Free and Cheap Things to Do in Atlanta for Spring Break

By Carol Carter

Published March 4, 2024
Last Updated March 14, 2024

There are so many fun, educational and interesting things to do in Atlanta. Not only that, some of these things to do in Atlanta are free. Take a look at what you can do for free in Atlanta.

Intown Trails

The Atlanta BeltLine consists of four trails that connect Atlanta’s intown neighborhoods. You may hop on at any point to take a walk or a bike ride, grab a coffee or a bite, and view the artwork along the way. The PATH400 trail connects some of Buckhead’s popular retail stores and restaurants.

Free Museums

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, where you can see and tour Dr. King’s birth home and sit in a pew and listen to him deliver a sermon at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, is a national park and is therefore free. You’ll find The King Center there plus the tombs of both Dr. King and Coretta Scott King and the eternal flame.

The David J. Senser CDC Museum, located near Emory University, is affiliated with Smithsonian Institution. You may visit permanent and changing exhibitions that focus on a variety of public health topics, as well as the history of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve’s Monetary Museum tells the story of money, the history of banking in America and offers the chance to see examples of rare coins and currency. You can look inside the Fed’s cash-processing operations, where millions of dollars are counted, sorted or shredded daily. You’ll also get to peek into the bank’s automated vault and see the robotic transports that do the heavy lifting.

Fernbank Science Center includes exhibits and a planetarium. Admission and parking are free, but there is a charge for the planetarium. The exhibit hall features displays that deal with a variety of scientific concepts. The theme for the entire exhibit area reflects the slogan of the Science Center: “Where Science Becomes an Adventure.” The upper level of the exhibit hall features a live animal exhibit and a live honey bee hive. The lower exhibit hall features space exhibits including the real Apollo 6 space capsule and a meteorite collection. The lower level also houses most of the center’s extensive taxidermy collection.

Visits to the High Museum of Art aren’t free, but there is free admittance on certain days. On the first Saturday of each month, there are free events for families, toddlers and teens plus art-making experiences for every age.

The World of Puppetry Museum at the Center for Puppetry Arts is one of several Atlanta attractions where it is possible to get free passes through the Georgia Public Library Service. A sampling of available attractions includes: Alliance Theatre, Atlanta History Center, The Breman Museum, Fox Theatre, Georgia Aquarium, Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse and Zoo Atlanta.

Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking is located on the campus of Georgia Tech. Visitors can follow the path of paper from the earliest examples of writing materials to the Chinese discovery of how to make paper to the paper mills of Europe and the high-tech machinery of today’s modern paper industry. The museum is free to the public for self-guided visits.

Parks

Centennial Olympic Park was the gathering place for visitors during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. Today, it is the centerpiece of downtown Atlanta and is flanked by some of the city’s most popular attractions — World of Coca-Cola, Georgia Aquarium, Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and the Children’s Museum of Atlanta. Things to see in the park include the Olympic rings sculpture; the Gateway of Dreams sculpture that honors the father of the modern Olympic Games; the Hermes Towers — eight 65-foot high lighted towers named after the mythological messenger god Hermes; and the Fountain of Rings splash pad.

Three intown parks perfect for walking, jogging, picnicking or just taking a break are Piedmont Park, located in Midtown, Rodney Cook Sr. Park in Vine City and Historic Fourth Ward Skatepark in Midtown where, natch, you can skateboard, but that isn’t a requirement for visiting.

For more things to do in Atlanta, please visit our calendar of events.

Journalist Carol Carter writes and edits for Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.