Alitalia Flights from Rome, Italy (FCO) to Atlanta (ATL)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Alitalia, which operates a non-stop flight everyday except Wednesday and Friday from Rome, Italy (FCO) to Atlanta (ATL), regularly scheduled to depart at 10:00am and arrive at 3:35pm. Usually a Boeing 767 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Rome, Italy to Atlanta, GA is 11 hours and 35 minutes.
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Atlanta History Center
The Atlanta History Center chronicles the past of Georgia and the Southeast, as well as the history of Atlanta, with a vast collection of photographs, maps, books, newspaper accounts, furnishings, Civil War artifacts, and decorative arts. It occupies 32 woodland acres, with self-guided walking trails and 5 gardens. Plan to spend the better part of a day here. And call ahead, or inquire on the premises, about lectures, films, festivals, and other events that take place here on a regular basis; activities range from sheep-shearing demonstrations to decorative arts forums. When you call, also check on house-tour times for the day of your visit (house-tours are described below). The Swan Coach House is a delightful restaurant on the premises.Note: House-tour tickets are limited and can only be purchased on the day of your visit. Arrive early to avoid disappointment.Begin your visit at the Atlanta History Museum, where you can buy tickets and get information about historic house tours and other activities. The museum is the single best place to go for a cultural record of the city and the South. The major permanent exhibit, "Metropolitan Frontiers: Atlanta, 1835-2000," traces Atlanta's history from the days of Native Americans and rural pioneer settlements to the present day. Displays, enhanced by hands-on discovery areas and informative videos, feature hundreds of photographs, documents, and artifacts. Included are an entire 1890s shotgun house, a fire engine that was used in Atlanta's great fire of 1917 (when 50 city blocks were ravaged by flames), a rare 1920 Hanson Six touring car; and a model of Atlanta's most complex interstate intersection, known locally as "Spaghetti Junction."Also on the center's grounds is the recently restored Swan House, the 1928 estate of Edward Hamilton Inman, scion of an old Atlanta family. The house and gardens were designed by renowned architect Philip Trammell Shutze and are considered his finest residential work. The formal gardens include terraced lawns and waterfalls, retaining walls with recessed ivy arches, and fountain statuary. Swan House is fronted by a classical colonnaded porte cochére leading to a circular entrance hall with Ionic columns and a dramatic floating stairway. In the entrance hall, you'll notice that the fanlight over the door features a swan, announcing the theme of the house. There is supposed to be at least one swan emblem or decoration in each room -- see if you can find them. The house is interesting not only architecturally, but also for its eclectic contents and furnishings, which comprise a veritable museum of decorative arts. It's a fascinating glimpse into the lifestyle enjoyed by upper-crust Atlantans in the early 20th century.Tullie Smith Farm gives a sense of the life of Georgia's mid-19th-century farmers. A two-story "plantation-plain" house built in the early 1840s, it was brought to Atlanta along with period outbuildings in 1972. This was no Tara-like colonnaded mansion -- just an everyday farmhouse whose occupants lived in rustic simplicity.Costumed docents give tours throughout the day, and there are frequent demonstrations of 19th-century farm activities. In a bedroom with a rope bed and a crib (always occupied by the youngest baby), a docent will demonstrate how to use a spinning wheel. The basket of pomander balls in this room was typical -- the 19th-century answer to today's air fresheners. You'll find weaving demonstrations in the back room. During cooler months, demonstrations of 19th-century hearth cookery take place in the whitewashed kitchen, where herbs hang from the rafters. Additional outbuildings are a barn, corncrib, root cellar, blacksmith shop, and smokehouse. The gardens and grounds are authentic to the period.Leave some time to stroll the gardens, most notably the forested mile-long Swan Woods Trail. It includes plants native to Georgia, plus the Garden for Peace, home to a sculpture by noted Soviet artist Georgi Dzhaparidze and Atlanta artist Hans Godo Frabel.Construction has begun on a new $10 million, 20,000-square-foot addition housing an exhibition about the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. The highly interactive three-level museum is slated to open in 2006 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Atlanta games.
