City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 767 Clifton Rd. NE
62. Fernbank Science Center
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (678) 874-7100, (678) 874-7102
Address: 156 Heaton Park Dr. NE
Description: Each weekend the center offers special planetarium shows with terminology and photos geared toward kids. Times are Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $2 for all ages.
63. Georgia Aquarium
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 581-4000
Address: 225 Baker St. NE
Description: It should be noted that the world’s largest aquarium pays special attention to kids. It features extensive educational programs and offers special camps during the summer as well as during school breaks. Among them, Camp H2O, which explores sharks, the tropics, and “Spineless Wonders,” to name a few. Instructor-led programs are designed for all age groups, starting with preschoolers, and take the kids behind the scenes to hands-on experiences designed to help them understand the aquarium’s creatures and appreciate the need to protect them. Prices vary depending on the experience, so check the aquarium’s website under “education” for details. The Georgia Aquarium also offers family “sleepovers.”
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 275 Centennial Olympic Park Dr.
65. Southeastern Railway Museum
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 476-2013
Address: 3595 Peachtree Rd.
Description: All kids think trains are cool, and the place to give them their fill is the Southeastern Railway Museum. These trains are no toys: The 30-acre outdoor museum has full-size steam and diesel locomotives, Pullman cars, coaches, an Army cooking car, and even an old Jim Crow car to show what life was like when the railroads were segregated. The Pullman car is the one that took President Warren G. Harding to his ill-fated West Coast trip and brought back his coffin after he died in San Francisco.
66. The Wren’s Nest
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 753-7735
Address: 1050 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. SW
Description: Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus tales, lived in this Victorian home. In keeping with his tradition of telling folktales, the home hosts Saturday storytelling. Story hours may vary depending on attendance; call to verify times. Story-times are covered by the admission charge. Local storytellers are featured. There’s also a museum shop with lots of Uncle Remus books and gifts. See our Attractions chapter for hours and admission prices.
67. Atlanta Botanical Garden
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 876-5859
Address: 1345 Piedmont Ave. NE
Description: The $3 million Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Children’s Garden opened in September 1999, with a health and wellness theme and a freestanding Woodland Tree House. Besides learning how plants help people grow, the small-scale interactive garden also is fun. The Atlanta Botanical Garden offers day camps in the spring, summer, and fall; drop-in kids’ classes for children and their families; a preschoolers’ activity program called Young Sprouts; and Saturday morning amphitheater programs. A children’s calendar of events is available online.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 9135 Willeo Rd.
69. Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 484-3060
Address: 3787 Klondike Rd.
Description: This nature preserve is open to the public every day from 7 a.m. until dark. Admission is free. Featuring 535 acres of natural area, a gigantic rock outcropping (similar to Stone Mountain), an abandoned rock quarry, and a lake; the preserve offers a variety of hiking and fishing opportunities. School and private groups can tour the area by appointment and learn about the endangered plant species that thrive there. Kids can also explore the life cycles of amphibians by observing the resident salamander population. A house on the grounds has been converted to a nature center for live animals.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 5343 Roberts Dr.
71. Noah’s Ark Rehabilitation Center Inc.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 957-0888
Address: 712 LG-Griffin Rd.
Description: This outdoor wildlife rehabilitation center has all kinds of exotic animals: cougars, tigers, bears, wolves, monkeys, baboons, iguanas, and jungle birds. The Ark also accepts injured, orphaned, and unwanted wildlife. Among the farm animals it has taken in are a pasture full of horses as well as cows, sheep, goats, and pigs. The Ark is open noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday for self-guided tours. Guided tours are only by appointment. No tours are conducted when it rains or if the Ark is hosting a special event; it’s best to call ahead to make sure they are open. Noah’s Ark is a nonprofit organization supported entirely by donations. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. The Ark is about 40 miles south of downtown Atlanta.
72. Outdoor Activity Center
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 752-5385
Address: 1442 Richland Rd. SW
Description: Three miles southwest of downtown Atlanta, the Outdoor Activity Center is a 26-acre nature preserve with a hardwood urban forest, an interpretive center, a tree-house classroom, a 650-gallon freshwater aquarium, picnic tables, and Naturescape, an ecological layscape. The center hosts tours and programs for grades kindergarten through 12, covering such topics as Tree Treasures, Urban Wildlife, Reptile Riches, Animals in Winter, and Footprints of the Past, a program celebrating American Indian culture. The center is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
73. W. H. Reynolds Memorial Nature Preserve
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 603-4188
Address: 5665 Reynolds Rd.
Description: About 4 miles of walking paths, ponds, springs, a wheelchair-accessible native plants trail, a compost demonstration site, and a heritage garden are among the many pleasures this preserve has to offer. An indoor nature center teaches kids about various flora and fauna. The nature center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 4525 Highway 78
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions