Delta Airlines Flights from Toronto, Canada (YYZ) to Atlanta (ATL)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Delta Airlines, which operates 3 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Toronto, Canada (YYZ) to Atlanta (ATL), departing between 6:25am and 12:55pm, and 4 additional non-stop flights, departing between 9:59am and 5:30pm on select days of the week. The average travel time from Toronto, Canada to Atlanta, GA is 2 hours and 25 minutes.
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Underground Atlanta
In 1969, a group of Atlanta businesspeople decided to create an underground entertainment complex of restaurants, shops, and bars in the historic hub of the city, centered on the Zero Milepost that marked the terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad in the 1800s. The area had flourished until the early 1900s, until it became so congested that permanent concrete viaducts were constructed over it, elevating the street system and routing traffic over a maze of railroad tracks. Merchants moved their operations up to the new level, using the lower level for storage space. For most of the 20th century, it remained a deserted catacomb.The 1969 entertainment development idea was great, but unfortunately the complex declined and closed after a little over a decade. In 1989 -- after a public-private infusion of $142 million -- a larger, livelier Underground reopened to much fanfare, becoming once again an entertainment mecca and urban marketplace. Local civic leaders pinned their hopes for downtown revival on the complex, and for some time it looked as if the concept would work. But, beset by lease disputes, financial problems, and changes of management, Underground has failed to sustain its early promise, although the most recent management company may be making some progress. Occupying 12 acres in the center of downtown, Underground Atlanta sports oscillating searchlights emanating from a 138-foot light tower, an outdoor staging area used for performances and concerts, and the cascading waters of Peachtree Fountain Plaza. Underground offers nearly 100 retail operations and restaurants, many of them national chains. Markers throughout the complex indicate historic sites. Their origins are fascinating, so be sure to pick up an information sheet at the visitors booth and take your own self-guided tour. Humbug Square -- where street vendors and con artists flourished in the early 1900s -- has a colorful market with turn-of-the-century pushcarts and wagons displaying offbeat wares. The complex is still worth a look if you're in the downtown area, but keep in mind that it's mostly a tourist attraction at this point. It's still struggling to find its place in the urban mix, perhaps because locals prefer the shopping and entertainment areas in Buckhead and Virginia-Highland.The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau (tel. 404/222-6688) operates its most comprehensive center in Underground Atlanta, at 65 Upper Alabama St. Open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm, and Sunday noon to 6pm, it includes displays and interactive exhibits depicting the city's rich history. There's also AtlanTIX!, a ticket booth where visitors can purchase day-of-show half-price tickets to theater, dance events, and other live performances throughout the metro area.
Georgia's Stone Mountain Park
A monolithic gray granite outcropping (the world's largest) carved with a massive monument to the Confederacy, Stone Mountain is a distinctive landmark on Atlanta's horizon and the focal point of its major recreation area, which includes 3,200 acres of lakes and beautiful wooded parkland. It's Georgia's number-one tourist attraction, and one of the ten most-visited paid attractions in the United States.Stone Mountain itself was formed about 300 million years ago, when intense heat and pressure caused molten material just below the earth's surface to push upward. That material cooled slowly (it took 100 million years) and formed compact, uniform crystals. Initially, a 2-mile-thick overlay of the earth's surface covered the hardened granite, but over the next 200 million years, that layer eroded, exposing the mountain we see today. The dome-shaped rock rises 1,683 feet above sea level and covers 583 acres. Half of Georgia and part of North Carolina rest on the mountain's base.Although the best view of the mountain is from below, the vistas from the top are spectacular. Visitors who are part mountain goat can take the walking trail up and down its moss-covered slopes, especially lovely in spring when they're blanketed in wildflowers. The trial is 1.3 miles each way. Or you can ride the Skylift cable car to the top, where you'll find an incredible view of Atlanta and the Appalachian Mountains. The best approach is to take the cable car up, and then walk back down. For a different perspective, check out the park from onboard a World War II amphibious vehicle-the park's new Ride the Ducks Adventure is a 40-minute tour that moves from the land into the waters of Stone Mountain Lake. Tours run from 11am daily. Tickets are $9 ages 3 and up for individual tickets, and $6 ages 3 and up when added to the One-Day All-Attraction Pass. Duck Tours are included on the One-Day Pass on "Limited Attraction Days" (Mon-Thurs in the fall) at no additional charge.A highlight at Stone Mountain is the Lasershow Spectacular, an astonishing display of laser lights and fireworks with animation and music. The