an anytime ticket US$28 plus tax (seen November 2026). Backpacks are allowed, but there’s no storage.

World of Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola company’s own museum of its history and its drinks, just north of Centennial Olympic Park. It needs a layover of about 7.5 hours, which leaves about 2.5 hours in town.

1. Take the shuttle and any MARTA train to Peachtree Center, 18 minutes.
2. Walk about 20 minutes to World of Coca-Cola. Visitors usually spend 1.5 to 2 hours; allow 90 minutes.
3. Walk back to Peachtree Center, leaving the museum about 3 hours 5 minutes before your flight.

Tickets. Adults pay US$24.95 to US$27.95, depending on the date (seen November 2026). Buy online for your day: you can arrive at any time it’s open, and online sales stop an hour before closing. Everyone goes through a security check at the entrance.

Opening hours. It opens at 10am every day and closes at 5pm or 6pm on most days in November and December, later on a few around the holidays. It’s closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Centennial Olympic Park and World of Coca-Cola

The two side by side, for a layover of about 8 hours: a walk in the park first, then the museum.

1. MARTA to Peachtree Center, then walk about 15 minutes to Centennial Olympic Park and spend half an hour there.
2. Walk a few minutes to World of Coca-Cola and give it about 90 minutes.
3. Walk back to Peachtree Center, about 20 minutes, leaving the museum about 3 hours 5 minutes before your flight.

With children. Youth tickets for ages 3 to 12 cost US$20.95 to US$23.95 (seen November 2026), and the park’s fountains are a good place to let them run first.

Sweet Auburn and the MLK park by Streetcar

The neighbourhood where Martin Luther King Jr. was born and preached, now the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, and free to visit. It needs a layover of about 7.5 hours, which leaves about 2.5 hours in town.

1. MARTA to Peachtree Center, 18 minutes.
2. Walk to the Peachtree Center stop of the Atlanta Streetcar and ride it east to the King Historic District stop: US$1 each way, paid separately from MARTA. Allow about 35 minutes from the station.
3. Spend about 75 minutes at the park’s Visitor Center, Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr King preached, and Freedom Hall. The Birth Home is closed for renovation.
4. Streetcar back to Peachtree Center, leaving the park about 3 hours 20 minutes before your flight.

Opening hours. The Visitor Center, Ebenezer Baptist Church and Freedom Hall are open daily from 9am to 5pm, and closed on 1 January, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Streetcar starts at 6am on weekdays, 8:30am on Saturdays and 9am on Sundays, and runs until 11pm or later.

College Football Hall of Fame

The hall of fame for American college football, a short walk from Centennial Olympic Park, for sport fans. It needs a layover of about 7.5 hours, which leaves about 2.5 hours in town.

1. MARTA to Peachtree Center, 18 minutes.
2. Walk 10 to 15 minutes to the College Football Hall of Fame, and give it about 2 hours.
3. Walk back to Peachtree Center, leaving the museum about 3 hours before your flight.

Pick your day. It’s open Monday and Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm, with the last tickets sold at 4:30pm, and closed on Tuesdays. Adults pay US$38 and children aged 7 to 12 US$27. Bags are searched at the door, and there’s nowhere to store them.

8.5 to 12 hours: the Georgia Aquarium

You’ll have about 3.5 hours in town on an 8.5-hour layover and about 7 on a 12-hour one.

Georgia Aquarium

A big aquarium just north of Centennial Olympic Park, and the best plan with children. It needs a layover of about 8.5 hours, which leaves about 3.5 hours in town.

1. MARTA to Peachtree Center, 18 minutes. The Aquarium’s nearest station is on another line, so Peachtree Center saves a change.
2. Walk about 20 minutes to the Georgia Aquarium, and give it about 2.5 hours.
3. Walk back to Peachtree Center, leaving the Aquarium about 3 hours 5 minutes before your flight.

Tickets. Dated tickets start at US$54.99 on the cheaper days, and an Anytime Ticket costs US$69.99 (seen November 2026); children 2 and under need no ticket. A dated ticket has an entry window: arrive within an hour of it.

