Tourists Visiting Atlanta Can Explore The City With This Fun Outdoor Activity

Atlanta may be known for its civil rights history, global music scene, and having the world's busiest airport, but did you know it's also a leader in sustainability? Living up to its nickname, the City in the Forest, around 46% of Atlanta is covered with a tree canopy, and it's full of parks, gardens, and unexpected spots just waiting to be discovered. One of the best and, of course, eco-friendly ways to explore these green spaces is by bike, with a network of trails found all over the city. Whether you're a tourist visiting Atlanta for the first time, or a local eager to discover what lies beyond your front door, taking a bike tour of Atlanta provides the perfect solution.

Cycling allows you to explore whole neighborhoods without the time and distance constraints of walking. It's flexible, accessible, and gives you more freedom than if you were stuck on a sightseeing bus. It's also a highly sensory experience, allowing you to take in all the interesting sights, sounds, and smells surrounding you. On a guided bike tour, you'll have a local expert who can take you down streets, alleys, and paths that you may not have even considered visiting yourself. Pick up little snippets of information, learn more about the city's history, and even leave with a few recommendations for some top places to eat. It also gives you the opportunity to meet new people, and while you're busy enjoying yourself, you're burning off those calories too.

While there's no shortage of bicycle tour companies, Bicycle Tours of Atlanta stands out for its choice of tours and for being one of the top-rated activities on Tripadvisor. Its tours cover many of Atlanta's top things to see, including important civil rights locations and the street art scene. Its signature Fall in Love with Atlanta bike tour takes you on an 8-mile exploration of the city's past to discover Civil War sites, Atlanta's oldest cemetery, and introduce you to a few out-of-the-way local sites. One appreciative reviewer on Tripadvisor said, "The bike tour was a fun way to wrap up our trip to Atlanta ... we really learned so much and saw a side of Atlanta that was like a hidden treasure." The two and a half hour tour costs $75, or you can choose an e-bike for an extra $25. Water and snacks are included.

For the same price, the Atlanta's Journey for Civil Rights bike tour is slightly longer and takes you on a three-hour journey through Reynoldstown and other important historical sites while you learn about the birth of the Civil Rights movement. On the Atlanta Street Art & Mural bicycle tour, you'll get up close to the creative side of the city with guide Troy Lynch as he shares the meaning and context behind the colorful urban artwork. While these tours provide a fun way to meet new people, the bicycle tour company also organizes private tours, accommodating from one person up to 50.

If you prefer organizing your own self-guided cycling tour around Atlanta, there's a huge network of trails within the city, as well as longer routes further out for a more challenging ride. To stay local, consider renting a bike and taking the Atlanta Beltline. Designed as a 22-mile loop along former railway tracks and connecting 45 neighborhoods, the Beltline offers several trail sections to choose from, with more being developed. The Beltline has plenty of shops and restaurants along the way, and if you take the popular Eastside Trail, you'll discover Piedmont Park, one of the city's biggest green spaces. To rent a bike along the Beltline, head to the Atlanta Bike Barn on Sampson Street, just off the Eastside Beltline. It has standard bikes at $10 per hour, or e-bikes for $25 per hour, if you don't fancy tackling the hills.

For a pleasant longer ride, try the 19-mile Stone Mountain Trail from Centennial Olympic Park to the nearby family-friendly Stone Mountain park. Built by the PATH Foundation, the nonprofit organization that has created hundreds of trails throughout Georgia, it follows road sections through residential neighborhoods before changing into tree-lined greenways through Clarkston. It then continues on to the picturesque Stone Mountain Village. It's an ideal day trip for couples or families, with tandem bikes and trailers also available to rent at Bike Barn. Serious cyclists might want to head 13 miles beyond the city limits to tackle the 61-mile Silver Comet Trail, which passes through Cobb, Paulding, and Polk counties before reaching the Georgia/Alabama state line near Cedartown.