brilliant laser beams are projected on the mountain's north face, a natural one million-square-foot screen. Shows are presented Saturdays at 8:30pm from March 1 to Memorial Day and from the day after Labor Day through October. From Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day, shows takes place each night at 9:30pm. Bring a picnic supper and arrive early to get a good spot on the lawn at the base of the mountain. Shows are free with park admission.It's a good idea to make your first stop the Discovering Stone Mountain Museum to get some perspective on the mountain's history. Exhibits take you through an intriguing chronological journey from the area's past into its present.Other major park attractions include the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, an open-air train that chugs around the 5-mile base of Stone Mountain. The ride takes 40 minutes and includes a live "train robbery" skit. Trains depart from Railroad Depot, an old-fashioned train station, where there's a restaurant with all the fixings for a fried chicken picnic, just in case you forgot to bring your own.The Scarlett O'Hara, a paddlewheel riverboat, cruises the 363-acre Stone Mountain Lake.The Antique Car and Treasure Museum is a jumble of old radios, jukeboxes, working nickelodeons, pianos, Lionel trains, carousel horses, and clocks, along with classic cars.Visitors can now travel back in time thanks to a new $30 million attraction at the park called Crossroads. At Crossroads, you can explore an 1870s rural Southern town, complete with a cast of authentically costumed characters who sing, play instruments, tell stories, and demonstrate crafts such as glass blowing, candle-making and blacksmithing. In addition to the town's quirky and talented characters, other special treats include a gristmill and bakery, and a general store with candy and ice cream production facilities. A boarding-house restaurant offers up tasty Southern cuisine, from chicken and dumplings to fried catfish. If you plan to eat, you might want to stop by and add your name to the list before you explore the town, as there is often a wait.Another part of the Crossroads attraction is The Great Barn, a hit with children and adults. Join in the fun as you help "harvest" fruits and vegetables throughout this multi-level foam factory to rack up points for your team. Just added to Crossroads is the Treehouse Challenge, a one-of-a-kind outdoor adventure that pits boys against girls to control balls on a large track that links the two treehouses (sort of a life-size pinball game). The town's centerpiece is the Tall Tales of the South theater, where visitors use special glasses to view a 3-D film with 4-D (yes, 4) special effects. The frog's tongue, which stretches into the movie audience from its perch on a swamp log, is just one of the surprises the experience offers. Small children might not enjoy the film, as some of the effects are a bit unnerving.The 19-building Antebellum Plantation offers self-guided tours assisted by hosts in period dress at each structure. Highlights include an authentic 1830s country store; the 1845 Kingston House (it represents a typical overseer's house); the clapboard slave cabins; the 1790s Thornton House, elegant home of a large landowner; the smokehouse and well; a doctor's office; a barn, a coach house, and crop-storage cribs; a privy; a cook house; and the 1850 neoclassical Tara-like Dickey House. The grounds also contain formal gardens and a kitchen garden. It takes at least an hour to tour the entire complex. Often (especially in summer), there are Civil War re-enactments, craft and cooking demonstrations, storytellers, and balladeers on the premises. Children will enjoy getting up close and personal with the critters at Grandpa's Farm at The Plantation, featuring domesticated farm animals including pigs and goats.Additional activities: golf (on top-rated courses designed by Robert Trent Jones and John LaFoy), miniature golf, 15 tennis courts, a sizable stretch of sandy lakefront beach with 4 water slides, carillon concerts, rowboats and paddleboats, bicycle rental, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and more.Stone Mountain is one of the most beautiful parks in the nation. Consider spending a few days of your trip here; it's a great place for a romantic getaway or a family vacation. On-site accommodations are detailed in chapter 5. If you can only spare a day, it's an easy drive (about 30 min.) from downtown.The Face of a Mountain--Over half a century in the making, Stone Mountain's neoclassic carving -- 90 feet high and 190 feet wide -- is the world's largest bas-relief sculpture. Originally conceived by Gutzon Borglum, it depicts Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson galloping on horseback throughout eternity. Borglum started work on the mountain sculpture in 1923 but abandoned it after 10 years due to insurmountable technical problems and rifts with its sponsors. (He went on to South Dakota, where he gained fame carving Mount Rushmore.) No sign of his work remains at Stone Mountain, but it was his vision that inspired the project. Augustus Lukeman took over in 1925, but 3 years later, the work still far from complete, the family that owned the mountain lost patience and reclaimed the property. It wasn't until 1963, after the state purchased the mountain and surrounding property for a park, that work resumed under Walter Kirtland Hancock and Roy Faulkner. It was completed in 1970.