Birth Home of Martin Luther King, Jr
Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in this two-story Queen Anne-style house on January 15, 1929, the oldest son of a Baptist minister and an elementary school music teacher. His childhood was a normal one. He preferred playing baseball to piano lessons, liked to play board games, and got a kick out of tearing the heads off his older sister's dolls (nonviolence came later). To quote his sister, Christine King Farris, "My brother was no saint ordained at birth, instead he was an average and ordinary man, called by . . . God . . . to perform extraordinary deeds."King lived here through the age of 12, then moved with his family to a house a few blocks away. A visit provides many insights into the formative influences on one of the greatest leaders of our time. The Rev. A. D. Williams, King's maternal grandfather and pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, bought the house in 1909. Reverend Williams was active not only in the church, but also in the community and in early manifestations of the civil rights movement. He was a charter member of Atlanta's NAACP and led a series of black registration and voting drives as far back as 1917. He was instrumental in getting black officers onto the Atlanta police force. Martin Luther King, Sr., moved in on Thanksgiving Day, 1926, when he married Williams's daughter Alberta. When Reverend Williams died in 1931, King became head of the household and took over Williams's pulpit at Ebenezer Church.The King family retained ownership of the house at 501 Auburn even after they moved away. King's younger brother, Alfred Daniel, lived here with his family from 1954 to 1963. In 1971, King's mother deeded the home to The King Center. It has since been restored to its appearance during the years of King's boyhood. The furnishings are all originals or period reproductions, and some personal items belonging to the family are on display. Christine was actively involved in the restoration, providing a wealth of detail about the former appearance of the house, as well as anecdotal material about life in the King family.Tours of the house, conducted by National Park rangers, begin in the downstairs parlor, where you'll see family photographs showing Martin Luther as a child. The parlor was used for choir practice, for the dreaded piano lessons, and as a rec room where the family gathered around the radio to listen to shows like "The Shadow." In the dining room, world events were regularly discussed over meals, and every Sunday, before dinner, each child was required to recite a newly learned Bible verse from memory. You'll also see the coal cellar (stoking coal was one of King's childhood chores); the children's play area; the upstairs bedroom of King's parents in which Christine, King, and Alfred Daniel were born; Reverend Williams's den, where the family gathered for nightly Bible study; the bedroom King shared with his brother ("always in disarray," says Christine); and Christine's bedroom.Note: In summer, especially, tickets often run out early; for your best chance at touring the home, arrive at 9am.
Atlanta College of Art Gallery
The Atlanta College of Art, housed in the Woodruff Arts Center complex, features an ongoing series of fine art shows. A recent example: Light Over Ancient Angkor, a photo exhibition of the ruins of the Cambodian city of Angkor. In addition to visiting shows, there are faculty exhibitions, juried student shows, lectures, and concerts here. Call to see what's on when you're in town.
Doubletree Hotel Atlanta-Buckhead
Located within the Tower Place complex and designed with the business traveler in mind, this is also a good choice for pleasure travelers, since it's so convenient to Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza. You'll be welcomed with Doubletree's signature freshly baked chocolate chip cookies before you go up to your comfortable guest room, outfitted with an ergonomic work center boasting a large desk. All standard rooms have rich marble bathrooms and an armchair with an ottoman -- perfect for putting your feet up after you've shopped, explored, or worked all day. The large rooms with king-size beds are especially desirable. Suites offer parlor rooms with spacious sitting areas, leather couches, and a full dining room ensemble for eight.Facilities: Restaurant; free use of nearby fitness center which offers exercise equipment, massage, steam, sauna, aerobics classes, childcare, basketball/racquetball courts, indoor track, and more; airport shuttle; free courtesy van within a 2-mile radius; limited room service.
Howard Johnson Plaza Suites at Underground Atlanta
If huge, convention-oriented hotels turn you off, check out the Howard Johnson Plaza Suites. This 16-story hotel was originally a 1918 office building to which 10 stories were added in 1990. The style is elegant and understated, attracting a clientele that prefers the intimacy of a European-style hotel. Each suite has a small living room, a separate bedroom, and a marble bathroom, some with Jacuzzis. Many of the rooms have views of the downtown skyline, and all are elegantly appointed with solid cherry furniture and modern prints.The hotel is on the top level of Underground Atlanta, within walking distance of the downtown business area and close to the main MARTA station, where all the lines converge, making it easy to travel to Midtown, Buckhead, and the airport. Seven rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities.
Westin Buckhead Atlanta
If the Ritz-Carlton is the Rolls Royce of Atlanta hotels, the Westin is the Ferrari. Its fresh Euromodern design makes it a favorite among trendsetters visiting the city, and its excellent location -- in the heart of Buckhead between Lenox Square and the Atlanta Financial Center -- makes it a top choice among business travelers and serious shoppers.Formerly the Zurich-based Swissôtel, the Westin Buckhead boasts postmodern European architecture, including a pristine white-tile exterior with a graceful curve. Interior spaces use minimalist Bauhaus design elements, and feature original works by renowned contemporary artists including Warhol, Rauschenberg, Chagall, Schnabel, and Stella.Rooms are sleekly furnished with Beidermeier-style maple pieces with black lacquer accents, oversize desks with plug-ins for laptop computers, and ergonomic chairs. Westin's signature Heavenly Beds are so cushy you might miss breakfast. Marble bathrooms offer cosmetic mirrors, TV speakers, hair dryers, and upscale, biodegradable toiletries. The corner king rooms are especially luxurious. Nineteen rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities. Pets are allowed at no charge and receive special pet amenities.The superb Palm restaurant offers one of the best lobster dinners in town.Facilities: Restaurant; indoor lap pool; a small but nicely equipped health club offering exercise equipment, a sauna, a steam room, and a personal trainer; spa; concierge; complimentary shuttle to any destination in a 2-mile radius; airport shuttle; business center; unisex salon; 24-hr. room service; massage.
