AirTran Airways Flights from Fort Myers (RSW) to Atlanta (ATL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on AirTran Airways, which operates 3 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Fort Myers (RSW) to Atlanta (ATL), departing between 11:35am and 6:51pm, and 3 additional non-stop flights, departing between 9:00am and 4:54pm on select days of the week. Usually a Boeing 717 or Boeing 737-700 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Fort Myers, FL to Atlanta, GA is 1 hour and 44 minutes.
Quick Flight Searches
Weekend Trips - Search
Upcoming weekend flight specials and airline
deals on flights to Atlanta (ATL)
from Fort Myers (RSW)
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
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.
Oakland Cemetery
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this outstanding 88-acre Victorian cemetery was founded in 1850. It survived the Civil War and remained the only cemetery in Atlanta for 34 years. Among the more than 48,000 people buried here are Confederate and Union soldiers (including five Southern generals), prominent families, paupers, governors and mayors, golfing great Bobby Jones, and Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell. There's a Jewish section (consecrated by a temple), a black section (dating from segregation days), and a potter's field (a section for unknown or poor people). Two monuments honor the Confederate war dead. Standing at the marker that commemorates the Great Locomotive Chase, you can see the trees from which the Yankee raiders were hanged; the Confederate train conductor Captain William Fuller is buried nearby. The cemetery is not only famous for historical reasons, but also because it is a virtual outdoor museum of Gothic and classical-revival mausolea, bronze urns, stained glass, and Victorian statuary.Almost every grave has a story. Real-estate tycoon Jasper Newton Smith had a life-size statue of himself erected on his grave so he could watch the city's goings-on into eternity. (The sculptor originally gave Smith a tie, but Smith, who never wore one, refused to pay for the piece until the tie was chiseled off.) Dr. James Nissen, Oakland's first burial, feared being buried alive; his will asked that his jugular vein be severed prior to interment. And John Morgan Dye was a baby who died during the siege of Atlanta; his mother walked through the raging battle to the cemetery carrying the small corpse. The smallest grave, however, is that of "Tweet," a pet mockingbird buried in his family's lot.A 5-year $15 million restoration aimed at reviving the cemetery as a park got underway in early 2003, and Atlanta residents certainly seem to be taking to the idea -- dozens of people jog and walk on the rolling terrain every day, and picnickers are a common sight. Leashed pets are welcome.Though you can visit whenever the cemetery is open, try to come when you can take a guided tour. It's a fascinating way to learn about the history of the graveyard and about graveyard symbolism (a lopped-tree-trunk marker indicates a life cut short or goals unachieved, rocks on a grave denote a life built on a solid foundation, a shell means resurrection, and so on). Every October, there's a celebration to commemorate the cemetery's founding, with turn-of-the-century music, food, and storytelling.
Embassy Suites at Centennial Olympic Park
This lovely all-suite hotel opened in 1999 on the edge of Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta's most visible legacy of the 1996 Summer Games. The 21-acre park is now a lively venue for festivals, art markets, and concerts. The location is a good bet for tourists, conventioneers, and sports fans, since the hotel is just across the street from the Georgia World Congress Center, and within walking distance of MARTA, the CNN Center, the Philips Arena, and the Georgia Dome. Kids will also appreciate the location, as it's just yards away from the fountains at Centennial Park, designed to allow visitors to run through them, getting soaked from head to foot. What kid (or adult) wouldn't love that? Also nearby is the new Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta.Each two-room standard suite is luxuriously decorated with contemporary furniture and includes a pullout sofa in the living room. Bathrooms, with Jacuzzi tubs and separate showers, are spacious and luxurious. Ask for a parkside room, which has a nice view of the park and the city skyline; there's no extra charge. The luxury suites, which have large private balconies overlooking the park, are huge and plush, perfect for business receptions or special occasions. Complimentary cooked-to-order breakfasts are prepared and served by Ruth's Chris Steak House, an on-premises restaurant, and there's a reception each evening that featuring complimentary drinks. Seventeen suites are accessible to travelers with disabilities.
Cheshire Motor Inn
This is the best kind of budget hotel, a small property run for decades by caring owners who offer homey hospitality and many personal touches. Situated on attractively landscaped grounds, the Cheshire offers simple, spacious, impeccably clean rooms. Many rooms have minibars, and half have pullout sofas, making this an especially good choice for families on a budget. Bathrooms are clean but basic. The famous Colonnade restaurant is on the premises, serving authentic Southern food. Don't be put off by the inn's location; Cheshire Bridge Road is an odd mix of sleazy bars and secondhand furniture and antiques shops, but the restaurant and motel are completely respectable.
Courtyard Atlanta Buckhead
Built in 1996, this lovely full-service hotel provides a lot of bang for the buck. It's a favorite among business travelers, but any traveler will enjoy it. The hotel has a terrific location, near everything that Buckhead has to offer, and within 2 blocks of the Atlanta Financial Center, the Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza shopping malls, and a MARTA station.The rooms are large and bright, and the suites -- perfect for families in town for a few days -- have a full-size pull-out couch. Some of the rooms are equipped with whirlpool tubs, which are surprisingly located in the bedroom rather than the bathroom. Ask for one of the end rooms, which are a little larger than the others. Eight of the rooms are equipped for travelers with disabilities.There are architects' drawings on display throughout the hotel, with a large concentration in the aptly-named Atlanta Architects Grill and Bar. Be sure to seek out the rendering of the opulent Atlanta mansion owned by heavyweight world champion boxer Evander Holyfield, displayed in the restaurant.
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Other direct flights to Atlanta (ATL) on AirTran Airways