Atlanta Botanical Garden
This delightful botanical garden, occupying 30 acres in Piedmont Park, saw the addition of the $4.8 million 25,000-square-foot Fuqua Orchid Center and the Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory in 2002. This is part two of a three-part expansion project at the gardens: a children's garden opened in 1999 and the final phase -- a new education center -- is currently being constructed. In the Fuqua Orchid Center, a collection of rare high-elevation orchids, which flourish on cool, wet mountains in South America, are being grown in the warm Southeast. Typically, one would have to go to San Francisco or Seattle to see such plants.Equally exciting is the 16,000-square-foot, glass-walled Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory, housing rare and endangered tropical and desert plants -- and a fascinating exhibit of poison dart frogs (more about them later). With acres of irreplaceable rainforest being bulldozed every minute, the plant species in the conservatory seem all the more special. Approached via an arbored promenade and fronted by a water lily pond, the entrance to the conservatory has a revolving globe showing the many regions of the world where plant life is endangered.The focal point of the conservatory is the misty Tropical Rotunda, housing fern collections, cycads (the most primitive seed-bearing plants known), epiphytes (plants that don't require soil to grow), gorgeous orchids, carnivorous plants, a wide variety of begonias, and towering tropical palms. It's a lush and humid jungle, with brightly hued tropical birds warbling overhead, a splashing waterfall, and winding pathways lined with fragrant hibiscus, ginger, and flowering jasmine vines. Of special interest is a double coconut palm from the Seychelles, growing from the largest and heaviest seed in the plant kingdom. Its first 12-foot leaves have already begun to grow, but it will be 100 years before the tree reaches its full height.In the midst of all this is an intriguing exhibit of Central and South American poison dart frogs -- small, active ground dwellers in unbelievably bright colors (yellow, orange, lime green, cobalt blue) and vivid patterns. About 12 species are exhibited in three large terrariums filled with tropical rain-forest plants and designed to simulate the climates in the frogs' native lands. This exhibit is a big hit with visiting children.Another main section of the garden highlights plants that thrive in North Georgia's extended growing season. Displays in this area include a rock garden, a dwarf conifer garden, an English knot herb garden, a tranquil moon-gated Japanese garden, a rose garden, and annual and perennial displays. The delightful children's garden, with its wonderful climbing structures and whimsical sculptured fountains, has become a hot spot for young families. Lunch is served April through October, Tuesday to Sunday, on Lanier Terrace, overlooking the Rose Garden.Another section of the garden consists of two wooded areas. The 5-acre Upper Woodland features a paved path, a fern glade, camellia and hosta gardens, gurgling streams, beautiful statuary, and a habitat designed to show visitors how to attract wildlife to their own backyards. Still more rustic is Storza Woods, 15 acres of natural woodlands and one of the few remaining hardwood forests in the city. Even though its path is unpaved, it makes for an easy and interesting walk.The arid Desert House displays Madagascan succulents, such as a unique family of spiny plants called Didieriaceae. Here, too, are "living stones" (desert succulents that nature designed to look like pebbles to protect them from predators), tree aloes, caudici-forms (with swollen stems and roots for storing water), and conifers from Africa. Adjoining is an area for special exhibits.The building also houses an orangery of tropical mango, papaya, star fruit, lychee, coffee, and citrus trees. A 1996 addition was an "Olympic" olive tree presented by Greece in honor of the Centennial Olympic Games.There are flower shows throughout the year, along with lectures and other activities. Call to find out what's scheduled during your stay. A marvelous gift shop is on the premises; your purchases help support the garden.
Marriott Residence Inn Historic Midtown
The complimentary dinners offered Monday through Thursday from 5:30 until 7:30pm set this inn apart from others in the area. If the free food doesn't tempt your taste buds, you can opt for complimentary grocery shopping service available Monday through Friday.The studios and spacious suites here boast handsome oak or mahogany furnishings -- mostly antique reproductions, including Chippendale-style beds. Most rooms have balconies with French doors. There aren't many attractions nearby, but you're not far from a MARTA station. Pets are allowed with a $100 non-refundable fee. Ten rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities.The inn provides hot tea and coffee all day in the lobby.Facilities: Cocktail lounge; new exercise room; complimentary membership at the fitness center of the nearby Marriott Suites hotel; rooftop Jacuzzi; limited room service from local restaurants through "Take Out Taxi"; laundry service; coin-operated washers/dryers.
Shellmont Inn
This charming two-story Victorian mansion looks like a fairy-tale house, its exterior embellished with ribbons, bows, garlands, and shells. It has both a front porch and a small veranda out back, with wicker rocking chairs overlooking a flower garden and fishpond. The building, which dates to 1891, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a city landmark. Innkeepers Ed and Debbie McCord have done a superb job of restoring the place, meticulously researching original paint colors, stencil designs, woodwork, and period furnishings, and reproducing them with 100% accuracy.There's a living room downstairs, and up the stairs are the four guest rooms. On your way up, be sure to stop on the landing to check out the five-paneled stained-glass window that the McCords believe is an authentic Tiffany. Rooms have elegant queen-size beds (perhaps you'll get the one with the 6-foot oak headboard embellished with carved ribbons and bows), leaded-glass or bay windows, and Oriental rugs on pine floors. Three rooms have whirlpools. The carriage house offers a luxurious master bedroom, a modern bathroom, a fully equipped kitchen, a living room, and a dressing area.Breakfast consists of fresh-squeezed juice, fresh and dried fruits, an entree (perhaps Belgian waffles or frittatas), cereals and granolas, and tea or coffee.
Ramada Limited
Poised on the border between Midtown and Buckhead, the former Piedmont Inn is not in the most attractive location, but the price is right. The large rooms are furnished with king-size beds, desks, and recliners; suites offer full living rooms with pullout sofas, microwave ovens, and refrigerators. Business Executive rooms, at no extra charge, offer irons and ironing boards, hair dryers, and coffeemakers. Doughnuts, juice, tea, and coffee are served in a pleasant room off the lobby each morning, and coffee is available all day.
