The 8 Best Free Things To Do In Atlanta For Family-Friendly Fun

Atlanta can get costly shortly whenever you begin factoring in museum tickets, aquarium admission, sports activities outings, and restaurant stops. However, households do not should keep away from town’s high neighborhoods to maintain a visit inexpensive. In reality, a few of Atlanta’s finest family-friendly experiences are outdoor, self-guided, or tucked inside public areas the place the one actual price is parking, snacks, or transit.

We narrowed down an inventory of eight of the perfect free issues to do in Atlanta that work particularly nicely for vacationers with youngsters, from splash pads and playgrounds to an indoor science middle for decent or wet days. To try this, we relied on insights from Atlanta natives (together with the writer herself), traveler suggestions from trusted websites like Tripadvisor, and city- and state-focused tourism boards.

There are choices obtainable for visits all year long, whether or not you are coming within the warmth of summer season or planning your keep round fall festivals or vacation mild exhibits. Travelers ought to at all times examine present hours on official web sites, pack water for the out of doors adventures, and use Atlanta’s public transit, MARTA, to avoid wasting on transportation and keep away from visitors. Together, these spots can fill a full Atlanta weekend with out shelling out money for attraction tickets at each cease.

Centennial Olympic Park, one in every of Atlanta’s finest parks for out of doors enjoyable, was constructed for the 1996 Summer Olympics and is a favourite native spot. One Tripadvisor reviewer wrote, “There are a few different areas with play structures for different age kids and it’s easy to access a few different museums in walking distance, even for toddlers little legs.” Kids normally head straight for the Fountain of Rings, an open space with water exhibits. Everyone is welcome within the water, so deliver a towel. The Olympic rings sculpture can be a high spot for images.

Piedmont Park offers households room to unfold out in Midtown, with open grassy areas, strolling paths, picnic spots, and skyline views. For youthful youngsters, find time for Noguchi Playscape close to the twelfth Street Gate. Designed by artist Isamu Noguchi, it is the only playground of his that was completed whereas he was nonetheless residing. And whereas not free, there’s additionally an aquatic middle with a pool and splash pad within the park that is solely $5 for a day cross. Families with out wheels of their very own may also lease bikes by means of Relay Bike Share.

This large greenspace is town’s largest, changing what was a quarry with a reservoir, miles of trails, and a pure ecosystem. Located in Grove Park, Shirley Clarke Franklin Park has playgrounds, grassy fields, and picnic areas for household enjoyable. TV collection like “The Walking Dead” and “Stranger Things” have been shot right here, and there are fascinating artwork installations to take a look at, from the dinosaur ribcage sculpture on the entrance to “The Birth of Atlanta.” The park expects extra options to be added sooner or later, together with a motorcycle park with a abilities course.

For households who need historical past with out paying for a museum ticket, Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park is a spot the place guests can be taught extra concerning the civil rights chief, from visiting his childhood residence to seeing Ebenezer Baptist Church, the place he was a co-pastor. Free excursions of King’s start residence are first-come, first-served, so examine the calendar for scheduling, and arrive early earlier than the slots replenish. Beyond the guided excursions, there are monuments, a memorial rose backyard, and historic exhibitions to go to all through the park.

The free-to-visit Fernbank Science Center incorporates a 9,000-square-foot exhibit corridor with the Apollo 6 house capsule, animals, a robotics lab, and extra. There’s additionally an observatory providing free viewings within the evenings (if the sky is obvious). The planetarium prices further, so households can hold the go to free by sticking to the exhibit corridor and grounds. Don’t confuse this with the ticketed Fernbank Museum, which is one other family-friendly Atlanta attraction. However, it is solely 5 minutes away, so households with extra wiggle room within the price range could make a day of it and go to each.

For households with toddlers and preschoolers, The Woodruff Arts Center’s PNC PlaySpace payments itself as an “experiential learning space” the place youngsters can transfer round freely, have interaction their imaginations, and luxuriate in interactive performances. Some examples of what households can anticipate embrace Bossa Nova Baby, a sensory exhibition themed across the Amazon rainforest, in addition to musical, dance, and studying actions. It’s additionally conveniently positioned in Midtown, one in every of Atlanta’s most walkable districts, close to ticketed Atlanta sights such because the High Museum of Art and the Alliance Theatre.

Woodruff Park presents a downtown breather when households want one thing easy between greater stops. There are locations to loosen up, a “Water Wall,” a kids’s play space, and eating places close by. During {the summertime}, the park’s free Game Cart shares board video games, garden video games, sports activities gear, sidewalk chalk, coloring books, and classics like cornhole. Nearby, the park’s ATL playground has climbing partitions, monkey bars, and slides that give youthful guests a spot to burn off extra vitality. The park additionally hosts free occasions sometimes, like film nights and artwork exhibitions.