Atlanta, Georgia - Getting There

Get in

By plane

Atlanta's principal airport is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport [1], situated approximately 8 miles south of downtown Atlanta.

Hartsfield is largely set up as a hub airport for Delta Air Lines, with much of its traffic being transfer rather than arrival or departure traffic. The airport has a single groundside terminal, connected to 5 mid-airport concourses by underground walkways and rail transit. The concourse furthest from the terminal (concourse E) is dedicated to international flights and all immigration and customs formalities are conducted there. Passengers arriving from overseas will need to clear immigration controls, reclaim hold baggage from a baggage carousel, clear customs, check hold baggage back in, ride the underground transit to the main terminal, reclaim hold baggage again from another carousel, and finally exit the airport.

The airport offers a full range of ground transportation services, including taxicabs, airport shuttle vans, and car rental offices.

Hartsfield airport is also the terminus of the southern branch of the MARTA rail system (see 'Get Around' below), and for travellers going to locations in downtown, midtown or northern Atlanta this forms a convenient, and at $1.75 per one-way ticket, economic way of getting there. Most MARTA stations have taxi stations to aid completion of the journey, and some hotels have free shuttles which will collect from either the airport or nearest MARTA station on telephone request.

The Parking Spot [2] provides covered and uncovered parking near Hartsfield Airport with two separate lots, The Parking Spot and The Parking Spot 2.

By train

Atlanta is served by Amtrak [3] 1-800-872-7245. Amtrak's Crescent train runs daily and serves New York (city)|New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C.|Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham (Alabama)|Birmingham and New Orleans (and vice-versa). Southbound, the train leaves New York just before 3PM, calls at Atlanta at around 9AM and reaches New Orleans by 8PM. Northbound, the train leaves New Orleans at around 7AM, calls at Atlanta at around 8PM and reaches New York by 2PM.

In Atlanta, the Amtrak station is located at 1688 Peachtree St. N.W., which is several miles north of the airport and downtown. MARTA Bus route 23 stops in front of the station. However, because much of the city is not accessible by MARTA, a taxi may be required to complete the journey.

By bus

Greyhound Bus Lines [4], 1-800-229-9424, provides bus service to Atlanta from many locations throughout the United States. Buses arrive at and depart from the Greyhound terminal at 232 Forsyth Street, located in a less affluent neighborhood on the southern edge of the downtown area and directly beneath MARTA's Garnett Station (see 'Get Around' below).

By car

Atlanta is linked to the rest of the US by the interstate highway network. The principal interstates serving the city are I-75 (serving traffic from Detroit to Florida), I-85 (connecting the Mid-Atlantic to New Orleans) and I-20 (connecting California and Texas to South Carolina), all of which cross through Downtown.

I-285 (commonly called the Perimeter by Atlantans, and the Atlanta Bypass on overhead signs) circles the city at a distance of about 10 miles out, crossing and connecting with all the above freeways as well as the airport.