Opening hours. It’s open every day of the year from 9am. Closing times vary from day to day, so check the day’s hours on its calendar before you go; entry ends 30 minutes before closing.

Bags. Everyone passes a security check, and self-service lockers cost from US$8 a day, the only place on these plans to leave a bag.

Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola

The two big family sights, next door to each other, for a layover of about 10 hours.

1. MARTA to Peachtree Center, then walk about 20 minutes to World of Coca-Cola and give it about 90 minutes.
2. Walk a few minutes to the Georgia Aquarium for about 2.5 hours.
3. Walk back to Peachtree Center, about 20 minutes, leaving the Aquarium about 3 hours 5 minutes before your flight.

Tickets. Bought separately, the two cost an adult from about US$80 (seen November 2026). Atlanta CityPASS covers both and three more sights for US$106 plus tax, valid for 9 days, so on a layover the two separate tickets cost less.

Which first. The Aquarium opens at 9am and World of Coca-Cola at 10am, so after an early landing, swap the order.

Overnight: sleep near the airport, then Sweet Auburn at 9am

Rest near the airport, then Sweet Auburn at opening

Landing late in the evening? Sleep at an airport hotel, then spend the morning in Dr King’s neighbourhood. Its sites open at 9am, so this suits a departure from about 2:10pm: with a landing by about 10:30pm, a layover of about 16 hours.

1. Clear the border and take the free Terminal-to-Terminal shuttle to the Domestic Terminal, where the hotel shuttles and the SkyTrain leave (see the hotels below).
2. In the morning, ride back to the Domestic Terminal and take MARTA to Peachtree Center. The first train leaves the airport at 4:36am on weekdays and 5:52am at weekends.
3. Take the Streetcar to the King Historic District for 9am, and spend about 75 minutes at the Visitor Center, Ebenezer Baptist Church and Freedom Hall.
4. Streetcar back to Peachtree Center and MARTA to the airport, leaving the park about 3 hours 20 minutes before your flight.

On Sundays the Streetcar starts at 9am, so you’ll reach the park a little after it opens.

24 hours

With a whole day, see the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola in the morning, walk through Centennial Olympic Park, then visit the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in the afternoon, from Tuesday to Sunday. Sleep at one of the airport hotels below, or on a day with a very late flight, spend the evening downtown: the last trains back leave about 1am. A morning in Sweet Auburn fits before an afternoon flight.

Rest at the airport

There’s no transit area at Atlanta: arriving from abroad, you clear the border first, then choose a room after security or a hotel before it.

Minute Suites, after security

Private rooms by the hour inside the secure area, on Concourse B near Gate B24, Concourse E by the atrium and escalators, and Concourse F near Gate F6. Bookings start at one hour, some locations take overnight stays, and only the Concourse E location has showers. Prices aren’t published, so check them when you book.

To reach one, go through security at the International Terminal, open 4:30am to midnight, or the Domestic Terminal’s main checkpoint, open 24 hours, then take the Plane Train or walk to the concourse. Any checkpoint leads to every concourse.

Hotels with airport shuttles, before security

Three Marriott hotels are a short ride from the Domestic Terminal. Arriving at the International Terminal, take the free Terminal-to-Terminal shuttle there first: it runs 24 hours.

• Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel, about a mile away: its shuttle leaves from the Domestic Terminal, Aisle C, stalls C6 to C8.
• Atlanta Airport Marriott: a free shuttle to the Domestic Terminal 24 hours a day. Ask the hotel about pickups at the International Terminal.
• Renaissance Atlanta Airport Gateway, about 2 miles away: reached by the free ATL SkyTrain, a 2-minute ride.

Tips that make an Atlanta layover easier

• Travel light. No left-luggage service is listed at the airport, and of the sights here only the Aquarium has lockers.
• Each traveller taps their own card. MARTA takes contactless bank cards and phones at the gate, US$2.50 a ride, but one card pays for one person.
• Any train will do. Every train leaving the Airport station goes downtown, and every southbound train from downtown ends at the Airport.
• Mind the evening gap. After about 9pm on weekdays, trains to the Airport come every 20 minutes, so leave a little earlier.
• Check the weekday. The civil rights museum is closed on Mondays and the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesdays.